I think that I have come to the conclusion that I like grooming Goldendoodles over Labradoodles.
We have more than half a dozen Labradoodles that we groom.
Their hair type runs from a thin, double coated type of hair that does shed, to a very thick, very curly coat.
The hair cuts on the Labradoodles run from a #7F strip, all hair off, head, tail, ears, everything, (owners request) to full hand scissor cuts, leaving the hair anywhere from 2"- 4" long.
At least three of the Labradoodles that we groom could pass for Standard Poodles to the untrained eye, they get long Lamb cuts.
I have come to dread when the Larbradoodles are on the books.
It's not that I don't like them.
Everyone one of them are really nice dogs.
They just seem to take forever to dry and to groom.
Then there are Goldendoodles.
We had four of them in last week.
I like grooming this one the best.
Why?
Because she takes me all of 20- 25 minutes to clip and scissor her.
Her coat is thin but not too thin.
Her owners don't let her get much longer than this.
Oh, did I mention that she only takes about 15- 20 minutes to totally HV dry her straight from the tub?
The clip comb glides through her hair like a hot knife through butter, and leaves a nice finish that doesn't require a whole lot of finish scissor work.
She also doesn't have a lot of hair on her legs requiring a lot of scissoring.
A Goldendoodle that only takes an hour or so to groom from start to finish. :)
I could groom 8-9 of her in a day and be a very happy groomer.
Then there is her friend/sister.
They are a few years apart in age.
They live together.
Her coat is thicker and plushier.
She is easy to soap up and also dries surprisingly quickly.
Her coat requires a little more finish scissor work to smooth out the cut, but the clip comb also glides really nicely through her coat.
Her grooming time is pretty quick also.
The other Goldendoodle that Jessica groomed this week has a very thin coat that only gets trimmed.
The poor dog actually has a terribly sparse, thin coat that is about five inches long.
I tried to get a picture of her, but she moves around so much, and wags her tail so hard, and wants to lick my camera, that you can't get a good picture of her.
Then there was my monster Goldendoodle.
I have blogged about her a couple of times already.
Her owner has finally settled on a cut for her, although she does tweak it a bit every time she brings him in.
He now gets a Lamb cut with a 5/8F blade on the back.
A #E clip comb on the legs, tapered down to very, very full feet.
And, a full shaggy face.
Because he plays in the woods and has been dragging everything in the house lately, his owner wanted me to take his feet shorter.
Now, in this case you must read between the lines.
Just because the owner said that she wanted the feet short doesn't mean that she really wanted the feet short, or that you can take them as short as you want.
Because his owner normally likes the feet really full, fluffy and shaggy, I made them full and fluffy and a little shorter....but not too short.
The owner wanted around the mouth and nose shorter on the face also, which meant that I was not going to be able to leave the face shaggy as usual.
The owner had also been cutting mats out of the top of the head, so I had to take it shorter too.
Are you confused?
Yep?
That's the way I feel when some owners try to explain what they want to me.
Anyway, this Doodle takes me longer to groom than any of the Doodles that I do.
He takes me longer to groom than any of the dogs that I groom for that matter.
I swear that I could hand scissor two small dogs in the time that it takes to scissor just one of this Goldendoodles long, long, thick, soft, plushy legs.
Did I mention that this Goldendoodle also takes forever to bathe and dry?
That is why this Goldendoodle is the most expensive dog that I groom.
I could still groom three of the first Goldendoodle in the time it takes me to groom this one. :/
I still like grooming the Goldendoodles more.
Happy Grooming, MFF
Is there any tip on how or where do i mark my legs in a lamb cut?? I know every dog is different but is there anything i can use as reference while i get the hang of it?
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI will have to try to do a post on this for you.
Lisa, MFF
Ohh thank you!
DeleteWow, are you lucky! I groom a ton of doodles, and usually the labradoodles have the thin, good coats and most of the goldendoodles have the thick awful ones. Maybe they are breeding them differently where I live. Anyway, I just discovered your blog today and I love it! I just started my own blog recently, so I love seeing what's already out there.
ReplyDeleteHi groomgirl82,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my blog.
Lisa, MFF
Hi Lisa, love your blog! (Pretty much read it end-to-end when I was supposed to be doing uni coursework instead :P ). Probably being a bit cheeky, but I was hoping you could give me some advice on grooming my king charles cavalier x toy poodle (aka Cavoodle)? He has really long thick fur (which does shed) which gets dirty quite quickly - probably because he's a small dog so if he runs through long grass everything sticks to his legs and tummy. Realistically, how frequently could I bath him without causing him problems (dry skin etc...)? And are there any products you would recommend for frequent bathing, or for freshen-ups between baths? At the moment he gets bathed every 2-3 weeks; beyond 3 weeks and he beings to smell quite doggy and the bathwater which comes off him is really mucky. He's brushed daily (down to the undercoat, using a metal comb), which is enough to remove mud and loose hair, but it doesn't lessen his doggy smell. (It's just "a bit doggy" rather than a horrific "take-the-dog-to-the-vets-now" type smell). I just like knowing he's clean, and would bath him weekly if it were safe to do so, but I've heard that frequent bathing isn't a good thing to do to a dog? Many thanks for any advice, Liz
ReplyDelete