Even if you plan to have your Poodle professionally groomed, you will need a convenient grooming workstation at home with some grooming tools. It can be in your kitchen, basement, laundry room, or anywhere with an available sink or tub for dog bathing. It should be draft-free, with good lighting, storage space, and access to electric outlets. Toys and Minis can be placed on a table for grooming, but you may want to train your Poodle to hop up.

Use a treat to lure him up, giving a command like jump or table when he does. Use the stay command to keep him there. A grooming arm and noose will help to keep him still during grooming, but you should never leave him unattended in a grooming nose.

Here’s some Poodle grooming tools, you will need to have, if you decide to do yourself the grooming:

✓    A  slicker brush for thick coats
✓    A pin brush for brushing longer portions of the coat
✓    A steel comb with rounded teeth, half fine-spaced, half medium-spaced. Teeth should be 1,5 inches long for Standards, 1 inch long for Miniatures, and 3/4 inch long for Toys to ensure that they penetrate completely through the coat to the skin.
✓    Stainless steel scissors, both straight and curved (7inch for Toys and Miniatures, 8-10 inch for Standards)
✓    Blunt tipped scissors
✓    Guillotine type nail trimmer or nail grinder
✓    Styptic powder
✓    Ear cleaning solution and ear powder
✓    Hemostat or tweezers to remove excess hair from ear canals
✓    Doggy toothpaste and toothbrush or gauze pads for dental cleaning
✓    Coat conditioning spray
✓    Detangling spray
✓    pH-balanced shampoo and conditioner for harsh coats
✓    Grooming table or similar nonskid surface
✓    Grooming arm and noose (optional)
✓    Hair dryer
✓    Clamp to attach a handheld dryer to a table (optional). Drying time will be shorter if you invest in a forced-air dryer or a stand dryer.
✓    Electric clipper, blades, and accessories to maintain blades and clipper

Combs and brushes from the dog food isle of the grocery store are economical, but they cost more than good-quality ones in the long run. They wear out quickly, they don’t do a thorough job, and they cause coat damage that encourages matting. You will pay more for equipment from retailers specializing in top-of-the-line grooming tools, but this is a worthwhile investment. Poodle care is labor intensive, and frequent grooming is the only way to minimize this workload. Groom your Poodle consistently and you will not face tedious tasks like dematting.

You are less likely to accidentally trim a nail too short if you trim his nails regularly. His skin will be less sensitive and prone to clipper rash if he is clipped frequently.  Most of all, he will learn to accept this as a daily part of his life, and grooming will never turn into a stressful confrontation.

If your Poodle doesn’t need daily brushing, alternate grooming chores like teeth cleaning, nail trimming, and brushing. Every session, place him on a table for a two minute exam to check for rashes, fleas, mats, injuries, and general body condition.

Puppies should be familiarized with grooming from eight weeks of age, including bathing, blow drying, nail trimming, and clipping. At this age, daily practice is essential to accustom your Poodle to each aspect of grooming that will become part of his adult life. He should be trained to stand and lie on a table. Without his cooperation, it will be impossible to completely brush his coat. Use specific commands to let him know when to lie on his side, turn around, and hold still for detail work.