Grooming Tips??

[Jenna Burnett]

I have two Goldendoodles with very Poodle-like coats. And I have a few issues. #1: It takes me three hours to brush their fur out, which I try to do every evening. Somehow, it still ends up with mats, and I have to clip them out, which makes them look funny. Any tips on that? We like to keep their hair longer. Problem #2: Every month or so, I shear their coats. Sadly, we haven't gotten a good clipper yet, which would solve this issue. Any suggestions on the model we should get?

[Ginny Nightingale]

The Grooming group can be helpful here--but the first thing I see that is an issue is the word "brush"--if you are using a brush, you are not getting the loose hairs and knots out down at the skin--you need to use a steel comb--get one that has teeth far apart at one end, and closer at the other end. Start with the end with the far apart teeth and work through the coat in sections after brushing. Also buy a "mat comb"--it has just 4 or 5 long teeth with sharp edges on one side of the comb and will cut the mats out as you pull it through--they do not look bad after using that since you are not taking out a big chunk of hair. When the fine tooth section of the comb goes through, you are done with that section!

I have an Andis Two speed, but you might need a powerful clipper to get thru the curls--chyeck the grooming group for more suggestions.

[Jenna Burnett]

I recently saw the group after posting. Thank you for the recommendation. We do have the steel comb, I just automatically say "brush" instead of "comb".