Do you give your doodle a short grooming cut for the summer?

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Open for suggestions on summer grooming for doodles!

[Melissa & Porter]

My advice is to not go shorter than 1/2 inch. Black or, in Coach's case, partly black, dogs have the issue of showing white/blue skin where the hair is thin when the hair is really short. It makes me worry about sunburn. Last summer a groomer gave Porter a too-short summer cut and the skin showing though just about killed me for about...oh, the two whole weeks it took for him to have more hair.

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Thanks for the tip! Do you think half inch or one inch to be safe?

[Melissa & Porter]

Half inch is fine. A quarter probably is too, it is just that unless you KNOW the groomer follows instructions really well, I think you are better erring on the longer side.

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Thanks for your help!

[Melissa & Porter]

You're welcome. I meant to add that too short seems to lead to licking toes and butt scratching in some dogs so that's another consideration. Though when that happened to Porter, he had some redness on his toes off the bat, which is an indication of hot blades on the clippers. We have never gone back to that groomer.

[Missi]

YES YES YES! Lizzie loves to be in water and mud all summer long and definitely needs a summer cut. We go 1/2" to 3/4" all around except for ears and tail. She has a docked tail though, so that doesn't make much of a difference. I like the beard shorter so that less water is dripped all over the place. Lizzie is much happier with a shorter doo. My last blog has some pics of both of my doods and their summer cuts. Have fun!

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Thanks! I will check out your pictures.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

We took Harlow down to 1/2" and she seems to be much cooler. She looks and feels like velvet now. It is a lot easier drying her off after she is done romping in the kiddie pool.

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Coach loves to romp around in his kiddie pool too!

[Ann]

I have Samson's hair cut close to his body, tail is fluffy, face is fluffy. My groomer said that the hair on dogs is really insulation against cold and heat. Don't cut too too short.

[Coach Veazey, Roberta, and Coach]

Thanks for the info!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I had Peri cut down to an inch one month ago. She still looks great. Here is the photo of her the day of the cut. She is now slightly longer and I plan to have another groom in one month to ensure she stays cool for the summer. Plus I don't have to spend as much time combing her myself. So much easier to deal with the matting....!!!