Shorn to Blithereans

[Susan, Coby & Chloe]

Oh where oh where has my poor doggie gone? After bringing him in to get his first clipping, at 10 months of age, I was told by the groomer that my mini-chocolate labradoodle was terribly matted and needed to be clipped way down.  My oh my - what a surprise when I picked him up....he looks like an overgrown malnourished brown schnauzer!  How long will it take for his coat to grow back and how can I prevent this matting from occurring again? Is this the coat change I've been reading about??

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Pictures Susan, tell a thousand words. I want to see your little doodle-schnauzer!!!!

[Susan, Coby & Chloe]

Trust me, it's not (totally) out of embarrassment that I've not included one but I just got back from our trip to Thailand where, believe it or not, I forgot to charge my camera battery so had to borrow my DIL's camera and left my battery for my son to charge...which he did, but he left it in his office so I'm waiting for him to mail it back. I think Bosco's coat will be grown in a few times over before he does!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Well, Susan, first of all, relax... hair does grow back. But I completely sympathize with you. My Lucy was practically shaved down just 2 weeks ago, which was not at all what I wanted (and her mats weren't that bad to warrant it). She too, looked like a foreign dog to me. It took me days to recover from the blow. I bathed her over the weekend, and she's starting to get her cute back on. In Bosco's case it probably was due to the coat change and as far as preventing it, frequent brushing/combing helps as does keeping the coat on the shorter side. Check out my page for pics of Lucy in her skinny suit (pics taken the day following her clipping).

[Susan, Coby & Chloe]

LOL!  At least Lucy still has some fur left on her ears...that's more than I can say for Bosco! But it does help to see she's equally as, shall we say, "svelte".

[Candy & Hudson]

It took Hudsons coat about 3 months to grow back to a shaggy look! You can look on my page at pictures of him shaved, and then by Christmas there are pics of my fluffy dood! I feel for you! Keep brushing ;)

[Susan, Coby & Chloe]

Awwww...that's not such a bad haircut! Hudson's a cutie pie~

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

What a cutey-pie Hudson is! I love his eyes and his little grin. At least his shave job didn't make him look like a Gremlin (which is the image I had of Lucy for way too many days!).

[Linda and "Toby"]

I feel your pain! I was mortified when the groomer shaved Toby!

I just bought this wooden "Chris Christensen" brush and was delightfully surprised at how Toby seems to actually like it. (He usually bolts and hides under the bed when I start brushing him.)

 

Go to http://www.chrissystems.com/brushes.htm and scroll down the page. It's a bit pricey, but if it will help to prevent his getting so many mats, it's worth the price! 

[Susan, Coby & Chloe]

I will definitely keep this in mind...after the current MasterCard bill comes in (see recent trip to Thailand comment, above <ouch> hurt my wallet almost as much as Bosco's haircut hurt my eyes). I'll also have to make a point of brushing my boy more frequently; I'm afraid I'd been a bit remiss in doing so consistently. Bad doodle mama.....

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Susan -- The best thing that you can do during the coat change as his hair grows is to be sure you use a "COMB" as well as a brush.  Many people who aren't used to a coat type like a doodles coat think that they are brushing when is reality they are wasting their time.  If you aren't getting all the way down to the skin, you can end up with the matted coat.  Using a comb ensures you are getting all the way down to the skin.  There are some video's on UTUBE (under doodle grooming I think) that explains the concept of line brushing ..... this is the best way to ensure you do not have a matted doodle.  Having a shaved doodle is my biggest nightmare and I work constantly to ensure it doesn't happen.  Fortunately, my girls coats are now not that bad about matting, but I brush them a few times a week always.  I've even made DH promise that should anything ever happen to me, that he will ensure that they never have to be shaved!  lol

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Sorry, but I have tried line brushing, frequently.  It does very little to eliminate matts from my Mitzi's coat. I have to use a brush, comb and detangler each time, and I brush her almost every other day.  She has

a very stubborn coat and as soon as the weather permits I fully intend on clipping her to 1/2 inch all over.

She is truly my "Raggedy Ann" doodle.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We had one foster, who fortunately had been clipped really short before we got him but his tail was still bushy ....... just the tail was a nightmare.  I'm not sure I ever actually got all the matts out of it.  Just the texture of it was hard to get a comb or brush to go through.  You have my sympathy if she is that way all over.  I just kept thinking how beautiful his coat was going to be when grown out, but if it were like the tail one would not be able to manage it.