Is there something wrong here?

[Cheryl and Lucas]

My Lucas has not had a mat, does not need brushing but once a week if i feel like it, is groomed once every six weeks. I have never read about a doodle that needs this little amount of grooming. Are there others out there that ( dare I say) have it as easy as me? I kinda feel out of the norm. On the other hand, I don't know what I would do if I had to bathe him, it is always a struggle to brush, cut nails, clean ears, etc. he goes berserk and it is a bad scene cause he is not used to it. Brush time is play/bite time. He is almost 7 mos old.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A cautionary tale about brushing and the lack of it:

Back when JD was so sick from what turned out to be IBD, we made a trip to the ER vet one Saturday and unbeknownst to me at the time, the ER vet made a note on his chart: "Unkempt coat". 

And that is now part of his permanent record at the Specialty Veterinary Clinic where all four of his specialists practice. Each time a new vet meets us, their first impression of us may be that I am a neglectful dog mom and JD is clearly not getting the care he needs. 

Never mind that I had a dog who had lost 10% of his body weight in two weeks and could not keep a meal down, or that we were at the ER that day because he was pooping blood, clearly I should have stopped to brush him before we left the house. 

So nowadays, he gets brushed regularly, just in case we end up with some moronic judgmental quack fastidious new ER doc. Plus, it makes it easier to find all the acupuncture needles when his coat is smooth. LOL

[Cheryl and Lucas]

Imagine! If they only knew what we know about you! You should ask to have that taken off his record..... I wonder if they would.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I did complain, but I didn't pursue it, lol.

[Carolyn Shusterman]

Kind of like when our Mothers would tell us not to leave the house without clean underwear. LOL

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Is that like saying, ' always wear clean underwear because you never know what will happen'?

Good grief.  I look unkempt when I have sick family members.  And, I am positive, my vet probably has numerous notes about ' unkempt coat' in Spud's chart.  

Last week, with those puppies, I was in a pair of jammies 24/7 and I had on mud boots most of the time.  A sight to see. Ugh

Knowing you, that note makes me mad, actually. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It made me mad, too, Joanne. Thank you for your indignation on my behalf. :)

Good analogy, yes, it's the canine equivalent of "always wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident." LOL

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Thank goodness my vet knows me well after 19 years with my two kitties and the last year of their 19 year life spending every day giving them IV fluids, so she would never write that about Kona.  Even though he looks VERY rumpled and like a Jim Hensen muppet even SECONDS after a full brushing!  Before I read this thread and your "un-kempt" comment, I was just asking my boyfriend if he noticed that I had just given Kona a complete brush-out and combing.  Nope!  His hair goes right back to "rumpled" and like he is an unmade bed  after just one shake of his body.  (And I LOVE that about him.  That's how I look too! He is my simpatico puppy!)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I want to make it clear that this was a vet in the ER, as I mentioned, who I had never met. Believe me, my vet knows me well enough that he would never write that comment either. I have been going to the same veterinary practice with many dogs and a cat since 1979. 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I think our vets know the true animal lovers, and if we bring our pets in all stinky and dirty, they instinctively know that something is VERY wrong and they are full of compassion for us rather than judging us.  I had a similar "judging" experience at an ER when I took a sick stray kitty in at 1 AM that was falling over and unwilling to drink.  I spent a few hundred dollars on that little 4 week old abandoned stray in the middle of the night getting IV fluids and antibiotics for him, and the vet told me I was a horrible person for not spending $2000 for exploratory surgery and several nights at the ER.  That little stray ended up being my devoted pet Stir Fry for the next 19 years, and that's how I met my current vet when I searched for an ethical one the next day. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

I brush and comb once a week. Quincy used to get some mats when he was younger and he gets an occasional one now. He usually gets them if he has gotten wet and I don't brush him out when he dries. Generally the straighter the coat the less mats they will get.

[Rita and Fazzy]

Fazz is the same...he is close to 9 months old and I have only found one matt on him and that was back by where his "boy parts" were...and I think it was just a "goo" matt. Outside of that, I brush him about once a week and he gets a bath about once a month. He has had a full groom once and that was about a month ago and his coat is about an inch long right now. My only gripe is stinky breath and/or beard....phew!

[Shellie Brune]

I think matting depends on the hair type of the doodle.  My guy does mat under his ears and hates his baths and grooming too.  He's 10 month's old and showing improvement with his tolerance to home and professional grooming.  Feel lucky Lucas has an easy coat!  My Louie has curly and wavy loose hair with lots of layers so brushing is time consuming for me.  I'd encourage you to work with him at home every few days with brushing, use treats and before you know it, he won't mine so much. In the long run, it will be easier for him at the groomers.