# Hair length for winter?



## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

Oliver has gone from the cutest thing on the planet (in my biased opinion) to 'awe, he's so ugly he's cute'. I was trying to let his hair just do its thing for the winter and have him groomed in spring - but I've butchered trimming the hair around his eyes, and the rest of his hair is getting poofy and scraggly and long.

Right now his hair is about 4 inches...is there a length I could have it trimmed to that would still offer him some warmth but be more manageable? He's 11lbs and lives in New England, and he is outside a lot. He has jackets but I leave them off when possible, and he only really shows discomfort when he gets wet and it's cold, understandably. 

Or maybe I should just suck it up and let him look homeless til spring? I can manage the hair, he doesn't seem to mat easily and he gets bathed regularly because he rolls in the stinkiest stuff he can find. He just looks really bad lol.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Two inches would provide him with some protection without being scraggely or easily matted. Length itself, after a certain point, isn't providing extra warmth.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I agree that length itself isn't going to keep him that warm, especially if he's a single coated dog without an undercoat he may be cold no matter how long his hair is. Two inches should be fine.


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## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

Okay, thank you both! He is single coated so you're probably right that the length won't do much to keep him warm. Looks like someone is getting a haircut.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

What kind of dog is he? I have a four months old Golden Retriever x Poodle with a bit of Aussie. She has the scruffiest coat and I can hardly wait till spring to clip her off. I did finally clip her feet off as the snow kept balling up on the hair. It would be pretty hard to just shorten her coat up as she has no undercoat.


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## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

Kyllobernese said:


> What kind of dog is he? I have a four months old Golden Retriever x Poodle with a bit of Aussie. She has the scruffiest coat and I can hardly wait till spring to clip her off. I did finally clip her feet off as the snow kept balling up on the hair. It would be pretty hard to just shorten her coat up as she has no undercoat.


 He's a poodle mix, supposedly a Pomeranian x Poodle but he's looks more like 3/4 poodle and 1/4 schnauzer. Super curly hair, but it's getting so long it's weighed down and shaggy looking. But sounds like we're in the same boat! I don't know how long your dog's coat is, but from what the posters above have said and a little research it seems like it'd be okay to trim down to 2 inches and clean up the face/beard (my guy has a beard that drives me nuts at least, lol). 

Groomers have the tools to just trim the hair, like they do on Bichons and Poodles, etc, for the show ring. So it can be shortened and neatened up while keeping some length.


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## MysticRealm (May 30, 2007)

In all honesty 2 inches is a VERY long hair cut. He's likely going to come out looking like a fat marshmallow, and it may cost you more than a typical teddy bear cut because we don't have snap-on combs long enough to clip the hair to that long of a length which means it will all need to be hand scissored (most good groomers do scissor teddy bear coats but the length is set with a snap-on so they have to do a lot less work to get it even with the scissors), and if you wanted the dog to have any real shape some parts would need to be shorter than that to create the look. 
I'd say go for an inch on the body (generally the longest snap-on available), with a longer scissor leg and a bit more length on the head.
Something like this
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=7b486390dba76c19c0dba217bc6c9710&oe=56E6405F

or this (before and after shot)
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=01eac4c90b63ac4b0d5b1165a0eba27d&oe=571EAFD1

or this
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=0de2395f27b0978e4ce2632a4214770f&oe=56D87736

Don't wait till spring, you may think you're managing his hair, but likely he will have matts that you can't tell he has and he will likely have to be stripped short (and be in discomfort during the winter due to the matts forming and tightening) a 1 inch hair length, especially with a coat if necessary with serve you very well.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I have clipped a lot of poodles over the years but Bonnie's coat is not as curly and lies flat so just would not look like those pictures no matter what I did. Luckily she loves to be groomed and will lie down while I do one side, then I roll her over and do the other side so she has no matting as I can comb her right down to the skin as her hair is fairly thin, not like a dog with undercoat.

Looking forward to spring when I can clip everybody down as that is when I do the Shih Tzu x Maltese.


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## MysticRealm (May 30, 2007)

2 of the 3 dogs I posted pics of do not have curly coats in any way, and only one of those dogs is a poodle cross (the only one with some curl in its hair). I posted for the OP, and I posted just to show lengths of long cuts that are shorter and more manageable/flattering than 2".
I'd be interested to see a pic of your dog to see what a pro groomer could do with the coat. I shorten coats on lots of dogs with no undercoat.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

This is the coat that Bonnie has.


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## MysticRealm (May 30, 2007)

Looks like a very typical young dog coat, very similar to a lot of similar types of crosses. Though most puppy coats aren't the funnest to work with, they certainly can be made to look nice in a cut similar to what I was posting above.
This dog has a similar coat type, maybe a bit thicker but with a similar slight wave, and properly blow dryed it comes out looking just fine
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=6754fdc038df44d9998461d6e36eaff3&oe=56E61B45


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

As a future poodle owner, I will likely be in this boat as well, I want to learn how to clip them myself, and have clipped dogs before (even my parent's JRT who has SUPER sensitive skin) but getting the feet, and the face to look good is the only thing that worries me.


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## superblade (Dec 19, 2015)

I think you should groom him slightly, not too much. or you'll mess up his hair


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## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

I ended up scissor clipping him myself, and he came out great, for anyone who was wondering. Not nice and fluffy like a groomer did it, but his face, tummy, paws, and rear end are cleaned up nicely.


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