The joy of grooming my F1 LD

[Ginny Nightingale]

Hi all--I groom my three doodles and about ten other doodles who come to my house one at a time. All but two are multigens or F1bs with thick luxurious soft coats that MAT LIKE CRAZY!! It takes me quite a while to pick out the mats and get the clippers thru their coats. One of the reasons people bring their doodles to me is that I spend hours picking away and do not shave the dog no matter how bad they are matted--I know, I am NUTS!!!! It can take me 4-5 hours to groom a medium sized doodle--ad no, I do not charge enough!!

Tuesday, I groomed a doodle that had been totally combed out and clipped and mat free just three months ago--but her owners are not good at all about keeping up with her coat and she was matted down to the skin in multiple places--I struggled, I cried and I lamented--but i got her all done in just 4 hours! UGH!!!

BUT, that said, I want to sing the praises of my F1 and the other F1 I groom. My F1 (Mattie) had not been clipped in months and had long straggly hair everywhere--today it took me exactly one hour to clip and scissor her entire body and cut her nails. She had exactly one mat which pulled right out. Maybe she sheds a bit more, maybe she is not as soft and luxurious (she has a thinner coat that is coarser), but she makes up for it on the grooming table BIG TIME!!! The other F1 came for grooming last week after months away and he was also super easy to comb and clip--Hooray for the F1s!!

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Interesting!  I do think you need to up your price if you are willing to spend so much time dematting!  You are NUTS, but I would LOVE having you for a groomer!  The way you describe the F1b's & multigens is exactly how Bexter's hair is.  It is the softest hair I have ever felt & is very thick & curly & "luxurious!"  He mats like crazy!  He is an F1.  Maybe that is unusual for an F1 then?  Maggie's hair sounds like a normal F1 according to your description - sheds a TINY bit, thinner & coarser coat.  She is MUCH easier to brush & comb than Bexter, so I understand what you're saying about "making up for it!"  Whenever I pet Bexter, I think how wonderful he feels, but it is a PAIN in the butt to keep him mat free.  Maybe a little shedding & coarser hair is worth it...I don't know!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Yeah, that is unusual for an F1 but it happens! Oh, the pain! I once ran into a lady who said she would never own a doodle because of the maintenance--the doodles she knew must have had that fine soft coat. It is like glue! One of the doods I groom, who is also the largest of my customers at 60 pounds, has what I call sticky hair. After i comb it all out, it seems to stick right back together again!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I'm going through the coat change with Riley at the moment (or is he going through it with me?) and like Traci's Bexter he has a soft fleece wavy coat that is gorgeous to look at but is driving me mad.  I am grooming him every day for it seems like an hour at the moment and have no idea if it will ever get easier.   It only started to matt about two weeks ago.   When I run my fingers through his coat they can snag in places as his hair is quite fine. I am using every product and implement known to man plus loads of patience!  I am happy though that he is matt free and he looks great...  but for how long and what happens if I am away for a couple of days? .  Riley is a 5th gen LD.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Rio, my 15 month old doodle, is getting far less matted now after a period of about 5 months of lots of mats--he has a very thick coat of wavy soft hair, but it is not as fine as it used to be, so maybe Riley will improve.

[Lacey Mc. & Cooper]

I would do anything to find someone like you close to me... I can't find anyone who won't shave my baby when he gets his mats.  Sounds like amazing work! :)

[Ginny Nightingale]

Truthfully, I do it because I feel so bad for the dog! I have tears in my eyes sometimes when I get to a humongous mat that is all up against the skin--on the one dog I did this week, some of the mats were 4 or 5 inches wide and long. The doods I groom are all offspring of my dog or my breeder's other bitches and I feel personally connected to them--so I want them to be happy and comfortable. I am not making much money and it is just a small business, so that is not the motivation.

Now, if I had to live off of my work as a groomer or pay rent for a space, that would be different and I can understand why most groomers can not do what I do. They have bills to pay! And it is really impossible to use most combs on clippers if there are mats. I have a clipper blade that cuts hair 5/8 inch long without a comb on the clipper, so that helps me get thru some of the mats without shaving. I usually cut the hair to about an inch long with a scissor, then attack the mats, then use the clippers to even it out.