Scissoring Techniques For Poodle Grooming

The Poodle's origin is controversial. Many countries have claimed the origin of the Poodle. Some say it is Germany. Other says it is Denmark, and of course, France says the Poodle's origin belongs to them. Even Russia claims the Poodle's origin. Many say, however, the Poodle's most likely place of origin is Germany. The name Poodle is derived from the German word Pudel which means means to splash in water. In Franch, the Poodle was called Caniche, a derivation of canard or duck and described his chief function there.

The Poodle does indeed possess many attributes. Among those attributes are:

* Boldness * Intelligence * Sensitivity

The Poodle, out of all the other toy dog breeds, has a fine reputation of being extremely gentle with children. The Poodle is easily trained and has been a wonderful acrobat and performer with circuses and variety shows.

Another reason the Poodle has been so popular is the fact that he comes in three sizes. They are:

* Toy * Miniature * Standard

The Poodle also comes in a wide variety of colors ranging from black and white with many different shades in between.

The Poodle is the only breed whose coat is traditionally styled in a variety of ways. The Poodle is endowed by nature with the kind of coat that can grow over eight inches long. The Poodle's coat is of a naturally harsh texture, profuse and dense throughout.

In the art of grooming the most artistic component is the scissoring work. A perfect finish can only be achieved through skillfully applied scissoring. The true professional groomer is set apart from the novice by the skill of scissoring.

A method of scissoring the legs of a Poodle:

1. Comb the hair down around the pastern so you can see all straggly hairs clearly hanging over the clipped area. 2. Scissor straight across the narrowest part of the pastern and uniformly all around it. 3. Hold the leg up with one hand, scissor along the inside leg silhouette in a straight vertical line up to the elbow. 4. Do the same routine on the other leg. 5. Scissor in a circular fashion with overlapping strokes so that there are no ridges. 6. The final result should resemble a cylindrical column. 7. All four legs should be trimmed in the same way. 8. All the wispy hair is trimmed away and the legs are nicely outlined.

You should also use the scissors to blend lines so the whole coat is even. You should scissor more closely in the anal area. For the tail, the Poodle standard calls for a pompon on the tail. The "pom" should look like a ball.

A method of scissoring the tail of a Poodle:

1. Comb out the pom and scissor in a circular fashion. 2. Some professional groomers find that curved scissors achieve a better result.

The head or "topknot" of a Poodle is scissored to achieve a domelike look.

A method of scissoring the head or "topknot":

1. The first scissor cut on the topknot should be along the top line of the ear. 2. Do the same on both sides. 3. Scissor the whole topknot in proportion to the size of the head. 4. Scissor ear furnishings just to remove any straggly hairs. 5. Some professional groomers prefer to tie up the ears with a latex band while trimming the head. 6. The topknot must be blended into the neck. 7. You can round out the topknot using curve scissors. 8. Take care to keep the topknot in balance with the trim. 9. For decoration apply ribbons. Traditionally the ribbon is placed on the hip for the male dog while it is placed at the ear separation for the female.