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How Often Should I Groom My Standard Poodle?

Hands holding out grooming tools around an apricot colored poodle isolated on a white background

Taking Care of Your Pet Goes Beyond Feeding

Poodle hair is a lot like human hair. It does not stop growing. Also, like humans, poodle puppies can get dirty, which means they will need a bath from time to time. Taking care of your pet means you have to schedule bath and grooming times

To learn more about these activities just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about so you can properly care for your pet. Unlike humans, poodles and other dogs cannot do these activities by themselves. You have to be there to give them a helping hand.

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How Often Should My Poodle be Groomed

Blurred image of a calendar

When they are small and have not been weaned, poodle puppies’ mothers handle the cleaning duties. You just get to enjoy their presence and let the mother do all the work.

However, once the puppy or puppies have been weaned, you must take over those duties and do it for the mother. The timing is important. The first bath or trip to the groomers must wait until the first vaccines have been administered and are over for the year.

A bath during that time may have some influence on how those vaccines work. This means you may have to wait till the puppy is 3-months old before you give it its first bath. From that point on, your puppy should get a bath about once a month or every 35 days.

Then when you bathe your cute puppy, you should use breed-specific shampoos and conditioners, as well as other products. Generic products will work but may not be the best products to use on poodles.

When you bathe your pet, it is a good idea to check to see if their nails need clipping. This is another task a dog cannot do on their own and they rely on you to make sure those nails do not get too long.

How to Clip My Poodle

Apricot poodle being shaved

There are some steps to follow in order to get your poodle trimmed and groomed just right. Clipping your pet’s fur should be done roughly every 45 days, give or take 5 days either way. This is up to your preference of course.

Here are the steps to take if you are going to do this task yourself:


1. Brush your pet’s fur with a pin brush. Look for mats, etc., and brush from front to back, then head to toe.

2. Remove those mats you find by holding them away from your dog’s body, then brushing the mat back towards their skin. Watch out that you do not pull or tug the matted hair

3. Take up your scissors in your cutting hand and pull the fur tight with the other. Start at the nape of the neck and move down towards their back. Start small as you can take more off but can’t put any back on. About 1/4 inch to start is a good benchmark to use.

Hand holding the snout of a poodle to get it to stand still for grooming. against a white background

4. Next, holding your dog’s nose, start cutting down their throat and neck area, then go over their chest and cut that hair away. After that, have your pet roll over so you can trim her stomach hair. Just be careful not to cut the teats on a female dog. The length of this hair is up to your preference.

5. Now that the neck, back, throat, chest, etc., have been done, it is time to move onto the legs. Start at the top and head toward the floor. Then go from the end of the foot to the ankle area. Stop at the ankle unless you want your dog to look like he or she is wearing socks.

6. With those parts done, flip your dog’s foot over and clip between the pads and toes.

7. You are almost done. When the feet are completed, use a blunt-edged pair of scissors and trim their face. Go close to their skin and trim the eyebrows and topnotch. The latter portion should be longer than the body hair.

Once you have done all of this, you are done.

Some Final Words

White poodle with its head turned away from the camera being brushed.

Grooming is part of life when you own a dog. Hopefully, your pet does not fight during this time as that activity can cause them to get cut accidentally. You may have to use restraints if they do to protect your pet from harm.

After a bath, let your dog dry first before letting them outside. Dogs like to roll in the dirt once they are clean so keep the mess to a minimum by not letting them go out wet.

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