by Blake Hernandez
oodles are a very special breed, every groomer knows that! While every other breed has one or maybe two “acceptable” trims, the poodle has many, as well as an endless amount of “permissible” trims that achieve poodle balance and quality.
The trims that are allowed to be exhibited in the AKC ring are what we would consider “acceptable,” simply because any other trim would have to be excused from evaluation. The acceptable trims for poodles are: Show Puppy trim, English Saddle, Continental and HCC. Aside from the HCC, the other three trims have what’s called a “sprayed-up topknot,” which has rubber bands and hairspray layered in the hair to achieve the volume required for the outline.
Fig 1) Pictured here is a Show Puppy trim. These trims tend to give the dog an appearance of a longer neck with the increased height of the topknot.
Then we get into permissible poodle trims. I categorize them this way because whether someone is familiar with poodles or not, if they see them in one of these trims they will still instantly recognize the breed and its “poodley” appearance. These basically break down into two categories: modern and retro.
The modern category leaves hair covering the majority of the skin, including the back of the neck (crest) and a scissored topknot. This would include a Modern Lamb trim, German trim, Desi trim or Swirl trim.
Fig 2) Pictured here is a German-style Swirl trim.
Fig 3) Pictured here is a Bolero trim.
Next are freestyle trims. Freestyle trims are usually those that make the dog look like a generic teddy pet with full feet and scissored muzzles. But the beauty is that now with all your poodle knowledge, you can add carved-pattern flare if you choose to make it more poodle specific.
Fig 4) This trim is freestyle, but it has a Rio Bandero line and an English Saddle thigh pattern, and is lovingly referred to as a San Diego Saddle.
Finally, we have breed transformations, which refer to making the poodle look like any other breed. Because you are making them look like a different breed, it means having a high understanding of the other breed so that you can trim and scissor your dog into a more convincing shape. This would be doing things like taking a poodle very tight and flattening the ribs to make them look more like a Bedlington, or leaving one fuller through the loin and a round head to make them more like a Bichon.
Fig 5) This is a poodle groomed to look like a Bedlington.
Fall in love with playing with the rules and mixing trims you have never seen combined before.
Fig 6) Be the “Poodle King” and “have it your way!”