A Dreamy Poodle

A very fluffy Huxtable

I really do love the look of brown and white parti poodles. Their chocolate faces, amber brown eyes, liver colored noses, lips, and paws. Just so adorable, I can't wait to get another poodle. I think I'll get a girl, either parti colored -or- lately I've been considering a solid chocolate girl which would match Huxtable adorably as well. 

Toy Parti Poodle

Toy Poodle

Sporty Pooch: Toy Poodle & Basketball

Huxtable has a new hobby, shooting hoops with mom and dad at the park. He can't quite dunk, but he loves the cardio of running up and down the court :-)

Huxtable's New Cut: Low Poodle Clip

A few months ago, little Hux was in need of a cut. Although I was giving him his brushings, it seemed like he was growing a new layer of hair underneath which caused lots and lots of tangles and some mattes... (sadface). So I was basically forced into getting Huxtable clipped down (extra sadface). And because he had to be cut down I decided to try one of my favorite short poodle clips.  I'm not exactly sure if this clip has a name, but a white poodle by the name of Gunther sports it on the regular and looks so handsome! Huxtable isn't a standard poodle so I figured the clip probably couldn't look exactly the same, but I hoped it would look very similar, neat and attractive (plus top knot).

 Gunther in his lovely short cut. 

The groomer did an excellent job on the clip, but I found the ears and hair to be a little lacking. A little bit of tangled/matted hair had to be cut from his head and ears as well so I'm thinking he just left all the hair he could so that he wouldn't have to grow too much back, but I wish he would have evenly clipped the ears and blended the top knot or atleast styled it in a complementary way. All in all I was happy with the results, he really does know how to blend. I can't stress how important it is to have a groomer that owns a poodle-- I think it really makes a difference. 

I have a couple pics of Huxtable in his new clip... they're sort of blurry since they're from my cell phone. I wish I would have gotten one at the groomers like I usually do.

I think the clip came out cute, just like Gunthers-- low in the middle, then fuller on the arms and legs, fluffy tail, and neatly cut poodle feet. 

 Toy parti poodle in short clip; 
After some research I realized it's a model / town and country clip. It''s like a blend between a lamb clip and a town and country. 

I'm going to try and find more pics of the clip so hopefully there's more to come

Huxtable the Poodle

Huxtable, a chocolate and white toy poodle, casually poses giving me a "pretty boy" look. 

Hipster Poodle: Vintage Glasses and T-shirt

Huxtable, the hipster poodle, sporting vintage brown and clear reading glasses and a red and black American Apparel ringer t-shirt.

Happy Thanksgiving: Poodle in the Autumn Leaves

Huxtable, the Poodle in golden brown fall leaves. 

Huxtable out for his morning walk in the park, on a windy Fall day. Pretty golden leaves around him, and his hair blowing in the wind :) Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Day!

A Poodle Wake-Up Call

I know Cesar (Millan) says to not let your dog wake you up and dictate when they want to go in and out, but sometimes it's nice to have a cute, furry alarm of the canine variety. Especially when you've already hit the snooze buttons too many times. 

Ultimate Driving Machine, the Poodle

       Toy Poodle in the front seat of his BMW

Huxtable decided it was time for him to get in the driver seat and maybe have a go at it. Parti poodles are pretty darn smart, luckily he's only a toy poodle and not a standard poodle, otherwise he may have taken off, lol. 

Check out Huxtable riding shot gun in the BMW above (in his car seat), here. 

Safety First: Pampered Pooch in Car Seat

Toy Poodle in car seat

Huxtable on the way to his vet... wondering why he has to be in a carseat and can't just sit on mom's lap. This carseat really has faired well though, from puppyhood to a year it comfortably seats my little 5.5lb toy poodle. In the future when I have two dogs I'll probably get one large car seat instead of two small ones... idk though. This dog car seat could easily fit two less-furry toy dogs, like Chihuahuas. 

More on this dog car seat above, here. 

Tux: Competition Black Parti Toy Poodle

Tux, black parti toy poodle

I found this photo of a cuuuuute little toy poodle named Tux. And of course he reminded me of Hux b/c of his name, size, and parti pattern. Tux is an award winning competition poodle. 

http://sky.securenet-server.net/~cascade/competitions.html

Toy Parti Poodle Cut: Continental Clip

Huxtable on the grooming table

Toy Poodle in Continental Clip (no rosettes)

This was hand's down my favorite cut/grooming Huxtable has yet. The groomer has two poodles himself -and- he used to do dog shows on a regular which really showed. I loved how Hux looked so happy while being groomed by a new groomer, which indicated how great the groomer had to be, not to mention Hux was a perfect round poodle ball, lol. I had originally wanted the Scandanavian Puppy Clip, but he didn't have enough fur on one part of his leg since he had just gotten his teeth pulled. The veterinarian had to shave off part of his front leg fur for the I.V. Therefore a Continental Clip was the best option. The finished product was so lovely, everyone loooooved it! The groomer told me that the front leg bracelets are actually a bit lower than they're "supposed" to be due to the fur that the veterinarian shaved off, but he worked with it, made them even and it looked great :). 

The groomer and I had a long conversation, ranging in "poodle topics", one of which included some of the industry/poodle grooming/show dog trade secrets, lol. He told me how show dogs usually wear hair extensions to make their top knots and "manes" so super full. People sell their poodle's hair after they have completed and gotten their  "CH" (champion) title, and supposedly the hair goes for top dollar, especially if the particular color or shade of poodle is less common (silvers, blues, partis). So all the perfect full-maned super long hair show poodles have a head full of extensions and hairspray, lol, quite hilarious to me. He told me that some judges are getting more tough with the rules and aren't allowing extensions and hairspray, but for the most part it still goes on. Very very interesting stuff!

He also mentioned loving that Huxtable was a "true toy" poodle. Supposedly there aren't a lot of "true toys" these days-- they're either too small or too big. I guess so many people want the "teacup" dogs that they're becoming more and more commonplace despite how unhealthy it can be to have dogs too tiny. 

All in all it was a great experience. It truly makes a difference when the groomer not only has your same breed of dog, but also spent years grooming show dogs. I'll definitely be going back to that guy :)

Poodle Party: Huxtable's 1st Dog Birthday

Huxtable's 1st birthday / Dog Birthday Party.

Toy Parti Poodle birthday party

I wanted to do a little something for baby Hux's first birthday. At first I planned to do a shindig at the park with a few of Hux's "friends" from the neighborhood as well as the dogs of friends and family, which would have totaled to about 10 dogs. But I later decided to make it a small and intimate gathering this year, with only family dogs.

Color / Theme: Baby blue, gold, and white.

Location: Originally, when it was going to be bigger I planned to have it outside at the park down the street, but when it was decided to be a family gathering I had it at my mum's place. She hasn't had a "kids" birthday party at our family home in years so I knew it'd be a sentimental and thoughtful gesture. (she loooves Huxtable, lol)

Decor: I wanted to be hands on with a lot of the decor as well as keep myself on a budget. While planning I got some inspiration from online, particularly Huxtable's "Dog Birthday Party" Pinterest page. For example, I made the tassel garland by hand from tissue paper and twine. It looks much better than anything I could have bought from a store and I was able to personalize it with the theme colors.  The "Huxtable" sign, was a spur of the moment last minute addition, that we were able to make from tissue paper and streamer paper! It made as a super cute backdrop for photos. Another original idea I had was to spray paint dog bowls gold (a soft latte gold), then spray paint them again with gold glitter spray paint, and finally I added the paw detail that was made from baby blue felt. Other items of decor included the table cloth, streamers, and balloons. Oh and how can I forget my vintage gold and mirror perfume tray that I used to display the dog cupcakes. 

Wardrobe: Huxtable and his guests wore little dog bow-ties. And we made party hats made from scrap book paper and tassel garland (that was made from tissue). 

Party Favors: Squeaky dessert dog toy and gourmet dog cookies, wrapped in a gold dog bowl. 

Food: Dog cheese puffs (pupcorn), gourmet dog treats, and peanut butter organic dog cupcake from a local bakery. (Human food: Kept it simple and dog-themed with a variety of hot dogs, chips, scooby snacks, and cupcakes from the local bakery). 

 Hux & his cousin Meko eating their organic peanut butter and carrot dog cupcakes from a local bakery, OMG Cupcakes. His other cousin and "uncle" who are much bigger were outside running around when we were taking photos, lol.  

All in all it was a fun time. Hux's party was a great excuse to have a family gathering :)

As mentioned above, while planning Hux's dog birthday party I created a board on Pinterest for inspiration. I found great photos of other birthday party for dogs (from simple single dog parties to over the top large ones) as well as general diy party decor ideas, you can check it out here. I got most of the items from Michaels, Party City, and Dollar Tree. I honestly didn't realize how much stuff Dollar Tree's had, I remember reading about a woman who decorated her entire wedding from there and I can totally see how as long as you have a good eye. Plus, I love how everything was literally a dollar! This is probably common knowledge to most, but I had no idea, lol, it was fun to finally explore a dollar store. Also, Michael's online coupons came in handy, I was able to double up and get 40% off my most expensive item as well as 30% the entire purchase. I was even able to get the food at a discount (cupcakes from a posh bakery and gourmet treats from a high-end dog store) by using deals from Scoutmob and Loafdeals-- both are "groupon" type websites that give discounts to local places. For example, you pay $10 for $20 worth of food or merchandise, which is like getting half off. And it just so happened that all the human food I wanted was also on sale, "Buy One, Get One" at Publix, so that meant that it was also half off.  I was able to have a darling little party for my dear little boy at a reasonable cost.

Dog birthday balloons, Emma Doodles All-Natural dog treats (cheezy-chic, cheezy-beef, peanut butter, and wheat free honest which ended up being Hux's favorite), and a few of Huxtable's gifts! Gifts are definitely the unexpected bonus to having your little pooch a birthday party. 

Toy Tuxedo Twin Poodles

Parti Poodle Tuxedo Twins, Perry & Winny 

Two darling tuxedo parti poodles, with great markings.  Winny is sporting a Scandinavian Poodle Clip. Check out more parti poodle clips, here. 

https://sites.google.com/site/albanigr/gallery

Product Review: Toy Poodle in Rain Slicker

Toy Poodle in Rain Coat

This is a photo from months back, baby Hux in his yellow rain slicker. It covers his body, but because of his immense fluffiness, lol, it doesn't cover all his body. The fit is great though around the belly and neck, and the hood stays on partially. I got an extra small, but I probably should have gotten a small. The extra small is a little too big at the waist, but was too short for his body. Get this yellow dog slicker / rain coat here. 

Puppy Love: Parti Poodle Kisses

This is probably one of the cutest photos ever-- two black and white parti toy poodle puppies giving each other kisses. Loooooove it!


photo: poodlepartipups.com

Huxtable the Poodle, Posing & Sleeping

Hux had a mini impromptu photoshoot the other day... I was bored, he looked handsome lounging around, and the camera was nearby so I snapped a few pics of my little boo, lol... more pics to come...

 Here's him sleeping later, after mommy's not so good attempt at banding his topknot  :/ (more info and pics of that later too, lol)

Shoe Crazy Poodle

toy parti poodle laying next to a couple pairs of my velvet slippers

Huxtable has taken a liking to shoes over the past few months. He doesn't play with them or bite them or eat them, he just likes to smell them and lay next to them. I think he figures if he lays next to a pair that I had on he'll go with me whenever I leave... so smart ;)

Toy Parti Poodle Continental Miami Cut

Toy Parti Poodle Continental Miami Cut. 

So as stated in the last post, it's time to get a summer cut. I narrowed it down to a few: European puppy clip, miami cut, continental, and english saddle. After a lot of thought I decided to combine the Continental and Miami clip to create a clip I'll call a, "Modified Continental" or the "Miami Continental".

I wanted him to be cool so having his fur low was priority, but I didn't want to loose his fluffiness and I wanted to try something a bit more traditional. I decided to combine the two and had the groomer do a "Miami Continental". His fur is cut low like the Miami, but not shaved down to the skin like the Continental, he has the front fur of the Continental, but doesn't have the two balls on his back, so it's more like the Miami.

Before and After:

Fluffy fury, parti poodle Huxtable

 Miami Continental, toy parti poodle

I want to grow out Huxtable's top knot, so I told the groomer not to cut his top knot. I think (I know, lol) he may have slightly ignored my request and shaped it a bit... which could be better, but I really wish he wouldn't have touched it.  But still all in all he did a pretty good job on a my little baby :-)

Sidenote: This was taken a good bit after the actual grooming, after he went to the park, and some roughhousing/play, etc...  might even have been a day later... next time I'll be sure to take one immediately after the groom.

More Photos of Huxtable's new summer poodle cut in next post. 

Check out Huxtable's MUCH better Continental Clip, here.

Parti Poodle in Cuts and Clips: Lamb, European Puppy, English Saddle

This southern sun is starting to beam down pretty hard. So, as a good poodle parent I know I have to start thinking about summer cuts for my toy poodle pup.

A low puppy clip is the cut that first comes to mind, and I know if I want to show him it is usually the required cut for puppies 12 months and under. That said, I really wanted to try something different and more poodle-like so after some brainstorming and searching I narrowed it down to a few:

- European puppy clip

- Miami Cut

- Continental

- English Saddle

After showing pics to some of the family, everyone slightly preferred the Miami, since it would take off the most hair all over, but still give him a poodle look. I used the following photos for inspiration...

Miami Cut

European Puppy Cut on Toy Poodle

Scandinavian Puppy Clip (aka European Puppy Cut)

English Saddle on Toy Poodle. 

 Continental Cut (2 more photos of continental below)

(images above from various sources)

And of course I had to find some parti poodle cut inspiration. Luckily I stumbled upon K9Style and her standard parti poodle, Tripp. She's cut him into different poodle clips-- European puppy clip, English Saddle, etc. He's not a toy so I couldn't tell how Huxtable would end up looking exactly, but it gave me an idea of how different clips would look on the traditional coloring and pattern of a parti poodle. 

I initially thought this was a shorter lamb cut (parti poodle), but after getting a similar cut for Huxtable I can much more clearly see that this is a model / town & country clip-- cut all the way down in the middle, with hair left on the arms and legs.  I just believe they are harder to notice on parti poodles

European / Scandinavian Puppy Clip (parti poodle). 

English Saddle Cut (parti poodle). 

Isn't the front cut to perfection? I would have loved to see his top knot out in front. Also, Tripp doesn't have his tail docked that's why the back isn't in a ball. 

After much deliberation and back and forth I decided to go with a "modified continental". I'll explain more in the next post.