Seriously...brushing doen't help??

[Gayle Miller]

Hi All!  Ok....so I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new ALD some time this June.  When I see Doodles in the park, I love to pet them; their beautiful fleecing coats!  I was all set to purchase whatever type of brush I needed; perhaps detangle spray (if there is anything like that for dogs) and get my pup used to being brushed daily.  But from what I'm reading, is it really  impossible to keep their coats long and beautiful without gettnig matted? Do they alwyas need to be shaved down in order to maintain control?  Would love to read your comments!  Thanks!

[Lorraine Bromley]

We keep Neely pretty much Natural. We did just start to experiment with grooming him ourselves at home. I got some thinning shears and clippers and scissors. Basically We just trimmed the wild longer hairs down, thinned out areas that matt more and help any areas we scissored not look too straight. The clippers we used under the armpits and bum area only. I took a bit too much off on the one side. It is slowly coming back and doesn't look stupid except to me because I see it every time I look at him. I do not ever want to cut him down like all the others we see. I won't unless the boating and cottage gets to be too much. Neely is two and we brush him about once a week. Sometimes if we're busy or he has lots of play dates or doggy park days it can be longer in between.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You never have to shave a dog down if you keep up with the brushing...and combing. Brushing alone won't do it for an adult dog with a really woolly non-shedding coat. You also need to use a comb, and you have to get down to the skin, at least once a week, if you want to keep the dog's fur long and have a dog who, let's face it, has the "look" that attracted you to this mix in the first place.

Puppies don't require as much maintenance as adult dogs, but if you let it go while they're puppies, you'll end up starting a vicious circle. I would brush and comb from the beginning, several times a week, as a bonding exercise, and to get the puppy used to it. That will pay off 10 months from now.

[Jodi and Stella]

I took Karen's advice about combing and trust me, it is key to coat maintenence. Sometimes I find that the comb is all I need with Stella's wavy fleece coat. After brushing and/or combing you may want to wet it down a little to get rid of the poofy look and get that shaggy doodle look back.

[Gayle Miller]

Thank you!  Thank you!  It gives me  hope.  I am an empty nester now and certainly have the time to groom if need be.  I do love "that Doodle Look"....I will check out the tabs under grooming!  Thanks for both your comments!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

The only time I couldn't control the mats was during the actual coat change.  Murphy is going through that now, and it's just much easier to keep him short to prevent the mats.  With Guinness I kept him pretty short until he was through the coat change, and then it became much easier to keep mats under control with combing him every couple of days.  The last grooming I did have him cut shorter mostly to "match" his brother.

[Lynda Kamrath]

It is very good to get your puppy used to grooming early and combing and brushing helps with that.   However, the amount of of brushing required really depends on the coat.  I have pretty well decided that I am going to cord my ALD because his hair naturally cords on its own.  If you brush him out, as soon as he shakes, the hair goes back into natural cords.  But I think there is a difference between matting and cording.  He had his first haircut a couple of weeks ago and had a couple of mats under his ears.  We sliced then with a scissors and then used a matting comb to get them out.  What we have decided to do is to keep his face short, shave his belly and between the toes, inside of the ears and trim beneath the ears.  We scissors cut the rest of him.  HE is accustomed to baths, but the drying is the big problem.  We have been drying him with a hair dryer and brushing while we dry him and he gets very fluffy.  Now we are going to try drying more naturally with Shamwow towels (squeezing out the water) and then using sweatshirts or biking jerseys to get him dry over a longer period of time.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Do brush your puppy and clean everything you normally will be cleaning but remember that there is no standard way to do a doodle  cut  and see what works for you.

[selma seery]

Hi Gayle,I don'nt like to shave chesney down either ,I use a a brush called a a flicker brush and a wide tooth heavy metal comb that has a wide tooth end an a the other end the teeth are very close together and alot of back combing,and I work on him as much as possible!!!! Inever had a poouch that did'nt like to be brushed ....now I do so it makes it a little harder. Good Luck let me know how you make ou. I got the products from Pet Smart and my groomer recommened them they work well.

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'm not the most diligent to say the least when it comes to brushing and combing. Although my dogs have never had the longest coats, they've had anywhere up to five inches maybe. But I do all my own grooming so I cut them to a couple of inches or so, comb, hand separate, brush or cut out the mats and we start again. There were times when the worst matting occurred , during coat change when some areas were a tad short : ) But my dogs have never been shaved and often get compliments. I don't think you have to shave.

[Gail+Kathleen,(Sydney+Olivia:)]

Hi, Gayle!  I brush Olivia (her coat is wool and fleeve) with a Les Pooche brush once a week.  It takes me about two hours to do a good job.  The Les Pooche brush is two sided.  One side is for removing mats.  This brush helps with mats and helps to prevent mats.  It helps to be pretty gentle so as not to hurt her.  There are instructions on the proper way to brush on the Les Pooche web site.  I also brush her quickly every day with a regular brush.  I brush Sydney every day (it takes only a few minutes).  Sydney's coat does not require much maintenance.  But Sydney sheds so brushing her every day helps a little.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I have been fairly determined to keep Darwin long when I can. I brush him for at least 30 minutes every single night. When I say brush, I mean line brushing, then running through each section with a fine toothed metal comb as well. When he gets longer, it takes more like 45 minutes to 1hour. I have the time and he loves being brushed so it works for us.

I can happily say that we have never shaved him due to his mats being bad. Every single time we've cut him short, he's been mat free, which is due to A LOT of brushing and combing. However, we have shaved him a few times, just so he could swim and get dirty without tracking everything in and being uncomfortable. I didn't want to worry about it! His coat is just like velcro when it's long, picking up twigs and burrs and everything. So yes, I do think it's possible. If you do have a doodle with a matting coat, just be prepared to put the time in every night to do a thorough brushing and combing. If not, you might end up shaving you pup down.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

During the summer I cut Cooper (wool coat) down to about 2 inches but then i let it grow again. She is at about 6 inches right now. I give her a good brush once a month, though i am constantly pulling apart small mats. I find she doesnt mat too much, under the ears and armpits are the worse areas. i use a les pooches brush and oster rake (this is a wonderful tool but care must be taken its not overused or the fur gets thinned too much). They both go through the mats really well. I love how coopers fur seperates into little waves and curls.... just like a sheep coat. Im lucky in that she doesnt shed or mat much, though the more swimming she does the more she mats

 

http://www.osterpro.com/Product.aspx?id=groomer&cid=1008&sc...

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

As a breeder my dogs are kept long all the time!  The key is brushing and combing as said best by Karen.  You brush out a small section and then run the comb through it, you must go all the way to the skin and then to the tips of the hair, if you can't get the comb through keep brushing!

 

I use 3 grooming products

1. Les Pooch Brush, purple double wide
2. Metal face comb in long
3. De-matting rake to break up clumps if needed