does the matting eventually stop?

[Jen W]

Or is the nightly brushing and picking a lifetime thing?

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

How old is your doodle? If you are diligent during coat change it does end for 99% of them. My older doodles rarely get any real matting. They get what I call webbing in areas that matted when they were younger. The webbing needs to be brushed, but it isn't that difficult.

[Sharon Knudsen]

How ling does it take to go through the coat change? My doodle is 8 months and just starting a little shedding when I brush him.

[Bonnie and Kona]

It depends on the dog, but I think the average is between ages 8-14 months.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I think Bonnie is about right. 6 months if you are diligent about brushing and combing. Longer if you just shave and keep growing it out. My puppies from the last couple of years have had only a small amount of matting due to coat change and some almost none.

[Bonnie and Kona]

I think it depends on the dog. Doodles have a wide variety of coat types. If your dog is in the middle of the coat change it will probably get easier. How old is he? Are you line brushing? I know it is hard to think about but keeping a shorter coat means less grooming headaches. I clip my doodles very short since moving to a warm climate and now I have to brush/comb them much less frequently than before. I highly recommend clipping a dog going through the coat change. It helps tremendously. 

[Marie Dennen]

It never ends. The longer you keep it the more brushing and combing you have to do. I agree with the line brushing. And clipping it short for less maintenance. I have had mine all lengths but I groom professionally. I don't think twice about changing the style. If I am busy it goes short. If I need him for teaching or a groom demo he goes long and I experiment with style.

[Bob Johnston]

Sophie from half way down her back, legs and base of her tail mat over night. The front half she has started to get really nice curly which doesn't mat. The other hair I swear is evil I can only hope it all goes curly. It looks like your dog has the same hair sophie did when she was younger but that doesn't really mean anything with doodles they like to keep us guessing.I haven't come across a lot of irish setter poodle mixes so not sure what the final coat would be.

[Linda And Loo]

The doodle gods have blessed me! Loo has never had matting problems even durning her coat chAnge. I comb her her out when I bathe her which is about every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. I have found more mats on my Cavanese than on my Doodle.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Depends upon your dog's coat.  Ned doesn't mat as much as he did and I am more able to comb the mats out without resorting to scissors, but matting is just what he is really good at.