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 Terrie Kaleta on January 17, 2009 at 8:40am: I ordered and calling the company directly. We did not talk about the type of coat Boze has, mainly I did not bring it up. I told the representative about his matting stage. We talked about the green brush, the purple brush and the professional mat zapper. I opted for the one in the middle, the purple brush. I recommend you call the company. Their technical support person was absolutely wonderful and will steer you in the right direction. For me, the Les Pooch is my de-matting tool. I recommend the Chris Christensen 16 or 27 mm T-brush for actual brushing. Good Luck

Comment by Kathy Janes on January 17, 2009 at 6:37am: I can't decide if Mater has wool or fleece. His hair is pretty straight and soft like cotten. I've yet to have him get a mat that can't be brushed out with some patience. I'm looking now for a new slicker brush and am wondering about the Les Poochs brushes that have been recommended. Any suggestions on which one is best for his coat??

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on January 16, 2009 at 6:04pm: For Terrie
You are very right about personal choice. I took my cues from the founder's grooming instructions. I stick with that because I feed raw and I would rather they didn't have their faces in it. Also, I really don't like the wet jeans after a drink of water. They always seem to want to cuddle after a drink.

For Linda and Murphy
My pup went to Lafayette. Thankyou for the compliment. I love my guys. I find it hard to tell a coat by a pic unless it is one of the extremes. ie fleece like my boy Zak or wool like his mother Amber.

Comment by Linda and Murphy on January 16, 2009 at 3:07pm: Barb,
Thank you for all of your help and all the information you have provided. Murphy is looking and feeling much better today.
I just looked at your site and your guys are absolutely beautiful!
I saw that you had a pup in Louisiana (which is where I am). Is she near New Orleans? Also, can you tell me from Murphy's pics what kind of coat he has?
(I think wool, but I will defer to an expert. It is definitely very soft. EVERYONE loves to pet him)
Thanks.
Linda

Comment by Terrie Kaleta on January 16, 2009 at 2:06pm: Personally, I like a beard on Boze. I think it gives him dignity and he looks cool. Long or short is personal preference. Boze's beard is a new development. It is about 2 inches now. Boze is in a 10-month old huge matt stage. The photos I have posted don't show his new beard. Maybe I'll post a photo of him "BG"....before grooming. I am going to scissor cut him about an inch shorter. We see the groomer tomorrow to take care of anything I messed up or missed. Boze and I are in a "learn as you go" grooming stage. Cannot say enough good things about the CC 27mm brush, and the purple les pooch. Because of these tools, i get a chance to trim Boze myself and see how I do.

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on January 16, 2009 at 12:46pm: Beards are to be kept short. I trim the beard to about 1/2 inch during grooming. I taper it to the throat so they stay balanced. See Amber fluffed ready for a haircut and after the haircut.

after haircut

Comment by Lynne, Bonnie and Teddy on January 16, 2009 at 6:41am: Just want to say thank you so much for sharing all this information, I am finding it invaluable. Bonnie has quite long hair and I have to brush every day. One question - she has grown quite a long beard and it gets very wet every time she drinks and then walks it all round the house! Should this be trimmed right off in your view or should it be left a couple of inches to balance up the face? She is going to the groomers next week.

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on January 15, 2009 at 11:14pm: The frequency of sanitary trims is totally up to the speed the hair grows. My dogs all have very slow growing coats so 8 to 12 weeks is fine between trims. Others may need it every 4 to 6 weeks.

Comment by Park Mom on January 15, 2009 at 5:41pm: Second question: how often does a doodle need a sanitary trim or more of a trim?

Comment by Linda and Murphy on January 15, 2009 at 1:47pm: Thanks.

I've got pictures, but that doesn't always do justice. I will try the Aloe.

I just spoke with the regular groomer (who has always done a great job and always erred on the side of leaving too much rather than too little) and she concurred. She also said that she has NEVER shaved his face.

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