What do the Bell-bottom, Pony, Miami, Cupcake, Jacket and Pants, Fifth Avenue, Sailor Boy, Hillbilly, Town and Country, and Bolero have in common?

They are a few of the Poodle clips you won’t find in a show ring. These can be highly creative clips and, in our view, harmless as long as the dog’s well-being is paramount. That said, we came across a book of canine lexicon which briefly touched upon these Poodle clips, and the authors wrote that they chose to withhold information about these “absurd styles” to discourage owners from getting too carried away with “inane” clipping styles. They add that while creativity is part of life, so is dignity. We strongly agree that dogs have dignity, and it should be respected. To our eyes, however, none of the dogs seen in the links below lack dignity because of their hair clip, especially not the standing dog in our first example of a Pony cut. What do you think?

A Pony cut is self-explanatory, but not very common.  The Poodle’s hair is cut in a way so that her neck, tail, and feet have much more hair than the rest of her body, and yes, it’s similar to a pony’s mane. In some circles, we bet it’s been called a mohawk;

The Miami cut is also known as the bikini cut, Pom-pom trim, and Vlown trim. By any name, it’s a low maintenance but styled cut that some owners living in hot climates like for their Poodles. This cut has the dog’s body shaved all around, but little “poofs” left on its legs;

The Fifth Avenue cut is similar to a town and country cut, but with a Poodle’s front knees shaved and its front feet styled in a “poof.” A Bolero clip is a slight modification of the aforementioned fifth avenue cut, the difference being that both the Poodle’s front and hind legs are shaved;

A Bell-Bottom clip is what it sounds like;

The Town and Country clip is similar to a Dutch cut, and the idea is to leave the Poodle’s body as natural-looking as possible to emphasize the head and legs which stand out because they’re styled and rounded hair. The dog’s legs will have a “cylindrical” look, but that is normal in this cut.

In the Jacket and Pants style, the Poodle’s neck and stomach area are shaved while hair is left on his legs and tail to mimic a jacket and a pair of jeans;

Typically seen more in Miniature and Toy Poodles is the Cupcake cut. This style sculpts the head and ears of the Poodle into a “delicious-looking cupcake” (not our words). It’s different from a teddy bear cut in that the ears are rounded.

There are so many more styles out there that we didn’t cover: The Monkey cut, Royal tail, Bob Cut, the Lion Cut, and more, and that’s not even touching upon show clips. Not surprisingly (as we’re Puli people), we’re partial to corded Poodles.

Some people new to the world of the dog fancy roll their eyes over show clips, let alone the creative grooming clips we’ve described above. Folks are always fascinated to learn, however, that dog show Poodle clips evolved from the hunting world (you know that the Poodle is actually a water retriever, right?)  Originally, working Poodles were groomed to leave hair around their vital organs to keep them warm during winter and when swimming in cold water to retrieve ducks shot in the hunting season.  Hair was left longer around the head to protect the brain, and over the joints for protection against the cold. If Poodles were used to hunt truffles, similar grooming protected them from nettles and thorns while reducing the weight extra coat that would get caught on bushes. Clipping Poodles is hardly new. There are paintings dating back as far as 1533 showing Poodles in Continental clips.

Image: Corded Poodles with a young lady in dreads/DepositPhoto