Doodle Grooming

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A place to discuss grooming issues.

A chance to ask a professional groomer for advice.

A place to start discussions that will be of interest to the many fledgling groomers here. Be sure to add tags!

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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 Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on January 15, 2009 at 1:19pm: It does sound like a razor burn. Aloe would be good for that. If you can, take him back to the groomer and show them right away. They need to know so they can take more care the next time and also for the comfort and safety of other clients. They can't fix something they don't know about. [Now I sound like Dr Phil ] It could be the case of the old dull blade.

Comment by Linda and Murphy on January 15, 2009 at 1:00pm: Help! I just took Murphy for a bath and asked that they "trim his face".
Unfortunately, I did not specify my normal groomer.
When I picked him up he looked fine. The face was obviously shaved and closer than I like but looked ok.
3 hours later it was bright red (angry looking) and actually bleeding in one spot.
I gave him benadryl and and put Hydrocortizone cream on the area.

Any other suggestions? Is it razor burn? Or something else?

Comment by Nancy Cavanaugh on January 7, 2009 at 4:15am: Good luck. I am sure you had recommendations for this groomer - and if you bring pictures of what you want - it will be fine. I would be sure to take out all her mats BEFORE you bring her in. check really close to the skin, around ears, arm pits, legs. I know it sounds crazy to de-mat before you bring her to the groomer - but that is why groomers sometimes shave. Let me know and send pictures! (by the way - I don't know if you meant my comment "Hair grows back - but I was talking about just trimming the face.( LOL). Lucy and Sophie are just beautiful.

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on December 27, 2008 at 6:59pm: I have the hands free rolling dryer by Oster. It is a fairly high heat dryer. I don't normally use this one on my doodles. Only if the weather is too cold to let them dry naturally or if one is very matted and I want to table dry to make sure I get all the matts out. I use it on my schnauzer or shepherds. Here is a picture of the high heat dryer. http://www.renspets.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=rpd&Category_Code=osterdry

Comment by Nancy Cavanaugh on December 27, 2008 at 6:44pm: I use a dryer that is on a stand with wheels, - and I can roll it around my grooming table, quickly and easily - and also adjust the arm of the dryer - to get to difficult places (feet - under arms, - its just so easy and it keeps both my hands free for brushing, while Koji is drying. I don'thave a picture - it is an older one.

Comment by Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles on December 27, 2008 at 3:57pm: Dryer
My right arm in grooming is my blower. It is not about heat, only strong forced air. I use it to take dust or water off coats. Here is a link to a picture of the one I have. Mine is the 2 speed one. http://www.renspets.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=rpd&Category_Code=drieaz

Comment by Jazz & Jane on December 23, 2008 at 2:54pm: Glad to see this thread. I'm attempting this on my own as I agree with everyone about getting the cut you want.

I did buy a BABY (4") Wahl clipper (battery operated, @$20) and it works great for pads and nose/eye area. Not nearly has scarey to the dood as the BIG clipper.

Comment by Christine on December 21, 2008 at 4:52pm: I have been grooming my 11 month old doodle thus far. These tips are great!! He has recently begun chewing on his feet, inbetween his pads and the paw itself. What does this mean? I have scoured through his paws feeling for matts or burs, but nothing that I see or feel unusual? Is this normal behavior or could it indicate something else? P.s. i have never trimmed his fur between his pads. He gets brushed 1-2 times everyday and is matt free.

Comment by Kay - Wonderland Labradoodles on December 20, 2008 at 7:53pm: Barb, thanks for starting this group. I got tired of groomers butchering my dogs and started grooming them myself. I am always looking for helpful tips.

Comment by Noble Vestal Labradoodles on December 18, 2008 at 7:33pm: Thanks for starting this group! I am so tired of seeing doodles shaved down because owners dont groom their dogs enough or because a groomer was lazy~

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