Puppy To Adult Coat Survey

[Kimberly Cook]

There are a lot of questions among a few of us  new Doodle parents concerning different coats and their changes.
If you have a couple minutes please answer this short survey and tell us your experience with your Doodle's coat.

Before & After pics (puppy to adult) would be nice too.  :)

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer these question!
Copy and Paste questions below to reply:

1. What is the type of doodle you have and their coat type?

2. Did it change much from puppy to adult? (Yes or No)

3. What age did it start to change/shed and how long did it take?

4. Did it mat before, during or after change?

5. Did it change in color or coat type?

6. What grooming strategies ie: body-clip/tools/shampoo/detangle sprays did you find most useful during the shedding/matting period?

[Kimberly Cook]

I will start:

1. What is the type of doodle you have and their coat type?

F1b. Chopper started with a curly fleece coat.

2. Did it change much from puppy to adult? (Yes or No)

Yes

3. What age did it start to change/shed and how long did it take?

His coat started to change at around 6 months. I noticed more matting. His coat is still changing at 9 months now.

4. Did it mat before, during or after change?

His coat did not mat till his adult coat started coming in. Now it mats like crazy. :(

5. Did it change in color or coat type?

He is currently 9 months old. His color and type are changing. He is still shedding his puppy coat and going through an awkward stage now. There are many colors coming in. White, Latte, & Black hairs. He has some kemp on his back. That is the dark spot in the pic below.

6. What grooming strategies ie: body-clip/tools/shampoo/detangle sprays did you find most useful during the shedding/matting period?

We are trying to keep his coat long and not clip/cut his hair. I found a couple inexpensive mat removing combs that work pretty well.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQPM0/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3706191&f=P...

I also have a couple Chris Christensen brushes to start my line brushing on Chopper.
I use this comb on his face and ears once I get out the mats.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FG2I26/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_...

Looking forward to others responses and experiences.

[Brenda Silva]

1. Fib

2. Yes

3. At about 1 year to 11/2 years ...lasted or settled out at about 3

4. It matted during the change

5. She started out creamy and then turned white.  As she is getting older she has some cream accents

6. I basically use a large metal comb .  Its teeth graduate from closer together to farther apart.  When she was matting and I couldnt get the mat out using the tip of the comb to break it apart I used a matbreaker comb/rake.  Ive treated her coat like a kids head of hair and it hasnt been bad for her or me.  She went to a groomer once and Ive done it every time since.  During the year she was matting I almost shaved her but didnt .  She has some wavy hair and some curlier hair.  I keep it long and for the most part only scissor cut.  I use Cowboy magic shampoo and conditioner and I dilute in in a large pitcher then pour it over her before I shampoo or rinse.  Ive learned about the shampoo from this site and love it as I do this site.  Im not able to send pictures right now but I do have some posted. Brenda Silva and Teddi.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Kona:

1.  Standard F1 Goldendoodle, mix of fleece and wool

2. Yes, dramatic change: he had the softest fleece puppy coat that was jet black. His coat became more wiry and courser as he aged and the color became what I call pewter over three years.

3. I can't remember for sure but I think his coat change may have started around 7 months or so and lasted maybe until 14 months. (The color change was much more gradual than the texture change.)

4. He didn't mat until the coat change. He matted through the coat change and much, much less as an adult.

5. color and coat type

6. During the coat change his groomer clipped his coat very short saying he was matted. I brushed him every day at the time and even combed him but I was not line brushing. Once I learned to line brush he never had to be clipped as short. It was a blessing because I was able to stay on top of his coat during the coat change after he was clipped short. I learned to line brush by watching videos. If there is a stubborn mat I use a mat zapper to cut through it. I could not get along without a Les Pooches Brush.

Owen:

1. Standard F1 Goldendoodle, (granddog who lives with us, too) fleece

2. Rather thin puppy coat that got thicker and thicker but does not mat to speak of. Very thick coat now. Sheds less than puppy coat... barely shedding.

3. Owen's coat changed very gradually. I could not place a month or group of months to describe it. His coat just slowly got thicker and thicker and by the time he was 2 he wasn't shedding nearly as much as he did as a pup.

4. If Owen gets a mat it is one every few months. I cut it out and it's small. 

5. coat type

6. no strategy needed. I could let his coat get quite long when we lived on the mainland. I keep both doodles short here in Hawaii. They are in the ocean several days a week and it's just way easier to rinse them and dry them off if they have short hair. 

[Kimberly Cook]

How is the sand issue going?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

1. What is the type of doodle you have and their coat type? I have two doodles but only one from a puppy - Ned who is a multigenerational Australian labradoodle.

2. Did it change much from puppy to adult? He doesn't look much different but his coat is thicker.

3. What age did it start to change/shed and how long did it take? Ned began matting at 6 months and it got worse and worse.  When he was about 2, I could begin stretching out his brushing/combing.  He is now 5 and I can go a couple of weeks without brushing him, BUT he still mats.  The difference is that I can comb the mats out.

4. Did it mat before, during or after change? No matting before - still mats at age 5.

5. Did it change in color or coat type? His coat is not as soft as it once was. His coat seems to be a mixture of wool and fleece.  He is curlier under his chin and under his ears.  He was a darker apricot than he is now and his tail, ears around his eyes and lashes were red.  The tail and ears faded to blend with the rest of him but his eye area - lashes are still red. Now his muzzle has darkened and is redder also.

6. What grooming strategies ie: body-clip/tools/shampoo/detangle sprays did you find most useful during the shedding/matting period? We have Ned groomed every 4 to 6 weeks.  We use a LesPouchs slicker brush and a steel comb with graduated teeth.  At one point we were brushing/combing every day to every other day. We often had to slice through mats.  Now we go a week or two.  Our brushing sessions are at least 45 minutes to an hour and sometimes it takes more than one session to finish since we let him go longer between brushings.  We DO use de-tanglers to help get mats out and get the comb through his coat - Horse Mane 'n Tail Detangler Spray, Cowboy Magic, The Stuff.  My groomer uses BedHead for dogs.  We keep Ned fairly long.  His coat is so thick that it poofs out rather than 'draping' over him.  When he was at his worst matting, we kept him shorter.

Ned before matting. He was 5 months:

At his shortest and worst matting - 15 months:

Currently at 5 years:

[Kimberly Cook]

Ned is adorable. I need to try the Mane n Tail detangler.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Hurley is a multi gen standard labradoodle. He is a chocolate wavy fleece.

His coat changed in color since he was a puppy.  He will be two the end of November.  This is Hurley at 3 months.

He was about 18 months old when his coat started to change to an adult coat and started to mat. Also his coat started to be a light chocolate or you could say a chocolate with hight lights.  We live in the Las Vegas area so he definitely bleached out. Obviously we were not in the Vegas area when this picture was taken.  He is about a year old in this one.

His coat type has not changed but I have noticed as he gets closer to two he seems to be getting a little darker and not so bleached out. He still mats and I do brush him every other day usually.  He loves water so to keep the mats down I either have to brush him as soon as he gets out of the water or make sure he doesn't lie down which causes mats.  I use a metal dog grooming comb and a Christensen brush.  And I will cut out mats that are to intense rather than work on them to much as it is not pleasant for Hurley.  I can shampoo him but he is 55 lbs and can be challenging in the shower so I take him to a groomers every 2-4 weeks depending on how dirty he seems.  I have two different detangling products (Mane & Tail or Fresh n cClean). What I don't like about the detanglers is they make his coat feel funny sometimes.  

[Kimberly Cook]

I am hoping Chopper's coat will fill in similar to Hurley's. :/

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Ned looks like the coat lightened up.  He is so fluffy and cute.

Chopper was so reddish chocolate and even though the coat has changed he remains a unique color. 

Doodles are so amazing and all are so beautiful.

All our neighbors know Hurley by name and when I am out running with him the hellos are to Hurley.   I bet you all get the same reactions from people.  These dogs simply stick out.

[Kimberly Cook]

Haha! I'm sure that's it Diane.  "I was only saying hi to her awesome dog dear. Not her!" /:)
Chopper opened our back gate (not good!) when I was at my son's school for an hour last week and luckily found our neighbor who is an avid jogger are ran around the whole neighborhood with him. The neighbor brought him back after their run.
When we take Chopper out people mostly say, "Cool looking dog!"
I hope he grows out of the awkward coat change stage soon. Doodles are most cool IMHO. ;)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned has lost his red.  He would never be mistaken for cream, but it is definitely much, much lighter. I love Chopper and Hurley's color changes.  The chocolates really have the most variance in their coats - a continual surprise.

[Camilla and Darwin]

1. What is the type of doodle you have and their coat type? F1 Goldendoodle, wavy fleece coat.

2. Did it change much from puppy to adult? (Yes or No) Yes.

3. What age did it start to change/shed and how long did it take? It started at 5 months or so, and ended at almost 2 years old.

4. Did it mat before, during or after change? Not really before, YES to during, YES to after

5. Did it change in color or coat type? It got a bit lighter, from a caramel cream to a cream. It got a bit curlier and coarser along his back. I would still classify it as an overall wavy coat though.

6. What grooming strategies ie: body-clip/tools/shampoo/detangle sprays did you find most useful during the shedding/matting period? I just used a regular shampoo and did not use a detangler. The method I found most useful is very frequent line brushing, with a slicker brush, then with a steel tooth comb. I did this nightly. Now I do it a few times per week.