Does a wool coat need to be kept trimmed for matting reasons?

[Doreen Szukala]

I have a labradoodle(2 years) who is fleece and I am able to keep him long in the winter(not too much swimming), but my second doodle(18months) is a combination wool/fleece. His body just keeps getting puffy. I have noticed though that he matts alot more when I try to let him grow too long. Is this because he is more wool or just the nature of the beast. I trimmed him down to 1" last night and as much as I prefer him longer, he loves it! Plus he loves that I won't have to brush/comb him so much. Will I ever be able to let it grow real long? Picture is before the hair cut.

[Rae]

You are really lucky that your 2nd doodle has a combo coat. Our 2nd girl has a wool coat and it mats like crazy. She'll be 20 months old on Friday and we have to keep her cut to the 1" length or we have nothing but mats. Even at 1 inch we MUST brush/comb her at least every other day or we have mats. Our older girl (2 1/2 yrs) has a wonderful fleece coat that is a dream to keep up and we can (and do) let it get longer.

[Doreen Szukala]

Well, they are both gorgeous! I can say that the matting is not as serious as that. As you can see from my picture, Java is curlier, but not at tight as your 2nd girl. I could probably get away with just leaving him at around 2" and it would be a good compromise, but beings I groom him myself, I would have to trim way to often. It usually takes me about 4 hours just to cut(usually bath and brush out the day before), whether I cut 1" off or 2".

[Nancy Cavanaugh]

Koji is 19 months - I'd say he is fleece - he doesn't really mat much - but I do brush and comb him frequently. since I have to groom him myself - I don't let him get too long, as much as I love the look - it is just too hard to keep him in shape. maybe I learned that from my Tibetan Terrier - she look gorgeous in her full coat - but she hated being brushed. I don't want that to happen with Koji. so I keep him pretty short - probably no longer then 3 inches at his longest and in the summer - I cut him to about 3/4 ". When his legs get long - they pick up snow and ice and it takes forever to get it out. I don't have a stall shower - just a tub and it makes impromptu rinsing rreally hard.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

When I first got my woolly boy from Australia, he had an 8 inch coat. It really was quite matted, so I had to cut it. I find I can keep the coats up to about 5 inches and then it is just too much work. My woolly girl from Australia does not matt at all. She looks like she would have a hard coat to deal with, but it isn't. Her coat is so thick, I shave her body when she is expecting puppies and let it grow the rest of the year. You must wet almost to the skin after brushing to avoid matts. I wet and scrunch. Best thing you could ever do is let your doodle walk in the rain after brushing.

[Leslie and Halas]

Tell me more about this wetting after brushing. How does it help? I'll try it if it will help keep mats away. Halas' coat is probably about 5 or 6 inches. I brush him a lot, but he sometimes mats very quickly. Like, last night, I completely brushed him, but I obviously missed a couple of spots, because he had a huge mat by his elbow this morning. There are times I think I have it under control, and times that I think I'll never be able to keep it tangle-free for more than a day.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

Wetting after brushing allows the coat to return to it's individual curls which helps prevent matting. I use a finishing spray watered down. By the way, brushing without a full groom is something I try a avoid. I can keep my dogs from matting for 6 to 8 weeks. In the New Year I am going to write up a whole thing on this.

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas goes to the groomer for a full groom about every 5 weeks or so. In between full groomings, I brush him completely once a week or every 10 days, and those go pretty well, meaning I don't come across too many mats. But, on a daily basis, if I feel a tangle when I'm petting him, I'll grab the comb and get it out immediately. That has worked really well since July or August. But, now, all of a sudden, he's matting like crazy again. He was at the groomer on Christmas Eve morning. On the 28th, I gave him a complete brushing (and there were already a lot of tangles and some mats starting), but then on the 29th, he had big mats starting again. I don't know what the story is there. He's 16 months old now, and I figured he lost his puppy coat this past summer, when the matting was really bad. So I don't know if he's just losing more puppy coat, or if maybe the groomer skipped a step that usually helps him stay detangled, or what. I spent another 45 minutes yesterday morning just trying to get a large section of mats out that had formed since the 29th. I went down to the skin, and brushed/combed in layers, trying to make sure I got everything. I have conditioner and some de-matting stuff, but I don't think I have finishing spray. I'll have to pick some of that up. It's just really discouraging, because I felt like the system was really working, but now I'm right back to brushing every day again. Even when matting doesn't seem to be a big problem, there's no way I could go 6 to 8 weeks without brushing him. He would be so matted by that point that I'd probably have to have him shaved.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I got my first doodles as adults and the oldest ones I have raised are now 21 months. What happened to all my 21 month old doodles was the same...I kept 6.....At a year they suddenly got matted...I clipped them shorter and started brushing more often. The matting seemed to slow down after a couple of months and I went back to my usual brushing schedule. At 18 months we seemed to go thru it again and we are just coming out of that stage now. I keep the coat at 2 or 3 inches while this is going on. I figure this is a pattern because I have so many siblings that went thru it at almost the same time. Your experience fits my pattern.

[Leslie and Halas]

Thanks. That gives me some hope. If I can stick with it through the winter, maybe it will get better again by Spring. In the meantime, I'll try some dematting and finishing spray. Halas will use more product in his hair than I do.

[Leslie and Halas]

Well, Halas was at his grandma's over the weekend, so he hasn't been brushed since Jan.1. He was pretty matted yesterday afternoon. I bought some different grooming/conditioning spray and a comb with rotating teeth. My other combs don't have rotating teeth, and I think the rotating teeth on the new comb made a big difference. I used a combo of Cowboy Magic and the new spray that I bought, and it seemed to work pretty well. It still took me quite awhile to get the matts out, and I still need to do his neck and legs tonight, but the whole process seemed a little easier with the new products. I sprayed him again with the grooming spray when I was done, and I tried to kind of work it in. I don't know if I did that part well enough, but I guess I'll find out. Today at lunch, he didn't seem to have new mats yet, so I'll see how he looks tonight. I don't really even mind brushing him a little every day, but I don't want to spend an hour or 2 every day. I have tendinitis in my right thumb and wrist, and brushing him a lot doesn't really help that. It really takes away from my tugging abilities when we play. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all of your advice.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

Sounds like you have all well in hand. I know about too much brushing. If I don't brush for at least 2 hours every day I get way behind. Of course, I have 20 doodles.lol

[Doreen Szukala]

Barb,
Thanks for the advice, I do notice especially on my feecy boy, that he gets the "cotton ball" type matts after a good brushing. Do you just spray water or do you add a detangler or leave in conditioner? If not have you tried that? I do notice that they are very soft after the rain! What kind of matt breaker do you use? I have a razor type comb, but I usually find I end up just using a scissors, not cutting them out, but pulling them through the matts. I keep hearing about the "Mars Matt Breaker"? Any advice on that? I do use the Les Pooch brush and am in desperate need of a new one. I've used the small blue for over two years on two doodles.
Thanks, Doreen