grooming my toy poodle at home

Question
I have a 4 month old toy poodle. I've been thinking about clipping her myself. I'm starting to get confused about all the different blade sizes and the guide comb sizes. Could you explain what these do? What length should the hair be on a puppy clip? What blades and comb guides should be used to achieve the puppy clip? Sorry for all the questions but the more I read the more confused I get. Thank you for your help.

Answer
I STRONGLY suggest you do not try to teach a puppy to be groomed while you yourself are learning. It is very dangerous. Most dogs get hurt by being groomed by their owners, not by someone who does it 5 days a week, all day long.
A groomer can do your puppy safely and quickly and not let it get hurt.
is hard to tell someone how to groom a dog without being there. It is very dangerous to clip a dog if you do not know how or do not have a knowledgeable person to watch.

Get some books and video at the library if you can, any breed will do, as you are not going to do much "STYLING" only necessary clipping, until you learn how to do the basic stuff.
DO you have clippers? Professional clippers that are quiet and safe? You need clippers that you can change blades on.

Assuming you do have good, quiet, safe clippers, you will use a #10 blade, this does the face, tops of the feet and hygenic areas.

Do not bathe your dog first, clip first, then bathe.  On the face, go from the inside corner of the eye, (where tears come from) to the end of the top of the nose.  Stretch the lip tight so the clipper won't catch it  and do the lip line from back to front.  Be sure this method gets the hair out of the mouth.
Lift the ear up over the top of her head and go across the opening from front to back, and do the cheek. Be careful not to cut the ear opening. Training the dog to understand to be still and calm while learning to do this is nearly impossible. Learning to do it on a trained dog is much easier! plus, the puppy learning how to be confident is easier with an experienced groomer who is fast, kind and skillful.
Under the tail go WITH the hair growth, holder her tail up in your free hand.  Watch the way the hair grows, and if you cannot tell go up toward the base of the tail lightly first, to clean the hair up and make it so you can see. Be VERY careful of the anal muscle, if she tightens it and you are PUSHING into the dog, you will cut her.  Use light strokes and do not put the blade in direct contact with the skin.
Lift the legs in back one at a time like a male dog urinating and clip under the thigh and across the genital area.  
Also lift the dogs front legs so it is standing up on its hind legs and clip the inside of the thighs and tummy again, even though you did it from the side.
Do the armpits as well.
Now the bottoms of the feet need to be done with a #40.  Then the coat, the bigger the number, the longer it leaves the hair.  anything from a 4 for a short but fluffy cut, to a 7 which can be quiet short.  
Clip on attachments can go over your 40 blade.  They leave the hair longer on the coat.
Scissors run about $50 for an inexpensive pair.  You hold them with your thumb and RING finger, not like regular scissors.

Your best bet is to take your dog to a groomer, where this can be done quickly and safely without upsetting or hurting the dog. Anyone can groom a dog with proper instruction, but not anyone can do it safely or quickly enough to keep the dog happy during grooming.  Most accidents from grooming occur by owners trying to do their own dogs unsupervised.

If you find a groomer you like, let them do the grooming and you do the touch up stuff that you are comfortable with while you get more practice doing easy things.

Good luck, and check into night schools and such to see if you can find a home grooming course.

Lori