TOY POODLE WITH BRACELETS & PUFFS

How often do I groom poodles with puffs & bracelets? Well, how about if I tell you that I thought the customer was asking me about the palms. "Palms??" "What about the palms?" "Do you mean do I clip the pads of the feet?" "POMS", she exclaimed, "You know, do you do POMS?" Finally I got it, "Ohhh! You mean pompons! Sure, I can do that." In my embarrassment, I didn't even quote a higher price. That will teach me.

Here is Starlet. Isn't that a cute name for a toy poodle?

The owner wasn't sure how long it had been since she was last groomed, but she knew that "they always shave her bald." You can see that she probably had not been touched with a brush since that last groom.

I admit that the main reason I agreed to the "palms" was for YOU. I had time to take a couple of photos and blog a little something about this style. You don't always learn how to do this so maybe I can give a few tips.

Tip Number One: To make this style look good, you need to take the body down fairly close, at least with a #5 blade, preferably a #7. I used a #7F on Starlet.

Tip Number Two: The feet need to be clipped VERY close. This style really shows any flaws in your feet work because it draws the eye right to the feet. I use a Wahl "Peanut", now known as the "Tid bit", with a fine blade similar to a #30.

How do you know how far to come down the leg and where to set the puff or bracelet? ("Puffs" is the correct term for poms on the front, "bracelets" are the poms on the rear. "Pompon" is the one on the tail. You may call them all "poms," as I am not the Grooming Police. Placement is important. It is what gives overall balance.

Tip Number Three: Set the rear bracelets first, then match the front level with the rear. If the front puffs are set too low, the dog looks like it is going downhill. We don't want that! The rear bracelet is set a little above the hock. On this little girl, it was about a pinkie finger above the hock. It angles downward toward the front, adding emphasis to the angulation. You might want to try clipping upward against the grain to give better definition to your bracelets. I wish I had done that on this dog. The front puffs are set level with the front of the rear bracelets. Got that? You are slanting the bracelets forward from the hock and then you draw an imaginary straight line from the front of the rear leg to the side of front leg, and that is where you set your front puffs.

After you set your poms, comb thoroughly and fluff. When shaping, I again start with the rear and then match the front. It is not easy to get everything to match up. Almost anyone can scissor one pom, but can you match left to right and front to rear? This little dog was a dancer, which didn't help the challenge. I was sweating bullets before I was done and vowed to charge $10 over the cost of a regular groom next time I do "palms."

Here is a picture of the first rear bracelet after shaping.


I used my favorite little 5.5" curved Arius-Eickert Proline scissors to shape these poms. I could not do decent ones without small curved scissors. First I comb it all down and cut the bottom out at the foot, and then shaped upward. The other side did not come out as well. This was a rather difficult subject. Real shop grooming here, folks!

Here she is all finished. Quite cute, I'd say. The owner was ecstatic and tipped me the $10 I should have charged for the extra scissoring. Scissoring nice poms is not easy, but gives the dog an outstanding look. Starlet needs a little help, she's got a terrible ear set, and her back legs point sidewise. That is not exactly the structure you want for poms, but it worked for this dog. She rarely stands still long enough to notice which way her feet are pointing!


Summary of equipment used:
Andis 2-speed clippers, #10 for the tummy, #15 for the face, #7F for the body.
Wahl Peanut clipper with fine blade for feet.
Arius-Eickert 5.5" Curved Proline shears for puffs & bracelets, and pompon on tail.
Arius-Eickert 6.5" Curved Proline shears for topknot.

Shears can be purchased at http://www.bbird.biz
Thanks for your support!!