Can you leave her hair curly?

That was a request from one of my customers today.

She is a customer who has been with me since before I opened my shop 23 years ago.

This is her third dog.

The first one was a very sweet short hair Shepard mix.

The second one was a very sweet Shepard/Span mix.

They waited almost two years to get another dog.

They rescued a St. Poodle.

This is 'Sasha'.

This is another very sweet dog.

Today was the second time I groomed her.

Her owners really liked the way I groomed her the first time, they just wanted to change one thing...

They asked if I could keep her curly.

Curly!

She looked like crushed velvet after her blow dry and hair cut last time.

But...

"We really liked the way she looked after she went out in the rain and came in all curly."

Well, I could have done this the easy way.

Bathe her, cage dry her, then clip her.

Problem...

I have not cage dried a dog in 11 years.

AND

I can't stand scissoring a dog that has not been fluff dried.

Especially a Poodle.

So, this is the way I made her curly.

I bathed her and HV dried her.

 Then I clipped her body with a 3F blade, clipped her legs with a 3/4 blade.

I then scissored her up all over.

Now the hard part.

It really killed me to do this next step.

My customers just do not understand what they ask of me sometimes.

It is just not right to keep a Poodle curly.

Really, it's not.

Okay, can you tell I am still not over it.

Sorry.

Time to curl her up again.

 I filled my trusty spray bottle with water and just a little bit of finishing spray.

Then...Uhg...I sprayed her all over.

 I sprayed her just enough to make her hair curl.

Then I ran my fingers all through her hair.

I rubbed her down with a paper towel to get off any excess water.

Then I used the paper towel to wipe my tears.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

 I used my hand drier and my figures to get her dry.

Then I used a wide tooth comb to comb her out one more time.

Okay, that is about as curly as I go.

If they want more curl, they will just have to put her out in the rain again.

OH...

And worst of all?

I forgot to tell them not to tell anyone where they got her groomed. :)

Happy Grooming, MFF