Opinions & Advice on Grooming Henry Needed

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, I never thought I'd be here in the Grooming Group asking advice. I had poodles and I knew what to do with them. They didn't shed at all, their hair continued to grow forever, just like ours, and they had to be trimmed regularly. Just how short you cut them depended on what kind of look you liked and how much time you were prepared to devote to brushing and combing to keep them matt free.
Then I got Jackdoodle, and grooming was a thing of the past. It is just like having a Golden Retriever. he needs a bath, a little brushing, and goodbye haircuts. His hair only grows so long and never matts or needs to be cut. It's silky, not thick, not woollly, definitely not curly.
My foster doodles have been either like my poodles or like Jack, and I never had any trouble knowing what kind of grooming they needed.
Now...meet Henry, a DRC doodle who was just adopted:

Yes, he's the cutest thing in the world, and yes, he is terribly overweight. He weighs 116 lbs and should weigh 85-89. So that's not all hair. But he does have woolly, curly, doodle-y fur that we were sure was non-shedding. It seems like it should be, when you feel it and when you brush it. But, it's all over his house. It's all over his mom's clothes, and it was all over my clothes when I brushed him a little. At first I thought it was just a lot of dead hair that was never removed by brushing, because he wasn't very well cared for in his former home. He was just bathed and never formally groomed; his nails were never cut, either. But he isn't very matted at all, and his ears are completely free of hair inside, naturally. So how could that be if he is in fact a nonshedder? So now I'm thinking he's like a curly woolly version of Jackdoodle...his hair only gets so long and then falls out, he sheds, and he doesn't need haircuts.
But is that possible? And short of waiting a few weeks or months to see, how do we know? He's going to the groomer next week, and his mom has asked for my help & advice. We like the length he's at now. But if he's going to grow longer and matt, he should be trimmed when he's groomed, or he'll be too long and unmanageable by his next grooming. Plus, as long as she's spending the $ to get a 116 lb doodle groomed, she wants to have it done right.
Advice, please. Is it possible that he's a non-shedding doodle who just needs a really good brushing, and will need regular trims? Or is it possible for a doodle to have a really thick, fleecy coat that sheds and only gets so long?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

He's going on Saturday, and I'm still not sure. I may print out your response above and bring it to her...it was very smart of you to realize that if he's taken down much, he will look fat, not fluffy. For sure we are going to have the hair around his eyes trimmed, and a sanitary, and have his feet cleaned up.

I keep looking at how even his beard is, and wondering how it could be that way if they never had him groomed or trimmed him themselves. And when I brushed him a little myself, I got down to the skin very easily; he has black skin, so it was very easy to tell. His coat is nowhere near as thick as it looks. So I'm pretty sure he's a shedder. I think they'll keep him anyway, lol.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I don't think that the beard necessarily grows as fast as the rest of the body.  In Sophie's top picture above I had trimmed the top of her nose below her eyes, but never her beard.  It took it 2 years to get that long.  Since then I probably haven't trimmed more than a 1/2 inch off her beard.  It just doesn't grow like the rest of her.  I usually run the clippers through her body and legs about every 4-6 weeks and take off probably 1/2 - 1 inch each time. 

 

[Melissa & Porter]

What a cutey pie, and a doodle hair mystery!

I think it is interesting that his tail hair is not very long.  I wonder if it was trimmed or if it is an indication of the fact that his hair has a finite growth cycle and indeed sheds.

 

My vote is to trim him like Sophie--very cute and shorter hairs on your clothes.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Now that you mentioned his tail and I look at it, it does look like it has been trimmed.  Lucy's tail took forever to grow any thickness or length, but it was never this even looking while it was doing it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am almost positive that these people who had him never trimmed his tail. Or anything else.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I just found out that Henry was never professionally groomed by his former owner. He was bathed at home, not even thoroughly brushed out, and twice a year they trimmed him. I am sure that he's a shedder like JD, based on this info.

I think we'll have his face and feet cleaned up, do a sanitary, and let the rest of him be for now. I hope I can get an "after" photo.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Trim right around the eyes too.  He sure is cute but I am sure he is a shedder also.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, his mom wants him trimmed around the eyes, for sure.

He is beyond cute, Nancy. And he has a temperament to match. That little smile is perpetual. He has the most hopeful look on his face all the time, even when he's stressed. His new mom said he is better behaved than her current dog. He had the run of the house from day one with no accidents and no destruction. He lets the 4-year-old "brush" his head with a soup ladle. He is pretty close to perfect, except for his size which is certainly not his fault, and that's the reason he lost his home. If I'd fostered him, JD would have been in serious trouble.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

He is huge.  He looks wonderful now in the pictures but I'll bet that when he loses the weight, he will be even more so.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

it is amazing how one this big that comes from this type background can be so well behaved when others of us have spent countless hours training to even get to where we are!  He certainly does look like a sweetheart!  I even love his name.  I think he will look great just trimmed up.  Can't wait to see pics.  I did find with one of my fosters in particular that shed pretty badly that if I just ran the Les Poochs through him 1st thing each day (which took less than a minute) that the shedding was much less.