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We have to look way back into the shadows of history, to find that the first people to clip Poodles were huntsmen, centuries ago. The Poodle was originally used as a hunting dog, while he was very effective on land, the poodles mobility when retrieving in the water was seriously impaired by his extremely dense and curly coat. The huntsmen shaved the poodles rear hindquarters to allow for greater freedom of movement in the water, leaving puffs of hair on the hip joints and ankle joints. The puffs of hair (now called pom-poms and bracelets) were left to help keep the joints warm, and ward off rhumatics. Whilst the pad over the loins protected the kidneys.The hair was left long of the front half of the poodle to keep the vital organs warm when they swam in cold water.
A bit later, more clips were developed when circus clowns adopted the Poodle as a performer for its ability to learn tricks quickly and for its ability to entertain and amuse people.
The art of clipping Poodles has developed through time until, in the present day, we have a whole industry of grooming salons not only for Poodles, but for all types of dogs and cats. Some grooming salons carry special dog foods, grooming supplies, collars, and many other accessories for the well-kept animal.
Keeping a Poodle well clipped enhances his beauty and health tremendously. This special grooming should be performed ideally every 4 to 6 weeks because the coat grows rapidly.
Good breeders begin to clip their pups from 4 weeks of age, starting them off kindly, sympatheticaly but firmly in what will be a huge part of their lives .... clipping every 6 weeks, plus daily grooming for all their lives!
To begin with puppies have just their 'Feet, face and tail' clipped, this is done for hygine as much as beauty. Any new owner should of found a good Groomer before collecting their pup, as clipping needs to be done every 6-8 weeks.
Unless you are planning on showing your poodle, most people have the coat clipped down after around 6 months, to maintain a show coat takes hours of work and much dedication!
A Lamb or pet trim
A show puppy is now put in 'Puppy Pants', it is permissable to show a Toy in this clip throughout it's days in the ring now ....
previously they were shown in the 'Toy clip', even more hard work for the stylist! Some dogs are still shown in this clip, which looks beautiful .. if properly done.
This is the 'Continental' which is the most popular of the show clips, and closley resembles the old Sporting cloip.
It is usually seen on the Standards
There are plenty of other clips to choose from, the Lamb or Pet clip is pretty and easy to care for, but requires daily brushing.
Some people prefer the Dutch type clips, with a moustache or clean faced, personally I like my poodles clean faced!
But unless you have your Poodle clipped to the skin once every three weeks .... you are going to have to do some grooming inbetween salon trips!
Every groomer has their own style, and favourite trims, experimenting can be fun .. spirals, hearts etc!
As you can see by the photos on the previous page, a poodle will very quickly matt up if not looked after properly.
There is NEVER any excuse for this .. it is pure neglect!
Please make sure this never happens to your dog.
