When did your puppy Doodle Out? Coat question.

[Lexus J]

I have an F1 standard Goldendoodle. His mother is a Poodle and dad is a Golden Retriever. He was the runt of the litter but I wanted him because he was the sweetest. I love him so much! Best decision. :) I had a question about his coat. He originally didn't have a "beard” aka furnishings and was looking more golden than anything. He is 10 months now. His hair has sprouted and is longer on his face and he very rarely sheds..hair is definitely getting longer but the legs are still fairly short but are sprouting as well. Lol he looks all scraggly and I was wondering if this look was temporary and he will eventually grow into his full beard and fluff all over? Or will he just look like this? He did go through a stage where he shed like a snake sheds its dead skin. It was just chunks of fur everywhere and then it just stopped shedding completely about 3 months ago. Now everything seems to be getting longer but in patches all over including his face lol. Anyone out there go through anything similar and knows if he will just stop growing his coat at a year or will it continue to try and grow? His litter mates are all doodled out and have been since puppies lol. My little runt baby is just having a harder time over here trying to fill out. Does anyone have any puppy vs adult pics that shows a dramatic difference? Also, when does the hair stop growing? . :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

A gorgeous coat!  Looks like you have nothing to complain about.

[Lexus J]

More pics :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

Well, the hair never stops growing and you need to decide if you will do his grooming or have it done by a groomer.  I would suggest a shave down now to let his hair grow in.  Hopefully, he will continue to be a non or light-shedder.  Sometimes the goldendoodles are more golden than poodle and shed quite a bit.  My personal preference is the F1b goldendoodle.  They have the longer hair but in my experience are non-shedders.  The main thing is that you have established a bond with this dog.  Whatever he ends up looking like, you will love him nonetheless.

[Lexus J]

Thank you! He is absolutely the best I’ve ever had. I wasn’t sure if I should get him shaved down or not. I wanted to ask for opinions. See if it’ll give his coat a chance to grow evenly. But at what age should I do that? He’ll be a year on Dec 16.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Do NOT shave him down.  It does not make the coat grow. it just makes him naked.  You could have him trimmed a little if you want to even up the 'scraggles,'  but he is adorable and one of the great things about doodles, is the differences in their looks.  I really don't have any qualifications to predict but I would guess that his look probably won't change a whole lot from his current look, but again, I have NO qualifications to make that prediction.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I think he will continue to look the way he looks now--there is always some variety in a litter and he just happened to get the straighter hair--he is a cutie! I don't think you need to cut it short--just have him trimmed and let it grow in! Doodles are usually groomed every 8 weeks, but with his coarser thinner coat, you can probably go longer.