Loosing the puppy coat

[Rachel & Nathan]

I am just very curious on how early your doodles lost their puppy coats? Did you get them cut completley off or did you just let it fall out and grow on it's own?
I would love to hear how you went about this with your doodle. My precious girl is 15 weeks and she hasn't lost much puppy hair! We are ready for some curls! :)

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Around 3 months old I started to scissor cut the puppy thin scraggly hair down to about an inch and a half. Lots of brushing too as it was matting as it was falling out. One doodle has very fine soft hair so he looked like he put his paw in a light socket when his puppy fur starting sticking up. The other is thick and course and I just clipper cut her at about 4 months as it wasnt as fly away as his and looked ok to me.  It's good to start getting him used to grooming tools, feelings and sitting for longer periods now so that he will be more relaxed for a groomer if you go that route. I have always done my own grooming so I know their tolerance levels and how to get them to relax for me.  I think to send either one to a groomer at this late stage, they are 5 and 7, it might be hard for them, but I am sure they would cooperate well. 

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I think Winnie started losing her puppy coat somewhere around 6 months. It doesn't really "fall out" per se, which is why matting can happen as it mixes in with the adult coat. I've always used an undercoat rake to help get out the dead coat. It works awesome, and doesn't harm the coat like some other "deshedding" tools can. I used the rake almost every day when she was getting her adult coat, and in the Springs when she was shedding her Winter coat. Now I use it about 3 times a week. I can count on one hand the number of matts she has had in her 1 1/2 years.

Like Sue, I groom Winnie myself. I scissor cut her face when she was a pup, and didn't give her a full scissor trim until she was almost a year. I liked her long and "scruffy" looking, and I was able to keep her matt-free by using the undercoat rake during the coat transition.  I clipper trimmed her a little shorter for summer. It's so fun- if you've got the patience and time, I highly recommend self grooming! :-) 

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

If you haven't joined the grooming group, you might check it out.  You will find lots of helpful hints on how to groom your own doodle.  Even if you are not planning to do the grooming yourself, you do need to brush frequently and correctly to keep your doodle from becoming matted as it gets older.  The puppy coat is pretty easy care.  Once the adult coat starts to come in (usually 8 mos to one year), it will need to be brushed out, as the mature hair comes in and wraps around the puppy coat and matting can occur over night. It takes several months for the adult to come completely.  I have ALDs, and am not too sure of the goldendoodle traits.   If your doodle is a shedder, then you will not have to worry as it will shed its coat.  Check out all the groups when you get a chance and join as many as you like.  Welcome to this great site - you will find tons of helpful info here.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Loki started to lose his around 6months but 7-8 months was the worst! Everything was matting so I cut him down to about 1 1/2 inches to make it more managable. I agree with Linda, join the grooming group! There's lots of help and advise there! Moose is 6months and doesn't appear to be losing his yet. They are both F1's and have the same parents.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I could not keep up with the mats Annabelle was getting at 8 months. So I had the groomer shave her down. Her adult coat came in much curlier. I have since bought better brushes to keep up with the mats. I do the basic grooming myself and leave the rest to the groomer.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned started matting at about 6 months. This was his baby coat coming out.  Ned continued to badly mat until he was over 2. He still has a high maintenance coat, but it isn't nearly as bad.