Lolli's slow transition into a Doodle...

[Jennett Pulley]

This is Lolli at 7 weeks...

Lolli at 6 months...

And here she is at almost nine months!!!

[Anne G.]

So cute! My dog never did get the longer facial hair like Lolli but she has curls on her back and chest and longer straiter hair on her underside like a golder retriever. I love all the different looks our doodles have!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Quite a transformation! She is definitely getting very doodle-y, lol! 

[Jennett Pulley]

Lolli has long curls down her back and really long "butt feathers" as my kids call them.  Her tail is a very thick plume and her legs are just starting to get shaggy.  She looks different every week and it's really fun to watch.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I didn't have JD as a puppy, but I imagine his transformation was probably a lot like Lolli's. He continued to get more "doodle-y" even after I adopted him at 14 months. 

[Jennett Pulley]

And she sheds like a DEMON.  Did you experience that?  How about this "blowing out the coat" I keep hearing about?  When does that usually happen?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD sheds very heavily, always has, always will. From what I understand, that coat change usually only happens with the doodles who are curlier and don't shed as puppies. The dogs like ours with more retrieverish coats usually don't have much of a coat change. Lolli may not have it at all, but if she does, it will be somewhere between now and her 1st birthday. And retrievers usually "blow" their coats in the spring and fall, but JD just sheds continuously all year round. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Clancy is a big shedder too. He doesn't have JD's straight coat, but  the shedding..... big time.  Our RV is covered in fur no matter how hard we try to clean it.  Anybody with allergies could NEVER enter it.

[Jennett Pulley]

I was afraid of that.

[Sarah and Willow]

Willow is right behind Lolli. At almost 8 months, Willow doesn't quite have that long of beard, but her unibrow hair and leg hair looks like Lolli's in her 6 month picture!

As for the shedding, Willow was a shedding machine, now at the risk of creating controversy, I will state that I do not have any evidence to back this up, and it is probably a coincidence, but I switched Willow to grain free food, and her shedding is remarkably less. I did an internet search on grain free and shedding and found some sites that stated it could help, but then again, on the internet you can always find someone out there to agree with anything. I left the search without any substantial proof.

But like I said, the food change probably coincided with a current coat change, but if you are willing to try, what harm could it do?

Willow's shedding before: walking through my legs left half a dog on my pants

After coat change and/or diet change: Leaving a few stray hairs. 

And the vacuum cleaner is getting a break now and then :)

BTW, I love Lolli's look! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Although I strongly advocate grain-free foods for many reasons, the presence or absence of grains in a diet is not going to have an affect on whether a dog sheds or not. But often, grain-free foods are also richer in certain nutrients that can have a positive affect on skin and coat, particular Omega 3 fatty acids. 

[Jennett Pulley]

We are feeding Lolli grain free now!  She has terrible tummy issues and about once a month gets the runs that are uncontrollable.  We are working to figure out the problem but I'm starting to think it is anxiety because her bouts seem to coincide with us going away. She stays with my dad, who she loves and knows very well as he walks her for hours almost daily.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

A lovely transition indeed!