Grooming Poodles is one of the most common topics we get questions on with our clients – because it’s a big topic, we will cover it in segments. I will also make a list of links to the most common tools and products I recommend with links to purchase them.
First- let’s talk about bringing a puppy home. When you purchase a puppy from MnJ, we can assure you we have started your puppy on grooming as early and as many times as possible. It is vitally important that you continue this process and that you do so at a minimum of once a week for the next several weeks. Puppies have a special window of opportunity to acclimate them to life with confidence and the first 12 weeks that is prime time. If you continue to groom them in some way fairly often during this time period, it will pay huge dividends for life. If you plan to groom yourself or use a groomer it is still critical to continue training- your groomer will not appreciate wrestling a 6 month old puppy that is terrified! Many groomers are experienced with younger puppies, can protect them during vaccination period and help you train puppy- reach out and see who might offer a training package and then be sure you follow through.
Want to groom at home for now? Sure there’s plenty you can do to keep training going. Bathing and even just a human blow dryer are still VERY useful and helpful. Put them up on a table or counter when doing so- saves your back and accustoms them to the grooming table. Be sure to put them on a towel or something so they have good, secure footing as this helps boost confidence. ALWAYS use something drying in the ears after puppy gets wet be it bath or swim or whatever the situation might be. If you don’t have a grooming dryer, use a human one but you really need to reinforce the sound and experience of drying because as coat matures, it will matt if left to air dry. Brush thorougly when dried. Most of all, be patient- they may regress a bit in training with a new human, home and everything else that is bewildering at this time but with time and patience, they will learn to enjoy grooming. Have treats on the ready for them, ignore the unwanted behavior and reward good behavior.
Nails! When nails are allowed to grow too long, 
they can remodel the feet.t It is critical that they be done regularly- I do mine weekly but at a minimum it is best to do nails and clean ears every two weeks. If toenail clippers make you cringe, I prefer nail grinder that is a dremel style myelf. One note of caution- if you allow the nail to get long- you must clip some off first – holding the grinder on there for too long allows all that friction to get hot and it will burn. Ladies who have had this happen at the nail salon will know what I mean! The other option is to do a little every day until they are short again and then keep up with them. At a minimum they shouldn’t click on the floor when walking but shorter is always better.
Sanitary area! If you don’t keep their bottom trimmed, poop can cling to hair and cause a blockage! It can seriously injur your pet by not keeping this area neat and tidy with minimal hair. It is also critical that you watch some how to videos using clippers here as you can also hurt your pet and this is a very sensitive area to trim.
Note: Not everyone likes creative grooming and that’s ok but we assure you we would never allow anything harmful to be done to our Poodles and were happy to volunteer Trauma Drama this one time. We think it was fun! She LOVED the attention and boy did she stop traffic! What I hope will be seen is her stance on the grooming table- she is tail up and confident– that is what a confident stance looks like. That is what we want for our puppies when being groomed. For those who might want to have a bit of fun, there are safe, non toxic products just for dogs- go for it!