WET BEARD and FACE

[Amy]

Hi.

I am new here, so I am sure this has been discussed before.

My 9 month golden doodle, Maggie, has a constant wet face and beard.  Even when she wakes up it is wet.  Any advice? 

I am constantly wiping her face, but no matter what I do it stays moist.

I was thinking maybe she needs a bit of a trim in the snout and beard area.  It always is wet and it gets very snarly!  She is an extremely messy drinker, and the beard drips everywhere.  I am afraid that she will lose her doodle look without her beard.

I am waiting for my new Les Pooch brush (green) and comb to arrive, which I am hoping will help with the snarls.  Luckily she doesn't mind me brushing and wiping.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

If you look at the ALD founder's site, you will see she does not keep beards on her dogs. Her grooming advice always includes short beards. I start trimming beards at about 5 months and use this length as a standard.

Even with this long coated girl, you can see the hair on her chin is short and then the back of the jaw blends more into her coat.

[Helen & Kirby]

Doodles arejust  messy when they drink water.  It's just part of the doodle code -- they must spill drops of water over a 20 ft. radius.   I cut my doodle's beard  somewhat short.  That helps, but you will still get dripping water every where.  And don't worry, even with a shorter beard, they still looks like doodles.  Also, don't let the beard mat--that is when you will get almost a 'moldy' smell.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I discovered something interesting a while back in regard to wet beards. Tara has always eaten raw or home cooked food. She gets kibbles for training/grooming treats. I RARELY see her drink water unless it is a hot day and she is playing hard. However,  there was a short period of time, about a week, when I fed her kibble only. OMG!! She was constantly drinking water and her face was ALWAYS wet!!  It drove me crazy!!  Apparently they need to drink a huge amount of water to compensate for the lack of  moisture in their food!!If all else fails and you want to retain the beard you might try adding water to the food or going raw or home cooked.

 

Barb, I know you feed raw too. Have you found this to be the case with your doods also?

[Jess and Pippin]

We fed our previous dog raw, and noticed he drank (and pooped) less.  Pippin is fed kibble, and I always add warm water to it, which decreases the amount he drinks.

[Michael Gurley]

I have recently begun feeding Sunny raw, and she has drastically reduced the amount she drinks.