Hair envy? Doodle owner confession

[Jennifer Tramell]

Okay, so I confess: I am a long haired dog lover.  I love golden retrievers, collies, long haired German shepherds, spaniels, etc.  Some of the doodles on the site are just gorgeous!  I look longingly at these doods, admiring their long, silky, wavy locks.  Unfortunately, I have another confession: dog grooming is not at the top of my priority list.  I just don't take the time neccessary to keep my dogs hair long and lovely.  I have tried to teach Webster to brush Charlotte (and vice versa) but I don't think he does a thorough job.  He CLAIMS that their hair is brushed, but I don't think Webster is being honest.  My 8 yr old son has started brushing the dogs hair, but again, I don't think it is sufficient.  Because of this, I keep my dogs hair relatively short but I still feel jealous when I see other long haired doodles (kind of how I feel when I see pics of Catherine Zeta Jones). 

Does anyone share my long hair envy or do you all honestly prefer the short hair?  I do prefer my doodles short hair over the reality of what they would look like with long hair, but oh for those long, flowing, Taylor Swift locks......

[Louise and Toby]

Jennifer, I too wish we could have some soft, wavy, flowing locks on our boy sometimes.  It is not to be - I've tried it and it's just not right.  Toby has such THICK hair on his back with a fair amount of stiff hairs mixed in.  His hair there could never "flow" it just sticks up making him look quite fat.  So we have a tailored look on his body. Face, ears and legs are fluffy and soft.  The trick now is to get the groomer to beautifully blend the short area with the longer areas!  He is the sweetest so we'll just go with it.  Much easier to care for too as you point out!  (PS my last dog was a collie!  Talk about hair - the hair on his ruff was so thick you could not see his skin!)

 

[Melissa & Porter]

I am torn too because I love how cute Porter's legs look when they are long tubes of hair, and I think his head and snout are adorable will all the fluff, BUT I really don't want to brush him more than once a week.  Currently he is over 2 inches long except for his face, and he is quite matted on his feet and neck even with weekly brushing.  His hair is actually soft and thin, so if I were motivated I could probably keep him long, but then there is STILL the issue of dirt and wetness.

I am like this with clothes.  I admire people who dress nicely all the time and I occasionally will make a resolution to buy and wear nice clothes, but when push comes to shove, I like jeans, plain shirts, running shoes or boots.

[Jennifer Tramell]

Oh, I'm so with you! I refuse to spend to much money on shoes or boots because the fact is that I don't take care of them.  I will end up just "running out" to check on the horses, taking the dogs for a "quick" walk, etc, etc, etc, and there WILL be mud puddles, rocks, thorns, which will make my shoes and boots look a mess whether I paid $5 or $50. 

[Susan, Zeke. Lily & Jasper]

I don't think I've seen an "ugly" doodle no matter what length their coat is! What I like so much about these dogs is their individuality in looks, coats, size & color etc.  We personally keep our 3 fairly short for several reasons but like you Jennifer I do have to confess to coat envy also.  There is a GEORGOUS white goldendoodles that has been in several obedience classes with Jasper recently.  He has the most amazing coat I've ever seen.  It's at least 6-8 inches long and not a mat in sight!  How his mom keeps him so white is also another mystery, but what makes me most envious is the way this dog feels to the touch.  You just want to bury yourself in all that fluffy softness.  His coat style is very loose fleese.  If he were my dog I'm not sure he would look or feel quite so georgous as I'm sure all this beauty takes a lot of work.