When did your F1B shed its puppy coat?

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

Fenway just turned 8 months old this past Sunday and she has been matting like crazy all of a sudden. We had never had a single mat until the last week or so and now they are everywhere. I brush her coat once or twice a week (prior to the matting) and that has always been enough. Is this her coat going through the change from puppy to adult or is it too early? Just curious when this happened to all of you and if the matting ends once the adult coat comes in.

[z06558zx020a]

Cassie is almost 10 months and she had to go to the groomer for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I had been doing her myself than all of a sudden I couldn't keep up with the mats. OMG it was horrible. Now all her curls are gone and I'm hoping I can keep it up long enough for her adult coat to come in so I can have her long hair again.

[Tammy Richardson]

My Lucy is an F1B as well (1yr old). I have been lucky that we haven't had too many mats but there is a definite change from when she was a pup. I am also very lucky that we have a great groomer who does an amazing job without cutting her coat down too much. My advise would be to find a good groomer in your area and find out what she suggests. I can give you the name and number of mine but it might be a huge commute to Toronto, Ontario. Take care T

[Karen Gaffney]

MY 10 month old Cirrus has been going through this for about three weeks he has horrible I mean horrible mats that seemed to appear from nowhere. I have been trying everything to get them out to no avail. It looks like we will have to have his beautiful coat shaved. My older boy never had this problem.
Karen G,

[Rae]

Bella started at about 10 months - but not too bad. She has a VERY curly coat and it mats if we let it get very long. She's now 20 months old and no shedding but still matting issues!

[drilvemdddt4]

We have a 13 month old and she has been sheding for about 5 month,we got a f1b hoping that this would not happen.Oh well we will have to put up with it

[Monica & Quincy & Charmin too]

Bella is sooo cute! I would love to have a girl like her, can you tell me if she is a labradoodle or goldendoodle?
How much does she weigh and what color is she? Can you tell I'm new to the group? I'm just trying to learn as much as I can to make sure this breed is the perfect fit for our family. Thanks so much, Monica

[Anne]

Hi Rae ! I just love your picture of Bella she is adorable ! We are patiently (not!) waiting for our f1b ! How are you coping with Bellas coat ?.... are you constantly grooming her to keep the matts away ?

[Heidi]

Hi all. My Newton is 15 months old now, and started losing his puppy fur right about at 12 months old. I never had a lick of trouble with his fur until that time. Then it was the same mats in the same places over and over. It seemed that overnight the mats I had brushed out the night before had formed again. He and I were both frustrated with the situation, so I gave him a shave down to start over again. While I miss his big shaggy look, I have to admit that its really eased up the grooming, and he also drags in a lot less mud and dirt on his feet! We figure at the rate his fur grows, he'll be back to full Chewbacca mode in another 2 months.

[Hollie Slattery]

I'm glad you asked this question, Kelli! My F1b golden doodle is 4 1/2 months old and we have not had any shedding and only the occasional matt. I have been thinking about the shaving issue and decided I didn't want to shave her this summer, but from all the responses I've seen here, it sounds like I'm not going to have a choice. Darbey's coat is wavy with hardly any curls, and very, very soft. I really don't want it to change!!! Her mother is a standard poodle and her father is a golden doodle. I wonder if it makes any difference as to if the non-doodle parent is a poodle or a golden retriever (or lab!)

[Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie]

Shiloh is 11 months old and his ears are matting like crazy....I thought the groomer was going to kill me. He likes to ride in the car with his head out the window and I thought that was the problem....so since his last grooming, car rides have been air conditioned instead of wind and it didn't make a difference....his ears are still mat central! I don't know what to do, they get so bad I have to just cut the mats out, there is no brushing it out.

[Terri V & "mini" Cooper]

Our "mini" Cooper is now 13 months and started matting around 9 months. But just a few weeks, it was horrible, even though I was brushing him, I couldn't keep up with the matts. Our groomer took him very short on the body and her thoughts were the matting was due to him shedding his puppy coat. Luckily his fur is growing back in and it's not the middle of the winter. Terri
PS. He's on the couch that he is not supposed to be on:)

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Harlow is only 5 1/2 months old and has not started losing her puppy coat yet. I am not looking forward to it. Do/can the coats change drasticly? Right now Harlow has a very soft, very curly coat.