Expert: Kim Wingate - 6/26/2009

Question
I have a miniature poodle that will be 10 weeks on Monday. It is all white
except her ears which is a cream color. I am a pet groomer and I was
told by a customer that the only way to be sure my poodles coat was to
get curly would be to shave her completely nose to tail and the new hair
growth would be the good curly coat. I have asked around and I have had
people go both ways with not shaving her and shaving her! If you could
tell me for sure that would be great cause I'm confused.

Answer
Hello Rebekah,
Well, actually both answers are correct.  If you shave your dog now, it will start the curly hair coming in sooner, but if you wait and don't do anything the adult hair will come in around 9 months of age.  
Since you are a groomer and will eventually shave her anyway (unless you want to leave her long) you might as well shave her now.  When you shave a Poodle at a young age, it will cause the adult hair to start coming in early and will cause the puppy hair to stop growing.  That is a good thing because if you leave the puppy hair to grow long (even if you scissor it shorter) the adult coat (when it starts to come in) will grow up into the puppy hair and cause large mats.  So I guess its more of a matter of personal opinion as to whether you shave her now or later.  It doesn't matter in the end, because her coat will still get curly.  

You can also bring out the curl more by bathing her and letting her dry naturally.  Be sure to brush her out throughly before the bath so there are no mats in the coat.  As she dries, her coat will get really curly.  

I hope this helps you some and answers your question.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim