Hello. I have been asked to groom a Pek-a-poo-poodle mix dog, but I have yet to encounter this type of dog - is this a real breed?? I have groomed Pekinese and Poodles before but am now sure how to go about this as I was trained not to cut the Pekenise's hair. I haven't seen any pictures so I can't even say what he looks like.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.

When you set eyes on it you will probably know instinctively what to do.....run a mile!!!! No, only kidding, I expect the owner will give you a clue as to what she wants, but if you get the dreaded " I will leave it up to you, you're the professional" cop out, then I guess an inch all over teddy cut would suit it.
good luck

Thank you Sam, I appreciate your help.

It probably depends all on if the hair is curly like a poodle or straight like a Pekinese Personally, I'd follow Sam's very good advice and run :D :D
good luck
toodles

Looking at some of the American sites they are clipped like a Shih-tzu, Shorter body with longer head coat and long tail, but I'd check with the owner first, rather you than me!!

Hi again. One more question regarding grooming so I hope you don't mind. I seem to keep being asked to do the yukky dogs, and now a St.Bernard crossed with a GSD - which apparantly is matted and her owner is constantly cutting out dreadlocks. Now I've already been advised not to clip or cut this dog in anyway as the hair won't grow back, but to be honest this sounds like a really awful job if I have to try and dematt this dog when I know the owner won't continue once I leave. Now i have commited myself and want to see it through, but if the worse senario came up and I can't get the knots out, would the dogs hair really not grow back if I clip it???
Thanks for your help.

Yes it WILL GROW BACK in fact it will most likely grow fluffier than before, so not good if owner is useless. If it were me I would clip it all off with Oster 7F!

Just chop the lot off if the owner cant cope then the dog is better off having no coat. I doubt very much that it wont grow back. I always shave off dogs that are extremely matted and if the person doesnt like it then they can learn to keep control of the coat themselves!

When a dog is shaved for an OP. it is likely most of the coat will grow back, but it is possible that some of the area will not re-grow. Have had this happen to one of mine recently, when an area was shaved to deal with a cyst. Jackie H

As it is (supposedly) warmer, the dog will be more comfortable without all that hair anyway! I would definitly tell the owner it is kinder for the dog to be shaved than to have the matts combed out at this stage. And I am quite sure the hair will grow back. It's constantly, naturally, shedding and replacing hair isn't it? Even the no-shed breeds do this but on a smaller scale.

Jackie,
Is it possible that scar tissue is preventing the hair from growing back, rather than the act of shaving itself?

I did have a bitch scanned for pregnancy, but the specialist vet that did the scanning thought he was checking for Ovarian Cysts, as she had had a prolonged season a year earlier.

He asked if he could shave her a little, as I was stood around her other side I did not see that he clipped a 4 inch square on her flank!!! I assumed he was shaving a bit underneath.

He had cut so close that she had several nicks, and it took months for any hair to grow, and a full year before there were guard haiors in any number.

I dealt with a relatives completely matted Samoyed on an amature basis, as had been begged to board him, and was shocked at the state of his coat!

I found that the top inch of his coat had been groomed using a pin brush, and that the whole undercoat dead and new was solid fleece! I cut off all his coat to about what I thought was an inch all over with kitchen scissors. I bought a matt splitter comb, that looks like a set of knives mounted side ways. this I used to get at the matted coat, and just cut by combing. This took me 3 days! I was amazed when I was done that he had about 4 inches of puppy looking coat. I cut the area on inside of back legs and armpits short, and all the belly around his penis and testicles, leaving the sides alone, so that he still looked coated.

I bought detangling spray, a pair of thinning scissors and the matt splitter, and showed his loving but struggling owner how to cope with the dogs candyfloss (castrated male) coat!

I saw him again a year later, looking a bit scruffy, but no longer smelly and matted!

B,
We had the class guinea pig last weekend. She is a long haired breed and hadn't been combed for a very long time. Her back end was like felt! We clipped it off with a tiny pair of scissors. Took about 30 mins. Under her fur she had a little lump under her skin which we figured we would tell the teachers about. The day we were to return her, a little opening had formed on top of the lump. Well, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I squeezed it to see what would come out.......ugh........I get nauseated just thinking about it! It seemed like it would NEVER empty! Lord knows how much bigger it would have gotten if I hadn't cut all that matted hair off! She has now fully recovered. :)

No Quinn, a large area was clipped inorder to clean and drain the cyst but the place the hair has not grown back is not near where the cyst was. It is under where the tail curls over and may be lack of air, but that seems strange as the hair must grow there under normal circumstances. Jackie H

Thanks Jackie,
I learn something new every day! :)

Hi Quinn, I think you may be right about scar tissue. When Daisy was 12 weeks old she broke her leg badly. The vet shaved a tiny area on her leg
for the drip/injections site, and that tiny bit of fur has never grown back, and she is nearly three now.

PLEASE, please don't tell me any more horror stories about shaved dogs' hair not growing back. Lewis is 25% bald as a coot and 25% military haircut at the moment :-)!

Hi Sharon, dont fret honey, Lewis coat WILL grow back I promise!!! Ive never had a wolfie yet whose coat hasnt returned lol :)

LOL Phil! A reverse hemi-poodle cut on a wolfhound has a certain je ne sais quoi, but I don't think it will ever catch on :-).