Blocked Vision

[Lisa]

How important do you guys think it is to keep your doodles hair trimmed from around his eyes? Barkley's fur is growing quickly up from his nose toward his eyes and may be blocking his view of the world. My husband thinks we should trim it, but I think it's sooo cute that I hate to do it. What does everybody think?

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I just looked at your pictures and didn't see anything that needed to be trimmed. If the hair is blocking his vision, take a tiny baby scissor and trim just the hairs you want to remove.

[Lisa]

I guess my question is "how can you tell when their vision is being obstructed?"

[Adina P]

I think it is important. Personally the main driving factor for me is I can't stand not seeing my Rosco's gorgeous eyes...they make me smile and are so expressive and loving.

BUT...there are some (IDOG's director for instance) that believe that because dogs communicate so much with non-verbal signals (subtle movements/differences in eyes, head, ears...) that if their vision is not clear it can hamper dog-dog communication and make for bad interactions with other dogs as well as development of poor social habits because they don't have all the communication tools they need. Not sure if any study has ever been done on this...or HOW much it affects the average doodle, but it sounds reasonable and something I have in the back of my mind when I see dogs with hair completely obscuring their vision (sheepdogs, etc).

[Adina P]

After reading Adrianne's comment I went to look at your pics too...in the photos I agree...doesn't look like your pup's vision is blocked. A few stray hairs is one thing...but letting the bangs or nose hairs completely block their eyes is another.

[Stella]

Our trainer told us the same thing, that dogs use their eyes a lot for communication and if they are covered with hair then important body language signals can be missed between dogs. You don't have to cut it really short, just a little trim - I use a regular pair of household scissors!!

[Mommy2Max]

I like both looks.

I keep Max's facial hair somewhere in between. I like it scruffy but not blocking his vision. He has beautiful hazel eyes that I love to look at adoringly. I determine the length by what would annoy me if I had his hair. I'm very scientific. :)

The groomer shaved between his eyes once and I didn't love it that short. I think I read somewhere that it's best not to do that to darker haired dogs. Max is chocolate and he looked like an owl when it was that short. If you look at my page and view the pictures - you'll see he almost looks fake like a teddy bear ( the older pics). Now, I just trim it down slightly with a scissor - just enough so his eyes are not blocked.

~Danielle

[Hollie Slattery]

I certainly don't claim to be an expert, but here's my 2 cents (for what it's worth!) Darbey had the cutest little face that was covered in hair. I definitely could not see her eyes. I read somewhere that if you let the hairs around the eyes get too long they could curl into their eyes and irritate or scratch the eyes. Also, when we got to the "watch me" command in puppy class, I never could get her to look directly in my eyes. So, I asked the groomers at Petsmart to "trim" her bangs one day before class and they chopped off her bangs, shaved between her eyes and shaved the top of her nose! I was mortified! She looked like a totally different dog! So if you do decide to cut his bangs, either do it yourself or take him to a professional that knows how to groom doodles! Don't know if any of that helps, but those are my thoughts! By the way, your little Barkley is adorable!

[Lisa]

Thank you! So is Darbie!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

I don't think I would trim anything at this point, his eyes look very clear.

[Debbie and Thomas]

We like the long shaggy look=but Thomas will have his second grooming on April 14th-hopefully he will still be able to see for the next 10 days.

[Eva]

I think it is important to have clear vision. With how active doodles are, why limit or restrict their field of vision with long obstructive hairs. Better to communicate with, etc. Many great answers below....

[Lisa]

That photo of Sidiqi with the flower petals stuck to his face is one of my all-time favorites. What a cutie!