eeeek...a FLEA!!

[Lindsey]

I hate fleas...yuck.
Yesterday, after Molly came in from her late afternoon walk. She (as always) flopped down on top of the air vent in the kitchen floor. I sat down beside her to pet her and just relish in the moments where she's actually not moving, lol. She flipped onto her back for me to rub her belly...and that's when I spotted it! I FLEA!!! So gross, I snatched it off of her and flushed it. I've never had flea problems with my little guy. Maybe because he is so small, gets frequent baths and we always used flea meds on him.
However, I hate to think that little itchy bugs might be on Molly!

I guess it's time to get her groomed...her long, curly, dark hair must be a nice home for fleas. I've been wanting to get her groomed for the summer time anyhow...but now I feel like it HAS to be done asap.
I'm just a little sad, I love Mollys floppy, kinky, long, puppy fur :-(
I'm afraid they will mess her all up and I'll never get her sweet puppy look back! She was groomed when we first got her, but that was really just a bath and a sanitary trim....nothing major like she probably needs now.
I'm hoping that I can eventually learn how to groom her myself...but I think for the first few cuts, she'll go to a groomer.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I hate fleas too....fleas and ticks!  You may want to bring a picture to the groomer of how you'd like Molly to look.  I found otherwise they sometimes get more of a poodle than a doodle "look".  I can't wait to see the "after" pictures.

[Lindsey]

Yes- I asked permission of one of the other DK members here, who is a doodle groomer, if I could take some of her pictures in to show our groomer how to cut Molly. I just hope it works!
I'm going to take a LOT of before pictures and I'll def. post after...I just hope the "after" pictures are pretty!

[Ginny Nightingale]

I just did this with our 5 month old pup--I groom my doodles myself, so I had to put the blade to the fur with tears in my eyes! i knew he would change drastically since the ends of his puppy hair were much whiter than underneath on his white areas. But when I got all done, I loved his new look! His puppy body showed and he looked adorable. You may find that you like it just as much as the puppy curls. 

Do you use Advantix or Frontline? Most of us on DK have some sort of remedy for fleas and ticks that we use on the doods.

Here are before and after pics of Rio. In the after picture, he is still wet, so he is a bit less curly when dry:

[Pat and Traveler]

What a fantastic job on Rio! 

[Bonnie and Kona]

Great job, Ginny! Rio has grown so much!

[Lindsey]

Ginny! I have hope now, lol, thank you! Your doodle is still adorable after his cut.

Well, we were using advantix (I'm 99% sure that was the one) but I think maybe the last application was for smaller dogs than what Molly is now...so maybe she didn't actually get enough of the application that we applied.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

All I can say is be VERY specific and make sure they take the time to look at your pictures. We never let them touch their face, we can do that at home. Otherwise they look like a poodle! Better safe than sorry with the fleas though. Good luck and post pics!

[Pat and Traveler]

Ah, just took me right back to the MONTHS last year of flea-fighting.  I tried everything, and there were always fleas.  Many fleas.  The only thing that eventually worked for us was Comfortis (a monthly pill), plus a flea killing premise spray for the house.  The Comfortis is one of the few things Trav hates to eat, so I grind it up and mix it with something he does like.  Molly is such a cutie!  Good luck with getting a perfect look for her.