SHOW EQUIPMENT
Before you even think about entering a dog show you need to make sure that you have all the equipment that you will need to show your dog to the highest standard. I will touch on all the items you will need to present your dog and make them look beautiful!
Electric Tools
High Velocity Dryer

This dryer will make drying your dog so much easier! Maintenance baths become a breeze. It cuts your drying time in half! You dont need to break the bank to get a good quality high velocity dryer either! We buy ours off of amazon and my last one lasted about 5 years!
Hand Dryer

After you have used the high velocity dryer to get most of the water out of the coat you will need to use a hand dryer with the heat on full blast with a "slicker" to brush your dogs hair while you dry them (see slicker brush). The heat from the hand dryer is what makes sure the coat is super straight along with the help of the slicker brush. You want to make sure you get the coat as dry as possible to avoid your dog getting any hot spots! My personal favourite hand dryer is made by Wahl!
Hair Straightener

The hair straighter is a necessity at the dog show, we use it when you unwrap your poodles neck hair to make sure we get all the creases out of the hair to help get it as straight as possible. The main reason we use the hair straighter is to get the ears as straight as possible! I recommend any hair straighter with ceramic plates.
Dremel

The Dremel in my opinion is the best way to do your dogs nails, if done right the dogs dont mind getting their nails done as much as clipping their nails, there is also less chance of you getting their quick and making it bleed causing pain to your dog. I recommend getting the battery operated demel off of amazon!
Stand Dryer

The stand dryers are not a necessity but they are so amazing to have, once you have one you will never go back to using just your high velocity and hand dryer. The stand dryer makes it so much easier on your body when drying your dog, you also have two free hands to lay you dog on their side and to hold the brush and hold the hair while you line brush the coat, without hurting your neck! We recommend the Edemco or Speedy brands.
Brushes & Combs
Slicker Brush

The slicker brush is a fantastic tool, when brushing out your poodle make sure to never ever brush the coat without some sort of spray (even if its just water in a bottle) if you brush the coat dry you will break all your hard work growing it! When ever you are brushing out your poodle you want to make sure you are only using the slicker brush on certain parts of the coat. The slicker should be used on the legs or bracelets, rosettes, the tail and the side coat only, never use the slicker on their back, that coat needs to be protected, and needs a more gentle brush to help ensure there is as minimal coat breakage as possible when brushing. I recommend the #1 All-Systems Slicker Brush.
Pin Brush

The pin brush is the most gentle brush and you will have the least amount of breakage using this brush, that is why you use this brush on their main body coat going down their back, every hair counts so you must be as gentle as possible to ensure that all your hard work growing coat isn't just ripped out by a brush! I recommend the Madan Brushes.
Tail Comb

You will need a tail comb in order to part the hair and put the elastic bands into your poodles head to keep all that hair out of their face, and keep it from matting up! I recommend the Chris Christensen Buttercomb Tail Comb!
Poodle Comb

The Poodle Comb comes in different sizes, the large version of the poodle comb is more for spraying up your poodle at the dog show, the smaller poodle comb is for inside the ring to fix your spray up or comb out ears, bracelets etc inside the ring, the reason it is smaller is so that you can put it in your hair or on top of your armband number just in case you need to fluff! I recommend the Madan Poodle Combs.
Bands & Wraps
Maintenance Bands

These are the bands we get to have fun with at home, mix and match colours etc. I recommend you get the from the best company Lainee, that is the same company that makes the "show bands" and "wraps".
Show Bands

Depending on if your poodle is white or black will depends on what colour bands you would like to get, if the poodle is black I recommend getting black bands, if the poodle is white I recommend getting white/clear bands. There is no rule stating that the bands must be certain colours. These also come from Lainee.
Band Container

You may want to consider picking up a couple of these, if you are going to have lots of different coloured elastic bands these containers are wonderful to help keep all the colours separate, help avoid spilling them and they are very convient for dispensing them. These are made by Lainee as well.
Wraps

The wraps go around the ears, and neck hair to protect the tips to help avoid breakage of all the precious hair that you've spend months growing! These are made by Lainee.
Shampoo, Conditioner and Sprays
Why Bitch

The shampoo that we use to bathe our dog before the show is "Why Bitch", it is an aloe, eucalyptus shampoo that not only smells fantastic but strips the coat of grease, stains, oil and organic residue without stripping the coat of all the natural oils! The dilution is 40:1 which means you will get a long life out of your shampoo.
Maintenance Bath Shampoo
We recommend using any of the Wahl Showman shampoos for your weekly bathing needs, depending on your dogs coat there are many excellent products to use, We will touch on some of the products we use most.
The Baking Soda Shampoo, this is excellent for dogs that are very dirty, this was product was formulated to deep clean, deodorize and moisturize the skin and coat.
The Aloe Soothe Shampoo, this is perfect for the older dog that has very dry flaking skin, it moisturizes your dogs skin naturally and helps to revitalize the skin and coat using 100% natural Aloe Vera.
The Emu Oil Shampoo, has been specially designed to restore, revitalize and moisturize your dogs skin and coat, this will help reduce dry flaky skin.
The Tea Tree Shampoo, is made of natural ingredients, it is a coconut oil based and helps to relieve itching and scaling on your dogs skin, Tea tree oil is a potent antibacterial compound that helps promotes clean, clear and healthy skin.
The Dirty Beastie Shampoo is an excellent shampoo for the dirtiest of dogs, it will effectively cleanse the thickest dirtiest matted coats and deodorize some of the worst smells. This shampoo is powerful yet gentle and will remove dirt, grease stains and odours, revitalizing the hair as it cleans.
The Baking Soda Shampoo, this is excellent for dogs that are very dirty, this was product was formulated to deep clean, deodorize and moisturize the skin and coat.
The Aloe Soothe Shampoo, this is perfect for the older dog that has very dry flaking skin, it moisturizes your dogs skin naturally and helps to revitalize the skin and coat using 100% natural Aloe Vera.
The Emu Oil Shampoo, has been specially designed to restore, revitalize and moisturize your dogs skin and coat, this will help reduce dry flaky skin.
The Tea Tree Shampoo, is made of natural ingredients, it is a coconut oil based and helps to relieve itching and scaling on your dogs skin, Tea tree oil is a potent antibacterial compound that helps promotes clean, clear and healthy skin.
The Dirty Beastie Shampoo is an excellent shampoo for the dirtiest of dogs, it will effectively cleanse the thickest dirtiest matted coats and deodorize some of the worst smells. This shampoo is powerful yet gentle and will remove dirt, grease stains and odours, revitalizing the hair as it cleans.
Mane 'N Tail Conditioner

One of the best conditioners we have used is Mane 'N Tail, it helps keep your dogs coat beautiful without breaking the bank!
Crown Royale Magic Touch Grooming Spray #3

Crown Royale spray is used after you bath them spray this all over their bodies and rub it into the coat using your towel and then dry them. At the dog show this is also used when you are using your hand dryer to blow out your dogs coat every morning at the show. This can also be used at home when you are doing weekly brushing (never brush your coat dry!)
Kenra Volume Spray #25, 55% Voc

This is one of the best hairsprays we have tried to date, it doesn't leave much of a white film on the hair when spraying up your dog and it hold very well without having to use a ton. It also comes out fairly easily when bathing out your dog after the show.