Doodle Grooming

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Coat types

Doodles come in three main coat types. Wool, fleece and hair. If you consider a woolly wool coat to be at one end of a scale and shedding coarse hair coats to be at the other end, your doodle could have a coat anywhere in-between. Not only that...it could be a combination of more than one type. Coats can also be very curly, somewhat curly, spiral curls, wavy or quite straight.

Hint for maintaining your favourite look.

You will find lots of pictures on this site of great looking doodles. Use them to take to your groomer to show what look you like or use them to follow for home grooming.

Coat Change from Puppy to Adult
Somewhere between 8 and 12 months doodles start growing their adult coats. Matte time! Since they don't shed, you need to comb the puppy coat out. This takes quite a bit of dedication and this stage can go on for several months. If you let your puppy mat at this time and resort to shaving, you STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM. You cannot shave it away. At some point, you must comb that puppy coat out. To make this stage easier, scissor the coat to about 2 inches in length so there is less to tangle. A seriously good way to reduce brushing is to buy a high speed blower. It produces cool air at high volume and really helps clean and untangle the coat.

Combing your doodle.
Use a steel comb. Start from one foot and brush..yes brush with a brush..the hair up. Then start down at the foot again and brush down in layers, making sure to always get to see the skin in the area you are working on before you go on. After about and inch or two, comb where you brushed. If the comb won't go thru, start again. Work thru the whole coat in this fashion.
Make sure you hit all the areas.
inside, outside and back and front of legs
upper and lower chest
sides, back and under tail
top of head and neck all the way around
under ears, chin and face
If a wool dog is very matted, it can take 10 hours to demat. If you have a fleece coat that is in good shape, it should take an hour or less to brush and comb the whole dog thoroughly.
Worst trouble spots: in front of hind legs, armpits, under tail and neck

To Do List for regular maintenance.
1. brush and comb twice a week or when ever you feel mattes ..dampen after brushing
These things to be done every 4 to 6 weeks
2. trim hair from between eyes as required to keep it from poking into the eyes
3. shave belly
4. trim hair from around anus and on male or female parts to prevent messy mattes that can get infected from bacteria
5. clip nails
6. trim feet ...inside of feet, around toes and trim length so it just barely touches the ground.
7. trim hair above eyes so it does not obstruct sight
8. pull hair from inside ears and clean with ear cleaning solution
9. shave hair from base of ear to increase airflow into the ear

Links to Grooming Information from this forum.

coming

How to trim feet
You can trim feet with scissors or clippers. I prefer to use a combination of both. I first cup the dog's foot in my hand so the bottom is visible and keeping my scissors flat to the bottom of the foot, I trim all hair sticking beyond the foot. Next I take my clipper with a number 10 or 40 and trim inside between the large pad the the small toe pads. From the top of the foot looking down, I pull a hair back from toes and scissor hair from around nails and between toes. You can to this with a clipper too and make 'poodle toes'...not to be confused at all with poodle feet. You want the foot to have lots of volume from the top, but look clean underneath.

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Comment by Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby on February 23, 2009 at 6:27am: Ok, so if you aren't suppose to use people shampoo (I was told Baby Shampoo or Panteen with conditioner) then what would be a good quality shampoo to use. I agree with Debi, I feed a quality food but I don't want to defeat the purpose of the good food by using the wrong shampoo. I want Abby soft and managable. She is just now starting to get small mats on the inside of her back legs...

Comment by Valerie and Cody on February 23, 2009 at 4:14am: Is there any sort of detangling or conditioning solution that you could recommend? Cody's hair is being grown out for the winter, but the static electricity seems to be driving him nuts, and the matts are driving me crazy!

Comment by Adrianne Matzkin on February 20, 2009 at 6:34pm: Thought I would share my experience with my groomer - ME. I finally took the plunge after Barb's encouragement! I chanted the "Ode to the Doodle Grooming Gods" prayer, closed my eyes (not really) and snipped. And kept sniping and sniping and sniping. Samantha truly got a puppy cut which I love and it was cheap! It does help that she has basically straight hair with some wavy cow-licks. I hope you enjoy the show and know that you can do it too.

Comment by Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*() on February 20, 2009 at 11:19am: I searched "shampoos and conditioners" and didn;t see much. Seem to remember a discussion on using Suave coconut shampoo on our dogs. I'd like to know what everyone is using. Does anyone have an opinion of the Ice on Ice spray? Does it really repel dirt? We are in a very dusty desert area, so that would be nice.

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on February 19, 2009 at 9:44pm: Sounds like you need to come over for tea.

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on February 18, 2009 at 1:24pm: Hi Ann
There are a couple of 'cheat' ways to do heads and faces that are easier to start with. Kendra posted one further down in the comments. For the muzzle, comb all hair up to meet above the nose and trim straight parallel to the length of the nose. This layers the muzzle. Length is a personal choice. At lip line if you don't want to do it again for a while. I also comb all the muzzle hair towards the eyes and trim off what would get in the eyes.
For the bangs.... collect a loose pony tale from the front of the head and gather right between the eyes and cut off the pony tail...don't make it too short.
Trim hair on bridge of nose and inside corners of eyes. I use my thinning shears for this so I don't leave steps.
These quick methods leave a decent looking face with draping and you don't have to play that side to side guessing game.

Comment by Cathy on February 18, 2009 at 12:49pm: We have a 10 month old Goldendoodle. She is a great joy, however; the matts were getting out of hand for a couple of weeks ago. Just happened to come across a new kind of comb, "A RAKE", from Target. It has the label "Pet Supplies" attached to the handle. It is not a Rake you use for the yard, no, you use it on the matts. Works fabulously....!!!!!!!! I highly recommend it.
We bath our doodle, Molly, at least once a week and this will come in very handy now. I can get a picture of it if you are interested.

Comment by Ivy Bates on February 18, 2009 at 12:16pm: This is Austin, my name is Ivy and I am a Labradoodle/Goldendoodle groomer on Long Island. Come visit my website: www.doodlestyle.com

Comment by Lizzy on February 17, 2009 at 7:56pm: I am a NJ dog Pet stylist, have to say we are seeing more and more doodles coming into the Salon. Love working with doodle owners and being creative with their groomings.

Comment by Adrianne Matzkin on February 17, 2009 at 6:46pm: I contacted intergroom. This is the reply I received:
You can come to the trade show for a $10. admission fee. I know there are 2 expensive tables being raffled off and at least 5 companies selling a wide range of grooming tables at discount. Lots of scissor companies and clipper companies. Come and go shopping! No dogs allowed that are not participating in the seminars or competitions.

poop to not being able to bring Samantha. I would loved to have had the opportunity to 'interview' groomers but alas, that was not meant to be. I guess I will have to continue to be her groomer of choice! At least the price it right.

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