Cording your doodle

[Lynda Kamrath]

I have been trying to get Harpo ready for cording for the past several months.  The cords are beginning to form but his ears and legs look more like they have been crimped.  He is accustomed to me pulling down the mats but he looks terrible.  How much longer until he starts to look good and look like he is corded rather than an alley dog?

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I think he looks great. If he looks bad, then I guess most of my doodes to too. lol

His coat is still pretty short so you have a ways to go. It isn't hanging yet.

I posted a pic below of one of my wooly boys. This is not corded. Only natural dreads.

Your boy's coat is still short. If it was me, I would brush and comb it right out, wash, put a ton of leave in conditioner on him and then blow with a high speed blower in the direction of hair growth. Let dry naturally. You will love it. Send him here, I'll do it. lol

[Lynda Kamrath]

Harpo has a lot of natural dreads also, but I have been pulling out the mats and forming cords.  They are still pretty short.  My husband loves your directions here and thinks that combing him out, washing, and conditioning is the way to go.  I have been told not to comb him and not to use conditioner on him, but it is hard to do that.  Hmmm, I will have to think about this a little more.  By the way, your doodle (one or two?) look(s) just like Harpo.  You have given me some inspiration.  When does the "hanging" start?  How much do you cut?  I cut his belly, around the eyes and the beard.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I think your boy is close to having his coat hang in some areas. Hugo, on the right, has an 8 inch coat on his chest area. You can't see the back of his head, but he had really long dreads right then. This was his "end of winter" coat last year. The smaller dog is his fleece daughter at 9 months of age. Hugo is wooly wool. It gets pretty cold here so I only cut his around his eyes and under his tail.

He has a much shorter coat now as he is in a guardian home and is a couch potato and more of an indoor dog.

[LORRIE HAYWARD]

HI...can someone help me with cording?  I always wind up getting Teddie cut short as he gets so matted..I do brush and clip around his eyes and ears and naturally keep him clean and smelling good...but this cording thing..please...more info and instructions...Thanks....

[Lynda Kamrath]

I'm still working on it myself.  I love the corded look, but it is not an easy thing to achieve.  It seems that they need to look horrible before the cords start looking good.  Harpo is 17 months old and his head and ears and legs are starting to look good, but the hair on his back gets so matted.  I pull the mats down, but it seems that his hair is just too "puppyish" on his back.  I shave his belly and the inside of his legs.  It is definitely an on-going process for me.

 

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

If my dogs looked like this, I would NEVER cord. As always, beautiful.  I wish I could send him to you.  But Spud just can't take brushing.  Strange dog. 

[Lynda Kamrath]

I don't understand.  Why do you say you would NEVER cord if your dogs looked like this?  This is pretty much what Harpo looks like, except not grown out this far.  These dogs are brushed, combed, and conditioned.  Aren't those nonos when you are cording?

[Dos Doodles--Sam & Luke]

I think he looks pretty good, too!  I think the cording thing doesn't really look like it's supposed to until it gets longer.  :-) He's a cute doodle!  

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Lynda,

As you know, I have corded my dog.  The ears are the LAST to cord and you have to be really careful and do it differently than you do the wooly back and chest.  The ears... well be careful as the skin is really thin there.  You may just want to cord the body and leave the ears out of the process.  DO not rip those cords into place.  Gently take a scissors and separate the felts.  You can just rip open that ear   :  (

I spoke with a groomer a few times by phone who cords. Trained in old-fashioned Europe and she shows her poodles on the East Coast somewhere...

She states, if you want to speed up the process, bathe the dog in very diluted Dawn Detergent.  Rinse and rinse and rinse really well.   No conditioner.   This will speed up the process.  I started at about 3 inches in length.  Could only do areas that are ready. It is not a day long process and then it is over.  Piece by piece when ready, until done. It took me about 3 months.

I mentioned to you the other day, if you would like me to start a 2011-2012 cording process ...Do you still want to?   We are not ready yet.  Spud should be ready in about a month to start cording.

The coat will look UGLY for a very long time. 

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yes, I would love to have more information on the cording procedure.  When I first started to check out cording, I saw some poodles that were corded and videos on what they did to cord the poodles.  They had sweatshirts the dogs would wear after their baths until they dried.

I will try the diluted Dawn Detergent for batheing, but no conditioner.  What about drying?   Now that it is winter and cooler outside, maybe sweaters or drying with a dryer would be helpful.

I guess I will get used to an ugly dog, but my husband has a hard time with it.  He had poodles for about 30 years and they always were trimmed neatly and looked great.

[Ozzy Bob and Leanna]

I'm reading people's comments about working on "cords" on their doodles.  I thought their hair just did that.(The ones with cords that is)   Do you have to do something special to get it to cord?????  Can you bathe them with their cords or does it mess the look up?  Just wondering!