HOW TO | Groom a Labradoodle | Pet Trim

Hi guys and welcome. Today I am going to groom Daisy. Now Daisy is a doodle as you can see. Now before we start grooming her I like to assess the whole body and pre-plan my grooming steps. For example I am and that's her little sister Pearl which we'll groom later as well. So when I look at her I know exactly I'm planning my grooming process so I'm going to clip her coat and then keep the legs a bit longer so that the transition from the shorter coat into the longer coat is more smooth and then her muzzle I'm going to round it a bit creating a cute puppy look. First off is I am going to brush out the coat using my line brushing technique. With line brushing push the hair upwards and brush it downwards section for section as it's good expected to start on the lower section of the dog and then work your way up to ensure you don't miss a spot. So you just take the top layer push it upwards and create a seam line in the coat it will be you need to see the skin to ensure that you work brush up the coat completely and removing that excess undercoat as she has an undercoat and then we just start brushing just understand here. So push the coat up create a seam line in the coat and then use your slicker brush and brush it down bit by bit pulling the top layer of the coat downwards as you go along. This is the best method to work the coat down to the skin so we're just going to do that with Daisy. Often I like to do pre-work my pre-work includes shaving the paw pads, applying a sanitary trim, clipping the nails and then of course cleaning out the ears cleaning the ears but I'll do that in the tub. So for now I'm just going to shave her paw pads the reason I'm doing that now is after bathing the paw pads they take a bit longer to dry so it's a bit harder so now I'm going to just clip it short with a number 30 but you can use a number 10 or number 15 as well if you're going to use a number 30 just please be a more experienced groomer as it's the shortest blade one of the shortest blades. After bathing and drying her I'm going to shave it again to ensure it's nice and neat. After removing excess ear hair but remember only if needed apply a few drops of ear cleaning solution into the ear. Since a dog has an L-shaped ear canal allow them to shake their head to get rid of the excess solution otherwise it will stay in the horizontal canal which could have a negative effect. I like to use ear wipes to clean the outer part of the ear this also helps to reduce ear odour and leaves the ear smelling fresh. Next we'll brush her teeth with a special doggy toothbrush and dog toothpaste. Please do not use human toothpaste as it is harmful for dogs. You can also make use of a finger fitting toothbrush. Lift the dog's lip to expose the teeth. Begin brushing gently in a circular motion focusing on the gum line where plaque tends to accumulate. Gently brush the teeth as if you brush too aggressively you can injure the gums. So as you can see here at her ear nub the hair around the ear canal opening is quite waxy and dirty. It's always good just to ensure this is completely brushed out as you want the water and the product to penetrate the hair and clean it properly. If it is matted the water and shampoo cannot effectively clean the coat and then when you dry it the coat will still appear oily and guess what you are going to need to wash the dog's head completely over again. We are going to plug her ears with cotton wool balls to restrict water from entering as water inside the ear canals can lead to an ear infection. We are going to wash her with the all-purpose shampoo thereafter. I'm going to wash the head with a tearless shampoo, an aloe tearless shampoo and then we are going to apply a conditioner just to moisturize the coat and skin and then we will dry her from there. I like to use a little bath sponge to wash the genitals and the anus and then sometimes the head and the muzzle as well as it just has a gentle texture so especially to wash those delicate areas you want to be gentle. Place dry cotton wool balls in the dog's ears and use a happy hoodie to reduce the noise from the dryer. Forceful air in the ear canal and continuous loud noise can be harmful to a dog's hearing and reducing the noise helps keep the dog calm as loud sounds can increase anxiety levels. I misted the coat with a detangling spray to assist in removing any tangles left in the coat. Start drying on the back section of the dog as this allows the dog to get used to the feeling of the air on their skin and the noise. This also gives you an opportunity to assess the dog's tolerance. Begin with a lower speed and gradually increase it as the dog becomes more comfortable. If the dog is comfortable with the force dryer you can remove the nozzle and reduce the speed for a gentler approach when drying the head. Just keep the dryer at a safe distance. Never use a force dryer with a nozzle directly on a dog's head. Dry 80 to 85 percent of the dog with a force dryer if tolerated and always finish drying with a heated dryer like a stand or handheld hair dryer to stretch or fluff the coat which will help to get an even clip. We bathed her, brushed her out, dried and now we're just going to give her a nice trim all over. With your labradoodles the legs you tend to leave the legs a bit longer than the body so for today on Daisy we are going to clip the body with a with a wall a clipper the purple it's a 19 millimeter on the body and then we're going to take a 22 on the legs and scissor them as well. With your labradoodles it's important to remember not to shave on top of the muzzle or in between the stop as well as the head needs to be a bit bigger than the bit longer than the body. So we always start at the neck and then work our way down. Throughout the grooming process remember to apply back brushing this just allows you to cut or even all over the body. So what you do here now is you just take the clippers and you can drop off here at the top of the hips and then I'm going to trim the hind legs with a longer blade with the 22. A tip that you can do to make sure your tail blends into the body is just pull it through the legs and then you just clip it the same length as the body. I like to take it nice and tight at the bottom here at the hind section the back section then I start I clip with my shorter blade until two two fingers above the elbow and then I start clipping my clippers. Okay I'm just going to take the beard a bit upwards and then trim from here on downwards with my clippers. It is important to have a set grooming routine that you follow. For example I like to clip the entire body first then clip and style the head. Afterward I move on to shaping styling and neatening the legs. If you focus too long on one section you might miss something so switching between the body head and legs helps me refocus. This is a personal preference. Lift the ear out of the way and use a longer guard comb than the one you used on the body to shorten the sides of the face. This leaves enough coat to shape and style with scissoring. Trim the hair in the eye corners with your thinning scissors. The outside section of the eyes should be longer. These form part of the eyebrows. The top of the muzzle and stop area should not be shaved. You want it to look as natural as possible. The top section of the head should be longer and be rounded off to the ears. Cut less off the head and face as it grows slower than the rest of the body. When shortening the coat on top of the skull you can either use your long guard combs or just with plain scissoring by using your thinning shears or your blenders. Brush the dog's visor or also known as fringe forward over the eyes to line up the coat. Use your curved scissors to shorten it. It needs to be short enough so that the dog can properly see. The hair on the lower jaw should be rounded along the jawline up towards the ear. Hair on the ears should be a half to one inch below the end of the ear leather. Shape the ears and blend hair neatly into the top of the head. Brush the hair on the foreleg up and outwards and give the leg a gentle shake allowing the hair to fall in its natural position. Use your straight scissors to shorten the coat to your desired length. This is done after you have removed the bulk with your guard comb. Go over the outline with your thinning shears to create a softer outline. Throughout the process fluff out the coat. This will allow you to scissor the coat evenly. Double check the legs to ensure they are symmetrical. Brush the coat down and outwards when rounding the paw edges. Insert your shears your curved shears at a 45 degree angle to get that perfect round paw. When you're happy with your groom give the coat a final brush up and tidy up any stray hairs. Be sure to clean up the armpits and flank areas removing any out of place hairs. Aim for a smooth neat and balanced outline as your end result and voila you are done! If you enjoyed today's video please leave a comment in the section below. Send us some suggestions of content that you would like to see next time and we're here to educate so send us all your questions via our social media channels or even straight direct to me via email. Thank you so much for watching and remember to hit the subscribe and like button if you've learned something new today. Thank you for watching, stay fur fabulous!