Mixed Breed Grooming?

Learning the art of breed specific grooming is expected of every professional groomer. However, most groomers face many work days when half or more the pets they groom are "mixed breed" pets, a combination of two or more breeds as opposed to "purebred." A strong background in breed standard grooming facilitates the mixed breed groomer.

Sunny Photo: Friends of PetGroomer.com Photo Gallery

There is an art to mixed breed grooming; it just isn't celebrated like the competitive art of purebred styling. More important mixed breed grooming is in demand by millions of pet owners, and that means being a skilled mixed breed groomer is very practical.

Mixed Breed Basics

Since there are no breed standard rules to how to groom any mixed breed, there's a lot open territory to come up with a design. The most important factors are:

Primary Breed Appearance
Pet Owner and Pet Lifestyle
Pet Owner Desires
Coat Characteristics

Of course, as the groomer you incorporate all of these factors, and a dash of creativity, and go for it!

We strongly suggest professional groomers keep a photo album of various mixed breed styles they offer, and share it with pet owners deciding on an appropriate style. You will find a great reduction in disappointed pet owners who thought the "look" you described with words alone was something quite different.

Primary Breed Appearance

A professional groomer looks at the overall appearance of a mixed breed pet and determines what breed is dominant. For example, a "Cock-A-Poo" usually appears more Cocker or more Poodle. Once the dominant breed is determined, consider how the pet would like in a breed standard grooming for the dominant breed. You're not likely going to perform that style, but it helps you to discover the design obstacles and start thinking about other alternatives.

"Lonnie" in the picture above was a Cock-A-Poo and had many Poodle characteristics. Her style was very much like a Poodle, but certainly she didn't have "Poodle feet" (clipped short) and her tail was long and only lightly scissored. Also, her coat was clipped and scissored about 1 inch all over without a "pattern and clipped neck. Still Lonnie had the essence of a Poodle styling, and that matched her dominant breed appearance.

In review, we started with a Poodle-like trim and then subtracted common features of Poodle styling like clipped feet, a pattern and shaped tail.

If a pet looks more like a Terrier than a Poodle, a Poodle-type styling probably won't look right, but using your creativity you may be to add a few Poodle touches. Use the same logic in creating all styling suggestions.

Pet Owner and Pet Lifestyle

Ask about the active lifestyle of the pet owner and their pet. You may discover that they participate in outdoor recreation and sports, or the dog spends most of its time outside. In this case, a shorter maintenance cut might be appropriate for them. If the dog gets wet in a pool at home, playing in sprinklers and other outdoor activities, and the pet has a coat that matts, you have even more reason to suggest a shorter maintenance cut.

Pet Owner Desires

Unless they're a new mixed breed pet owner, most new customers will arrive with an idea of what they want their pet to look like when finished. You need to listen carefully. Of course, you may hear something that is impractical. You need to learn the diplomacy of politely explaining why it would not be appropriate for the pet. You cannot be a groomer that refuses to style their way just because you don't approve.

One of the easiest tests to see how much the mixed breed owner of a Poodle mix favors Poodle-like styling is to ask about their preferences for a short clipped neck, short clipped feet and a pattern. Very few Poodle mixed breed owners favor these styling attributes unless the pet shows little evidence of being anything other than a Poodle.

Coat Characteristics

The dominant breed appearance is usually evident from the coat, but with mixed breeds be prepared for exceptions! Part of the body may have a Terrier-like coat, and the rest a Poodle-like coat.

You need to determine the coat characteristics and try to plan a style appropriate to the coat. Don't fight the coat characteristics to produce a style. It won't work out in the long run.

Blade Chart for Mixed Breed Grooming