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?

[Lynda Kamrath]

From what I understand cords are different than "dreads".  A dog's coat may dread naturally, but you have to work on the cords.  Cords are really mats.  I bathe my dog frequently as he is always in the house with us and on the bed and the furniture.  He loves the beach and water in general, and needs to have a complete bath after every trip to the beach.  I try to keep his baths down to about once a month, but it is more frequently than that in the summer.  I do not use the hair dryer or conditioner on him.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I have been disgusted with Harpo's look lately, so I decided to trim him back a little (back of his legs, under his chin and ears, and a little on the length) today.  He had a lot of mats under his ears and around his collar.  While I was at it, I trimmed my goldendoodle also.  His cuts go for several days, but they were both good as gold standing for their trims.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Here are Harpo and Groucho Too before the trim.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

They look good!

I have not taken a brush to Spud since the summer of 2010  :)   I do not mind doing the cord maintenance, the trimming, etc!!

I think this year, once again, I will just cut it all off come May, and start all over again.

With Doodles with really wooley coats, I see this as a great way to keep beautiful looking hair still long.

Here is Spud so far this winter.

This is just his head. It is the easiest.   The ears, I will not let cord this year

This rear end, it's the hardest. I see why in poodles they remove all hair from the hips and thighs.  But so far, we are doing fine.  The sanitary areas I keep very short. Underneath, I keep all the way to the skin.  The butt area is only one inch.  The rest of him is now at least 4 inches.

Overall, because our weather has been dry ( not humid ) with very little snow, cording is a great success this year.

I have no new pictures since I worked on cording last night.It came out great

Keep up the good work.  Do what you have to do, and make up the rest

[Lynda Kamrath]

I did a little trim today and I think he looks better.  Shaved his tummy area and scissors trimmed his face, sanitary area, legs, and underside.  He is so good about standing for his grooming.