Are you thinking of giving your Poodle a Lamb cut? That is a classic poodle style that Monsieur Marcelis created for a Dutch princess in 1932.
About the Poodle Lamb Trim
Groomers shave the Poodle’s face, tail, and feet with the Lamb cut, but the tail and topknot remain the same length as the rest of his body. A professional groomer can select the length, depending on your dog’s lifestyle and your taste.
Some groomers leave hair on the Poodle’s legs longer to prevent them from looking like toothpicks. It takes on a more modern style than traditional clips, with the most significant difference being the curly coat’s continual smoothness without harsh lines.
The Lamb cut is growing in popularity among pet owners because it has a simple appearance and low-maintenance grooming requirements. It’s also a very versatile and customizable trim, suitable not only for Poodles but other dog breeds!
Whether you own Standard Poodles, Miniature Poodles, or Toy Poodles, you’ll find this trim looking adorable on your dog!
How to Do the Poodle Lamb Clip
While Poodle owners can attempt executing the Lamb clip, it’s best to take your dog to a professional pet stylist. If you are unfamiliar with grooming your dog, an advanced stylist can provide the aesthetic finishes you want. It might also be safer for you and your dog, as you’ll be working with curved shears, comb attachments, and other grooming tools. If misused, it can cause injury.
But if you’re familiar with how to conduct a grooming session for your Poodle, you can follow these steps:
- Begin by clipping from your Poodle’s head base beneath his ears. Then, go down the top and under his neck, following the direction f his hair growth.
- Lift your Poodle’s leg, clipping under his arms and along the chest until the groin.
- Clip your Poodle’s neck until above his shoulder level, down the back until his tail, right above his hips. Afterward, clip along and downward your dog’s rib cage until the groin.
- Clip your Poodle’s groin and stomach, trimming hair from the genital area. Be very careful and hold your Poodle’s sensitive areas as you groom for safety.
- Using a slicker brush and wide-toothed comb, brush your Poodle’s entire body, including the tail and topknot. Remove all the tangles and use mat-breakers if necessary.
- Bathe your Poodle in the dog shampoo and quality dog conditioner, which helps with trimming.
- Blow dry your dog, brushing his body hair in sections from his legs upward. Use a slicker or pin brush. As you dry your dog, inspect his ears, teeth, and nails, cleaning them as well.
- Clean all the clipped areas, then hem your Poodle’s leg hair by neatening and blending his hair’s edges from the bottom of his legs, above the toes.
- Scissor your Poodle’s legs, following the body’s contours. You can also use a silhouette line. Hold your scissors from an angle and point upwards when doing the contour edge, continuing the bottom to top. Afterward, take the other line, blending it to the first line. Don’t cut crossways unless you’re hemming across your dog’s toes. Then, trim the area using the scissors at a slight angle, pointing upward or downward but, again, never crossways unless you’re hemming.
- Skim across your dog’s entire body hair, blending in the stray hairs. You can work down from your dog’s body to the feet as long as you get the proper finish.
- Hold your Poodle’s muzzle and comb his head hair forward, scissoring a topknot across his eyes and upwards. Comb your Poodle’s hair to the left, trimming across the top of his ears and back of his neck. Repeat this step on the other side.
- Trim over the top and leave a topknot, ensuring your Poodle can see correctly.
- Finish with the tail by holding it in one hand from the end of his dock. Cut the area straight across, letting the hair fall. Then, comb outwards.
- Hold up your dog’s tail from the tip, combing the hair outward. Scissor the tail and get a rounded appearance. If your dog has a long tail, trim it into a brush, similar to a Golden Retriever.
- Look at your dog and check if there are any stray hairs to trim and blend. If not, then congratulations, you just finished trimming your dog’s entire coat!
From here, you can follow basic coat maintenance for your Poodle. Brush your dog’s curly hair daily to maintain the body coat’s shape, and bathe him every month, as needed.