Honestly - long or short hair on your doodle

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Honestly now, I am taking a sort of a informal poll about your doodle hair.  I want to know not what we wish we did, but what we really do with our doodles hair.

1) Keep it brushed and matt free and the length I like it by hand scissoring ( you or a groomer)

2) Keep it 2 inches or less and matt free

3) Keep it 1 inch or less all the time so it does not matt

4) Let it grow, shave it, let it grow, shave it

5) Something else - please describe

 

Since there seems to be some judgementalism about hair length, long is best, shaved is worst, I will go first and freely admit ( remember I am proactively trying my best to give up guilt) that I am a

 

                                               #4. 

 

 My shaved doodles look funny, but other than short, very occasional, brushing annoys all of us.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am a # 1 and I do it myself.

[Bonnie and Kona]

He's so gorgeous!

[Camilla and Darwin]

I have seen the same thing, and it's unfortunate. Especially because Albus is so adorable and I think his hair length fits his personality so well. I can't imagine him any other way!

[Donna K & Quincy]

# 1, I do it myself with an occassional trip to the groomer.

[Phoebe's Mom]

I tend to vye between numbers 2 and 3 but when we first got Phoebe, I was determined not to cut it and to keep it long as I loved that total fluffy dog look...then the matts crept in and then we faced our first MN winter with a dog born in AR but who LOVED the snow. Those snowballs got the best of me and, hence, we keep it professionally cut (she is groomed once a month) at about 1-2 inches. But, personally, I don't think you can make a doodle look bad regardless of the length of their fur!

[Jessica & Lucie]

I am a #3 from April-October (its about comfort more than anything). The rest of the year #2. Any longer makes bath time take too long, my doodle gets muddy every day and I don't like mud in my house :)

[Ann]

We let her grow a full coat, and then get a trim every 5 months or so, just a trim, not shaved off.We like to brush her, but she does shed a fair amount and the black hair shows up on the floors when she has a long coat, so when it is trimmed off, it really is a lot easier on everyone.So I guess we are a combo.She does look adorable with her shaggy coat, but a trimmed coat is less work :)

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I have been "all of the above" so far and Tara is not quite 2 years! Her coat is still changing but at this point it still becomes more work than either of us want to do once it reaches about 2 inches long. I would love to have it longer but we would rather spend our time snuggling or playing than brushing!!

[Kyoko]

I keep Charlie on Lamb / Puppy clip. When she started the matting, I had hard time keeping up with it. But I did not want her to be short all over.... So, we ended up with the puppy clip. I know it is not an official doodle look, but I thin she look cute with that cut...

[ej]

Kyoko, I just want to say that I love Charlie's haircut. Very poodle-ly, and yet puppy-ish looking. Adorable!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am a number 1 and I use a groomer. I prefer the scruffy doodle look but with eyes = this can be a problem for me because I don't cut hair and it grows so fast. So far I have been willing to do the groomer/ brush/comb maintenance. Ned doesn't shed but mats and Clancy sheds but doesn't mat. Ned looks best before a trim because he has mini dreadlocks or kinks and Clancy looks best after a trim because he is clean and soft.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Spud: At this point I want a no hair dog. Spud's hair has become even thicker. It is almost like a weave of fine thick fibers. If it were possible to have it come off in one piece it would never fall apart. Someone could wear him as their winter coat.
So, I am not # 1 because it is impossible. I can not even get a afro pick into his coat tonight.
I am not # 2 because it is not yet 2 inches but suddenly it does this fiber binding thing--not mats but what the heck should I call this stuff.
# 3 I guess this is the last resort but always were we end up.
So really # 3 becomes #4
#5 Oh yeah, he is something else--sorry just plain indescribable.
( are you sorry you asked me now.... ugh. How did you know what I was doing tonight?)

Starlit: #1