Help ! I want my pretty long haired GoldenDoodle Ben Back ! How do you Care for their Coats ?? He is just a puppy, we brush him...he had matts under his arms....now he is naked!

[Kathleen McDonald Peterson]

[Kate]

He seriously does have a FANTASTIC coat though! He is so gorgeous! He does look just like a polar bear!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Wow--what a coat he had! But as a puppy, my DK colleagues are totally right about the fact that he was going to shed out that puppy coat and transition to an adult coat. My Lyric was terribly matted all the time until her adult coat completely came in at age 1& 1/2 and she is much easier to maintain now. You really do have to start over once that coat start to transition. But he really was SHAVED! I had to do that to a doodle i groom, but he had not been combed at all, just surface brushed and he had huge thick mats all over. I am guessing that the groomer did not want to take the time to work on any mats--you may want to see if you can find another groomer if this happens again.

Try to keep up with his coat as it grows in--get a wide toothed metal comb and a fine toothed one to make sure that you are getitng all the smaller mats. And the Les Pooches brush will be great too. That mat tool is called a mat zapper and it has sharp blades on four long teeth. The blades go through the mat and cut it out. There are videos on youtube about how to groom a doodle--in addition to the grooming group, those are very helpful.

If you have kept up with the mats and he ends up too short when he needs a cut again, then you know it is the groomer and not Ben. Some groomers just don't get it. They should be using a comb on the clippers so that they can leave an inch or more of coat on him. But, the combs won't work if there are any mats and some groomers just want to clip and be done with it. 

[Rose Ann and Amante]

I am always amazed at how different our doods look without their hair, but still handsome!!!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Ya know it took me about two days to get over my "naked" doodle and now I keep her clipped a little shorter. She only had a few matts on her hind quarters so I was totally taken aback when I picked her up. The gal told me when I dropped her she would be short but not that short.

Skinny legs is the only part that I didn't really like. Now I brush her every other day, she doesn't hate it but she would rather be doing something else.

It would really be smart of me to learn to do her myself, this past time (after a perfect time the last one) she came back with a poodle poof head and her ears were shaped. I really think she forgot she wasn't doing a poodle - ugh!

:o)

By the way your scenery is breath taking, river, flowers what more could you ask for?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Awww....he is cute either way. I try to keep my two somewhere in between, because Fudge mats terribly. I can't get over how much smaller he looks without all that hair. Always amazes me.

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

WOW, that's quite the difference, lol!!! He looks a little like Lola when he's all shaved down like that. In a couple of weeks, he'll grow out a bit, and even that 1/4inch growth of hair will make a huge difference!!!

[Phyllis & Duffy]

PetsMart did that to our Duffy twice - that was it.  We groom him ourselves.   When you see  his coat coming in and it's about 1" to 1 1/2 inches, keep it at that length.  He will still look fluffy and his coat will be so soft, like a stuffed toy.  The clippers are expensive and it will take a while to figure out how to clip him, but you'll have the look you want.  Go look on here and there is tons of advise on how to groom him.  I feel for you.  I can remember the first time we took him in.   He looked just like Ben when I dropped him off.  I came back to get him and saw him naked like that and said to them, "please tell me that is NOT my dog!"  He even knew how awful he looked.  It's really amazing how skinny they really are.  The 2nd time they did it, I was so upset I couldn't speak when I went to get  him.  They were told NOT to shave him and they did it anyway, because he had some knots. 

 

Good luck.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Hmm.... I thought I responded, but I must not have clicked add reply.  Bummer!  Anyway, I see that you found the grooming group. Perfect.  You need quality products - like LesPouchs slicker brush (Kemp at doodlecountrystore can guide you to the correct one). You need a steel comb with graduated teeth. You need de-matting products like The Original Horse Mane and Tail Detangler, Cowboy Magic Detangler. You need a small pair of scissors with blunt tips.  When you encounter a mat that doesn't respond to the detangler, you can slice sideways through it several times - slice from the skin out - the way the hair grows. Be very careful not to cut your pup.  Once he grows out a bit,  you probably will need to brush every other day or even every day as he goes through the coat change. You do not have to let a groomer use clippers.  We prefer to have our doodles scissor cut.

It is a shock, but once you get a bit used to it, it isn't so bad and he will grow! Now you know what a nicely shaped physique he has.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I started grooming my doodles and then found a few customers and groom about 8 or 9 other doodles now. I never do more than one a day in my home. If you have a matted dog, even if there are just tiny mats throughout the coat (which are hard to find until you start to clip with a comb) it takes HOURS to get through it all. I have one bigger doodle whose coat is what I call "sticky" (fine and thick with a lot of little snarls) and just combing each section out before i clip takes forever. It usually takes me 5 hours from start to finish. If you are a groomer at Petsmart or another business and you are expected to do 6-8 dogs in a day, then any excuse is a good one to shave the dog down and be done with it. Finding a groomer who does not rush to get many dogs done in a day might be the way to go, but there aren't many of them out there.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I keep looking at the two pictures and I am in shock so I can't imagine what you went through when you collected Ben from the surgeon groomer.  He is a gorgeous fellow and now you can see his face and I can see you adore him.  The good thing is that it will grow back.  I do know that when I bathe Riley I can see a much smaller dog when he's wet.  I will continue to groom him every day and I am keeping my fingers crossed that when the adult coat starts to come in that I will be able to manage it without resorting to the G word!

[Katie, John & Parker pup]

lol! awww! I had the same problem with Parker! Though I blame the groomer for him! I use a cream rinse on him that definitely helps keep the knots to a minimum (on top of his shampoo obviously).  http://www.petedge.com/product/EQyss-Premier-Creme-Rinse-16-oz/4483...

[Kate]

That cream rinse looks like a good idea!