Does she need a haircut?

[Sally M]

I've never had a dog that had long hair that needs cutting. Our other two dogs have short hair so this is new to me. Penny's hair is driving me crazy, 'cause I'm used to short hair and not long. My question...do you think Penny needs a trim? Her hair is extremely thick and it's starting to mat a little.
She looks unkept to me and very scruffy. But I don't want her to lose that "doodle look". I did manage to trim a bit of her hair that was near her eyes. Below is a photo link. (I'm on an iPad and don't know how to embed a photo into this discussion).

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I see that Penny is about 5-6 months old. She will be getting her "adult coat" in the next several months, and if you don't stay on top of it she will get LOTS of matts. If it's driving you crazy now and she is already starting to matt, I would take her to a good groomer for a little trim. 

A lot of people don't realize how time intensive it can be to keep the long "doodle look." I always thought that the "scruffy" look was carefree, but it's not. When Winnie was Penny's age, I spent a good 1/2 hour every day brushing and combing her- making sure I got all the way down to her skin on every inch of her body. She never got any matts, but it was more than I wanted to do on a daily basis. So, I now keep her body quite a bit shorter and easier to manage. 

You can still have a really cute "doodle look" by keeping the head/face and legs longer, and body shorter. 

[Sally M]

Well we had Penny groomed this afternoon. He first shampoo that wasn't done in our bathrub. LOL! She did well even when they used the loud blow dryer. In addition to shampooing her, they trimmed her nails and cut her hair in her private area and on her feet. She absolutely hated her feet being messed with. The clippers on the bottom and the scissors on the top. Oh dear, you'd think they were hurting her. She screamed. This all makes me wonder if she'll get "traumatized" just as much (or more) if we have her whole body of hair trimmed and cut. ???

[Sally M]

Penny's hair mats when she's got something from our yard stuck in her hair. Pine needles, tiny sticks, pieces of leafs, dried grass, etc. I don't use a slicker brush for combing her but I do have to use it when she gets this stuff stuck in her hair. One time, she got poop in her hair. That was fun to remove. LOL! I make sure I don't touch her sensitive skin with the slicker. But the slicker is the only thing that has helped to get items/mats out of her hair. It's probably time for a short trim as I spend a long time brushing her too (even when she's not matted). When we first got Penny, her hair was so thin we could see her skin through it. Now her hair is so thick, we can barely see her skin even if we look for it. She's definitely getting her adult coat.

[Brenda Silva]

I like Doodle hair longer.  It is more up-keep but beautiful.   If you feel she looks unkept then that is when I would get out the scissors.  You can still keep the Doodle look, just shorter like when she was younger.  She is beautiful.

[Sally M]

Thank you!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

It is never a bad idea to start them at the groomers at this age so that they get used to it. You can ask them to just bathe and trim her up or do a full cut.  Which ever you are most comfortable with.  The puppy coat is going to be different when her adult coat comes in so at some point it is going to be cut and look a little different regardless of when you do it.  It will be much easier to get through the coat change if you take it a little shorter now.  That isn't to say that you have to lose the doodle look.  They can keep the face and head long and just trim it up, the feet and legs can be left shaggy as well as not cutting the tail.  They can then just cut the body down to like an inch and you have an easier to maintain doodle but still a shaggy doodle.  

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

I also like doodle hair longer. But it does mean lots of work. I have to thoroughly brush them out 2-3 times a week. Most doodle owners I know keep their dogs' coats short for that reason. A good brush for doodle hair is the Les Poochs or Activet brush.
You should find a video about "line brushing ". That's how you make sure to get down to the skin and rid of all the knots and mats.
Good luck!

[Wanda Klomp]

How old is he Sally? I am a specialized Doodle groomer who teaches owners to groom them themselves in a fluffy way. To keep the coat healthy you need to have it groomed every 8 weeks from the age of 5 months. You can download my FREE ebook on my DK page for more info on Doodle coat care and grooming :-)

[Sally M]

Penny is 5 months old. Quite honestly, I can't afford having Penny groomed every 2 months. It's about $80! I would love to groom her myself. I'll look up your page. Thank you!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I highly recommend self grooming! Not only is it fun and good bonding with your dog, you never have to worry about someone else making your dog look goofy.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I think she could use a haircut to get out some of the baby coat and make her look even more doodlicious.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Penny looks very cute and scruffy.  As you can see by my photo of Kona (the apricot double doodle) with Santa and his adopted sister Maggie, I love him scruffy.  This was taken the day after I groomed him and cut off about 1.5 to 2 inches.  I keep his hair very long.  When he roughouses with Maggie, he does get matted and I have to stay on top of it with sharp scissors to slice through them (not cut them off), and then use the slicker brush to pull out the cotton undercoat that will add to the matte.  Maggie is a Briard Sheepdog/American Eskimo mix.  I don't have to cut her hair at all.  Just her bangs and between the eyes.  I just let it be it's natural 6 inches long all over.  She actually relaxes and like to be brushed, so it's a bonding time for us. 

If you take Penny in rather than do it yourself, be sure to be very clear to tell them not to shave her nose or cut her mustache at the mouth lip line.  That has happened a few times to Kona, which is why I always groom him myself.  A lot of groomers also cut them to look more like a poodle or Malti-poo.  Nothing against poodles or Malti-poos, but they don't look like a Doodle!