F1b losing puppy coat

[Michelle Baker]

At about 10 months old, our goldendoodle Max became very badly matted. In the places I removed the mats, his coat which was about 5 inches long before was much shorter and even a much lighter color. It's taking me weeks of brushing and removing mats every day to get half of his body mat-free. Is this his puupy coat that I'm taking out? I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thank you. I was trying to show Michelle how a coat might change as the dog matures. And of course Ned is my best describer for that! I am glad she joined the grooming group there is so much on there to help those of us who have doodles with high maintenance coats.