first grooming

[Laura Deutsch]

Just wondering about when you get/got your doodle's first cut......working full time makes keeping up with the brushing more difficult and although Molly is just turning 6 months, we've made an appt. My DH is very sad , so I thought I'd ask if people think this is too early.

[Taylor & Huff]

Okay, if you are talking about having her shaved, I wouldn't do it. Dogs don't necessarily need to be shaved. Their hair is insulation. Doodles are also much, much prettier with long hair. Long hair doesn't take hours and hours of grueling work anyway. If you brush her about once a week, she should be fine. I don't think she really needs a haircut anyways. Maybe just a sanitary trim but she is just a puppy and shouldn't need much of a haircut. Huff's first haircut was when he was about 9 months and that was just a sanitary trim. They did it at petsmart, even though we told them not to. He hasn't had a haircut since then. Unless you count having his bangs trimmed. My mom trims Huff's bangs every once in a while. Now that he is almost 1 and a half years old he is going to get a sanitary trim around his paws and belly area. I love long haired doodles. Please keep her hair long if you can but please, please, please don't let her get matted. At least brush her once a week or more. Good luck!:)

[Laura Deutsch]

I also love the long haired look. She needs her nails trimmed and her beard a little and her rear.....maybe we should hang on longer. We were not thinking about shaving....she needs her hair..only a longer puppy cut. Thanks.

[Taylor & Huff]

Ya, I think a sanitary trim would be fine for her. As long as you don't shave her. You don't even HAVE to shave her in the summer if you don't want to. Like I said it is also insulation from the heat. :)

[Melissa]

Buddy got his first trim when he was about 4 months old. Just a little off the coat and also the sanitary. We had Petsmart do it. Unlike most people we keep Buddy's coat short. (No issue with matting except sometimes on hair hanging from his ears) I do the trimming now every 6-8 weeks. He looks so darn cute and he seems to like it. :) Of course we will keep it a little longer in the winter months, but we keep his eye area cut every so often to help him see. Don't worry about the first cut, remember it is hair and it grows back. :)

[Jessica & Lucie]

I was afraid to do the first hair cut too, I ended up liking it even better! So much easier to keep clean and brushed too. I wouldn't worry about it too much, because it really does grow back quickly (Lucies grows an inch a month!). I loved the long hair look so I leave her head and tail much longer than the body, that way her face looks the same and she gets to show off her cute figure at the same time!

[Laura Deutsch]

How old was Lucie when you gave her her first haircut?

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin got his first cut at 7 months. Just a little clean up. We cut him a bit shorter the second time as it was summer and with swimming at the cottage and stuff it was more practical. Also at about 10 months he started to mat, so keeping it a bit shorter helps to deal with that. I have noticed a huge change in his coat in the past four months. Looks like a completely different coat. From darker, more hair-like, large curls and swirls, to thicker, fleecier, lighter fur with loose waves.

[Kyoko]

I think Charlie got her first hair cut at 6 months or so. She had to go, because we could not see her eyes!!!
I think it's good to take them to the groomer around that time, so they can get used to going there on regular basis...

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Hi there,

I was afraid to have Barley professionally groomed, but I finally did it when he was six months old. I had him trimmed down. He wasn't completely shaved and he looked really cute. I did have him cut shorter for the summer, though not quite completely shaved. He gets really, really hot and he's a lot happier trimmed down. I just had him trimmed again at ten months old. My problem is that he gets lots of mats, particularly behind the ears. I brush him about twice per week with combs, dematting tools, detangling brushes, and finishing brushes but it's still a problem. So, that's the choice I've made. It depends on the type of hair your doodle has. There is a lot of diversity among doodles.

[Patty, Roxy & Spencer]

Laura, We have Roxy and Spencer groomed professionally about twice a yr. We go to a groomer who is highly professional and has attended Westminster many times as a winning Bedlington Terrier groomer. He only hand scissor cuts the pups and leaves their paws nice and fluffy. It is costly, but the pups love to play fight and mouth each other so there is a lot of matting to keep up with. If I only had 1, I probably would only have a sanitary cut done most of the time. I do know my pups really feel pretty good after they come home from being groomed though. Check out my site. I have a few pictures of them after their grooming. There is one of me holding Roxy at our groomers right after her first grooming (maybe 7 mos old). He took her face down a bit more than I liked, so we tell him not to do that anymore. They look and smell like powder puffs afterwards!