On the whiteboard, Nicky draws up a groomed poodle exactly as it too often goes wrong, heavy, low and leaning forward. She marks in the skeletal landmarks, the ischium, prosternum, elbow and stifle, and corrects each fault in turn to show how the trim should sit: chest to the elbow, no built-out prosternum lengthening the dog, and a proper tucked, square outline.

Nicky takes the corrections onto the dog. Top line down short and level, then the chest and tuck up reworked with straights and curves so the brisket meets the elbow and the front leg sits further back. The dog goes from frumpy to visibly more upstanding, with tips on teaching a young dog to hold its stance as you work.

Nicky finishes the correction through the front and rear. She clears the excess off the prosternum to shorten the dog, tidies the feet so the whole foot shows, and scoops and grows out the rear to the hawk for that scandinavian shape. Coarse thinners pop the ischium and square the dog off through the back end.