Matting Madness!

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

I have a soon-to-be 1 year old F1 doodle (her birthday is Wednesday!) with a coat that has been such a pain to deal with lately! It seems like literally within a couple of weeks her coat became MUCH thicker (more so in some spots than others) and that she develops a new mat just as soon as I brush out an old one. I was brushing her once- twice a week but I realize that I need to increase that to pretty much daily brushings now. Her hair also comes out in "clumps" when I comb it and she seems to be shedding a little bit now which she never used to do. 

Is this the "coat change" that everyone talks about? If so, is this just a phase or will her coat always be this difficult from here on out? 

I attached two photos: One of her coat and one of the crazy amount of fur that comes off of her when she's combed in only 3/4 of a session!

Any info would be great! Thanks!

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

Looks like coat change to me. It will get better, but I feel like it hasn't gotten as easy as it used to be either. Nimbus is now almost 16 months. I don't know if it was supposed to be done by now.

[Bonnie and Kona]

I think Nimbus should be done with the coat change by 16 months.

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

Thanks for the hope that it will get better (at least a little bit)! :)

[Bonnie and Kona]

I highly recommend that you join the grooming group. You will find lots of helpful information there about the "dreaded coat change". Your cutie-pie appears to be right in the middle of it! My next recommendation is that you learn to "line brush" your doodle. I thought I was doing a stellar job brushing and combing our first doodle until he came home from the groomer practically naked! He was matted even though I had been brushing and combing him daily. In our experience (two doodles) the coat change lasted a couple of months and both have easier to manage grooming requirements now. I'm not sure that is universally true.

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to look into "line brushing".

[Malenie Piscetelli]

Happy birthday!!!! She is adorable!!! Wow!!! That's a lot of hair. Lucy will be 1 year old next month and I brush her hair almost everyday. I hardly have any clumps. I know one thing her hair is getting very thick and curly. I am sure Sophiie's hair is changing to adult hair. Again, happy 1st birthday Sophie!!!!

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

Thank you! :) I hope you don't have the trouble we are having when miss Lucy goes through her coat change. Happy early birthday to her!

[Malenie Piscetelli]

You're welcome!!!! Thank you!!! :)

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Yes, I would say she is going through the coat change.  When we got Charlie, I was so sure I wanted to keep him long and then at about 11 mos I changed my mind!  He has a fleecey wool coat.  Yikes, even though I was brushing twice a day (line brushing with the Les Pooches brush and comb), he was getting little tiny mats.  I decided to take him short.  I had the my groomer take his body to one inch and she left his head, ears and tail doodly.  She prefers the ears to be even with muzzle.  When I picked him up he was so happy and acted like a weight had been lifted from his body. Now that he is mature his coat is so much easier to take care of.  Beau or second doodle has a very fleece coat and it is not as dense as Charlie's.  I have always been able to brush him every third day without any problems with matting.  It may be Sophie is shedding and going through the coat change.  I think I would take her in for a good grooming and then start from there with line brushing, combining etc.  She will feel better and so will you.  Good luck.  She really is a beautiful girl.

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

Thank you for the tips! I cringe at the thought of cutting her short but it just may need to be done! :)

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

That is a lot of mats for sure.   Hurley went through that when he went through his coat change.  I still brush him at least twice per week  Back when he went through the dreaded change I brushed him every day.  Now every year when spring comes I find myself brushing him much more as his coat changes for summer.   But I keep Hurley's coat long which could bake a difference as to how much I need to brush him to get the mats out.  

I find that the time I brush his hair is our time together.  He loves it and so do I.  

[Laura & Sophie Doodle]

 I would love to have fun time brushing but right now we are both hating it. Lots of pulling on her end and lots of wrist-soreness on mine! I hope it gets better soon because she used to love being combed :)