starting to panic a little

[Stephanie]

So my female F1 goldendoodle was just born. And I did a lot of research about the breed but I dont know how I missed about all the grooming involved? I previously had a golden retriever that we took to the groomers i would say about 3-4 times a year but other then that I didnt have to brush out any matts.  I was just wondering how often they have to be brushed? and is an F1 less brushing then say an F1B coat.  I just cant picture dedicated an hour a day lets say to brush the dogs hair. Please help and tell me its not that bad!!!! and when picking out the puppy is there something I should look for in the coat that would be less grooming?

I JUST POSTED THIS IN PUPPY MADNESS BUT SHOULD HAVE PROB POSTED HERE!

THANKS!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

For me it is preference.  I have the time to devote to keeping them brushed out.  My girls go pretty much every where with us and just like if I had had children, if they are leaving the house and going with me they are going to be neat and presentable, and that includes being brushed.  If I didn't brush them every day (maybe 10 mins each) would they be matted.  Probably not as mine would get by with once maybe twice a week and they wouldn't mat.  But only doing it once a week would take me longer than the 10 mins daily.  However, that being said there are people on here with Doods that have nightmare coats.  Joanne and Spud come to mind.  She actually let Spud get Dreadlocks because he was so hard to brush out and he hated it so much.  He is a dog that likes to swim and play hard in the yard and his coat was really hard to keep up with.  There are other issues that might make brushing daily necessary.  As an example, many of the Doodles have allergies and daily brushing really helps to keep a lot of the allergy triggers off of their hair.  (I have one of those).  Doodles in general are not low maintenance dogs.  If time is an issue for you you might want to think about this a little more.  Particularly in that first year they require lots of activity and walks etc., or they are going to chew up your house.  There have been many times I've been a little jealous of those people with short haired dogs that can go to the dog park and let their dog play in the lake because they just hose him off and take him home.  That would involved 2 baths and combing out for me and I have to plan those type things around when I have time to do the bath afterwards.  For me having a doodle is all about the shaggy look (and personality), so I don't want mine shaved down but that is just preference as I said to begin with.