Our Poochon Curly

Well, this weekend coming up, on the 4th to be exact, our little goof ball is turning 2. Time really flies.

I don't know what to do for his birthday. The "frosty paws" last years was a bust...LOL.

Perhaps a cake made of canned food and kibble? I am kind of looking forward to making a cake for him.

The kids want to get him toys, but I swear if I have to perform surgery on one more stuffed animal... I am gonna SCREAM! LOL I have done leg amputations, plastic surgery, butt tuck, ear clip...NO STUFFY IS SAFE!

Oh and the un-stuffed animals, you know, the ones with no filler? Well, let me tell you, he slit that open on day 1!

Vinyl toys..NO!

Any ideas?

:D

I work as a Vet Tech and one of our clients brought in a litter of 'designer breed' dogs. They are considered Poo-chons, which is a mix of Poodle and Bichon-Frise. I didn't care. To me, he was a mixed breed. But, I fell in love at first sight!

My husband and I tried to think of a few names. When I was holding him in my arms, looking at him, I noticed curly his fur was. I suggested it to my husband and VOILA...our newest family member was named Curly!

When I first got Curly, I wasn't concerned about grooming him. I figured I could do it at home, no problem. As he got a little older, I decided to bring him in to work and have my co-worker and friend, Denise help me with him. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I had to do.

What we did to groom Curly that day was clip around his face, first. We clipped the hair away from his eyes with a clipper (shaver/buzzer) and brought the hair down pretty low, but not showing skin. You can do maintain this with a man's beard trimmer once you've had the initial clipping done.

Next we clipped his ears and beard. Basically, you hold the edge of the ear in your one hand, and then use sharp grooming scissors to cut below that. By doing it that way, you avoid cutting his ear (it is covered with your fingers) and you trim off the scraggly, dirty hair that picks up food and dirt when their nose is to the ground. For the beard, you first brush it out with a slicker brush to straighten the hair and remove any foreign material. Then just use the straight scissors and clip away a line parallel to the jaw, only taking off about a half-inch at a time. Alternate sides so that the cut is relatively even.

Next we worked on the body. We gave him a 1-inch "puppy cut". This means that his entire body is shaved down to one inch. It may sound like a lot to cut off, but it leaves a nice amount of hair to keep them warm and creates a universal hair length. We did this with the clippers (shaver/buzzer) and a 1-inch blade. You can use a regular blade with a 1-inch "guard", but I have found that too often the hair curls up too much and gets caught in the guard. When that happens, you don't get an even cut, and more times than not, you pull the hair, which is uncomfortable for puppy.

To groom the body, you follow the hair pattern. Starting at the back of the neck, go down the center of the back, along the spine. Then go back to your starting point and follow the same line, slightly over lapping the area you just shaved. As you go around the center of the body, be sure to follow the hair growth. On our little guy, his hair grows from the spine down to his abdomen, along the side of his body. We simply followed that line and shaved. Continue until the whole body is shaved.

Make sure that you also clip the area around the tail base and rectum. You want this area to stay very short to minimize stool getting caught on the hair back there. You probably want to use a 1/2 inch or even shorter blade for this area. Be sure to clean the blade well after using. Only clip the underside of the tail so as to not "ruin" the look of his or her fluffy tail.

You can use the same size blade for in between the toes and pad on the underside of puppy's feet. Clipping the hair just short enough so it does not cover the pad. I usually just shave whatever is sticking out between the toes. I don't dig in between the toes, because clippers can cause irritation and that is not a comfortable feeling, especially in-between the toes.

We used scissors for the tail and legs. Find the end of your puppy's tail, after brushing out the hair. Once you have your fingers securely on the tip of the tail, protecting it, you may cut anywhere beyond that. I usually just cut off about an inch of hair at the end. This left plenty of room from the end of the hair to the tip of his tail. For the legs, you will want to brush them out well. When you cut the hair on the legs, always stay parallel to the leg itself. Go along the outer edge of the hair on the legs and using the whole scissor, cut away the fluff on the edge. You can continually brush and cut as you see how short it is getting, until you reach the desired look. Be sure that you never go towards the leg with the scissor blades/tip, because you may cut their skin. You can also just just the clipper with the i-1inch blade and shave down the legs if you'd like.

After you have finished that, giving puppy a quick bath to get rid of loose hair and relax them a bit. Towel dry and brush out their hair. Then, give them a great treat and some time to rest. Some puppies tolerate hair dryers (mine does NOT). If that is the case, you the coolest warm setting you have and use it on the low speed. Dry the dog from head to tail. Again, let them rest with a great treat.

Once puppy is fully dry, go over them completely with a slicker brush. Fluff them out completely and see if the grooming matches your desired look. If so, continue with ear cleaning and toe nail trim. If your poochon has particularly hairy ears be sure to pluck out some of that hair EVERY time you bathe them. Dry out their ears well with cotton and q-tips. Do not fear hurting their ear drum. You could NEVER hit the ear drum with your finger or q-tip because of the way a dog's inner ear is designed (think a backwards "L") You want to keep the ears dry because floppy ear dogs often get ear infections. Keeping the hair inside to a minimum helps the ears get rid of wax easier and let's air flow keep them dry. Make sure your dry the ears well after every bath or when swimming. If you smell something unusual coming from the ears, let your Veterinarian know so they can evaluate the ears. Yeast infections are a common problem with floppy ear dogs. They can be easily treated when handled at the onset.

That is how we groom our poochon, Curly. If I can be of further help, please let me know.

We all have fun throwing things around for him to fetch. He slides back and forth down the hallway retrieving his toys and most times brings them back.

As a Vet Tech, I have seen a LOT of mis-matched family/pet combos. Please, be sure to do your research.

NEVER buy on impulse!

Always be sure to know the breed standards, downfalls (every breed has them), lifestyle requirements, etc. Even if you are looking to adopt from a shelter. Try to find out what breed or mix of breeds the dog is so you know what their energy level may be, grooming requirements, lifestyle needs, etc.

It is SO important to get a dog that fits your lifestyle and you can provide them every thing they need. A person living in an apartment probably shouldn't buy a Cane Corso and a person with alleriges probably shouldn't buy a Shepherd or Akita.

Also, find out what your homeowners insurance will say about your breed choice (some frown on Shepherds, Rottweilers, Pitbulls, etc.) and you need to know that BEFORE you buy.

Buy or adopt a dog that you fits YOU, not one that has a fancy name (Golden Doodle, LabraDoodle, Poochon, etc.)

Look into pet insurance or opening a savings account for pet health needs.

Look in to training material (or a trainer), grooming needs (or a groomer), find a Vet you trust, and so on.

DO YOUR RESEARCH! Know what you are getting in to. And, if you have a family, make it a family decision!

Working in a veterinary office, I often hear our clients purchasing products from 1-800-Pet-Meds. They have given great service and in some cases, our clients have saved some money. Our office does aim to be comparable to purchasing elsewhere, but a great bargain is nothing to meow at. :)

To shop around at PetMeds, just click on Curly's picture to go right there. :)

Everytime I let him outside, you could tell he was thrown off by how deep he sank in to the snow. And, I'm not cruel, I swear I shoveled that area a few times for him. Yet, everytime he'd go out, it was a few inches deep. But, he'd hop around like a bunny. Then, once you let him back in, he was quick to bark to go back out again. Funny!

I couldn't take the camera outside, but I snapped his picture through the glass/screen storm door.