Need professional groomer advice

[Gumbo and Ashley]

Hi, Gumbo is 9 months old. The top 3 pics are what he usually looks like. I want to keep his long curly/wavy coat as close to the top 3 pics as realistically possible.  I took him to groomer because he had very deep mats on his front legs that I knew I couldn't get out with my grooming tools. I took him in, did a consultation, and they took him back to get the mats out his legs. They never called me to tell me that he had them on his face and neck, which they shaved too. I was shocked and wanted to cry when I picked him up. I know that it was inevitable it had to be done, but I wish they would have told me  prior to picking him up so I would be mentally prepared.  Pics 4 and 5 will show you how he looked when I got him.  Pics 6 and 7 is what he looks like today, exactly one month later.  If I want to get him back to what he looked like  in the top 3 pics, what do I need to do next? Should I trim the long hair at the end of his muzzle so it blends with the shaved hair on his face? Should I take him to the groomer again to blend everything as it all grows back?  His back legs were just trimmed yet his front legs were shaved.  He's in the "in the middle" phase and I don't know when to bring him again to get him slowly start looking like his old self. Especially his face. How do I get it looking like a teddy bear instead of  poodle?  How long will it take for him to look back to normal? And how often should I be bringing him to get groomed during this process? Any advice will be helpful.  Just comparing the shaved pics and the ones I took today (a month later), he already looks a lot better. Seems to be growing back fast. Sorry for having the pics wrong way, I couldn't find a way to rotate it? Anyway, hope you can see it good enough to get the picture. Thanks so much!  Ashley

 3

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

I'm sorry you had to go through this! The fear of having them look like a poodle is why mine have never seen a groomer.
Nimbus also has a shaggy coat like Gumbo. Sierra's is a little more curly.
If you can give him a good brush twice a week you should be okay. I use the Chris Christensen t-brush 16 mm for the easy areas. For minor matts I use the green Activet brush. And for the really bad matts I use a four paws dematting tool for sensitive areas.
The good thing is it'll grow back.
Good luck!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Gumbo looks so cute in all pictures :-)
These puppies do take a lot of grooming, some more than others. Yogi, my 1 1/2 year old matts easily. I use the activet brush the most. We've been trying to sell our house, so I have not been able to spend as much time on him, maybe only brushing once a week lately. Brushed him last night, he was pretty matted. I had a Safari dematt brush that I had bought but never used. I tried it last night. It was wonderful. I know I saved a couple hours. I used the dematt tool, then either the activet brush or my comb with rotating tines to finish it off.
I recommend you do the grooming yourself if you can, it just takes time and diligence). They matt everywhere (including the sides of the face)
I find with Yogi if I let him go without a bath for a couple months, it's like his coat gets dirty and seems to matt easier, so for him, it's more bath time. Also, if you've never used " the stuff" it's great to spray on after baths to repell dirt. Just hold him over a towel or something, it makes the floor very slippery.
Bottom line has always been for me, no one is going to treat my doodle better than me, so I want to do my own grooming. It really is easy and their coat is very forgiving as you learn how to do it.

Good luck, gumbo is adorable no matter what.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I am so sorry to hear what you had to go through. I would be traumatized. Gumbo is so cute and it looks like his coat is growing out. I brush Hurley every few days. When he was Gumbo's age I brushed him every day. That was, and continually is, our special time and to this day he looks forward to his brush time.

[Wynnie & Jim]

Ashley,

For a doodle owner, your pictures are my worst nightmare. To answer your questions: First, I would never ever take Gumbo back to that groomer again. He/She was an amateur, at best, and had no sense of grooming a doodle. Second, I would wait a couple of months until his face and front legs have grown out so that your new groomer has something to work with and I would only ask for some shaping to be done. Third, others have suggested de matting procedures. Follow their advice. Gumbo looks like he needs to be groomed daily or every other day. You need to set aside time to comb and brush him every day. I feel so sorry for both you and Gumbo but time will solve the problem.

[Teresa Joyce]

Hi Ashley,  Let the hair continue to grow out on his face, under the eyes  and along the cheeks - to obtain the teddy bear look, you want the hair from the cheeks to the muzzle to all be the same length. As the hair grows out, just trim to the length you want from the muzzle to cheeks.  Thin out the hair at the corner of the eyes  and in the area of around the eye that is growing toward the eye and the hair on the nose between the eyes.  All of the other hair under the eyes needs to grow out and down to the length of the muzzle.  Keep up with brushing and combing to prevent the matting.  The activet brushes are great following with a combing with a greyhound comb.  I prefer ShowSheen to Cowboy Magic for a detangler/anti-matting spray.  Good luck! 

[Gumbo and Ashley]

THank you soooo much for all the advice. I stay at home every day, so daily brushing will be put into my schedule. If you look where the hair grows out from the skin, you can see the individual ringlets that usually stay in tact, keep their shape, and usually do not tangle. It's like the individual ringlets stay twirled together, but don't really tangle. Does this make sense to anyone?  When I brush him, I hate brushing out the ringlets and breaking them up,  because then he looks all frizzy and fuzzy, which makes his hair seem like it would be easier to matt??? Maybe I'm just crazy but it seems like I'm doing him a disservice by brushing out the ringlets. I'd love to hear y'alls opinion about curly hair doodles. Should they have anything different done to them with the curls? Or should I just brush them all out and have him more fuzzy looking than curly/wavy?  Thanks!!

[Teresa Joyce]

Hi Ashley, I understand what you are wanting - yes, you need to brush the ringlets out - if you want, you can then lightly mist with water and the ringlets will reform or you can use a anti stat spray.   I love my boys waves as well - however, the ringlets will eventually mat at the base and then you are looking at a shave down to go below the matting. Some of the hair in the ringlet will eventually fall out, just as our hair falls out - think of it as dreadlocks. Poodles will, if not groomed regularly, form dreadlocks and mat. Please feel free to contact me as the hair continues to grow out. - I am sometimes a few days behind in getting to emails and on the internet - so please don't feel as if I am ignoring you if it takes a while to respond.  Kind Regards,  Teresa

[Marie Dennen]

If a  doodle is severely matted, the owner has no sense of how to care for the coat. The  dog is in the custody of the owner much, much, much longer that it ever is in a few hours at a grooming salon. If an owner can't get a comb through a coat neither can the groomer. Or at least not until after lengthy brushing and dematting which extremely stressful on the dog depending on the condition of the coat. Would you be willing to stand on a grooming table for 1-2 hours to save an inch or two of hair? The process can be done gently but there still is a certain amount of pulling and tugging. Does anyone have a little girl that wakes up with knots and tangles in her hair and hates having it brushed out? Well that's how your dog feels. The condition of the coat is what it is when it walks through the doors of the salon. Not returning to that salon is one solution but how about stepping it up with the at home maintenance and not dropping a dog off in a matted condition and expecting miracles. If you want a long luxurious coat you have to work for it. Honestly, this looks like an attempt to give the owner what she wanted without taking off too much hair but the matting was too extreme. Work with your groomer, who ever you end up choosing consistency with one person helps. It may take a few haircut before she gets exactly  what you want,Hairstyle is not the only factor. And why don't people cry over the fact that their dog is matted?  Matts get tighter and worse over time, pull at the skin and suffocate it. Choose a length that you can maintain realistic to your lifestyle and the dog's activity level. Sorry, please don't be offended by my  forward answer. I see a lot of matted doodles and it takes an emotional toll on you. I feel the need to advocate for these sweet creatures who should not have to suffer for their owners vanity.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Marie ~ I wholeheartedly agree with you.  It is so unfortunate that people do not research what it takes for that doodle to look so cute and fluffy!

[Marie Dennen]

Thank you. I am very sorry if I sounded harsh. I have had my dogs many lengths, military buzzcut short to 4-5 inches long with very, very minimal matting. I realize I am not an average owner in the grooming department because I groom professionally. But I am here to testify you can get the haircut you want with minimal maintenance between. Life is busy and you can't always brush the dog. Heck, I don't even brush my dogs every day. What saves me from getting a horribly tangled, matted dog is keeping the coat healthy, with a regular bath and brush schedule. The longer it gets the more frequently I have to bathe and brush. Period, end of story.

[Gumbo and Ashley]

I appreciate your straight forward lecture. Let me begin by saying Gumbo is my first dog EVER and I'm 37 years old. My parents never let us have a dog when we were kids, and by the time I was grown I said I wouldn't get one until I could save up to get a Goldendoodle.  It  took me almost 20 years to make it happen.. But I FINALLY got my doodle pup last summer.  Trust me, I researched everything for years and years about this breed. INCLUDING THE COAT. But, being new to the dog world, I had zero experience to fall back on. I've never had to brush a dog because I've never had a dog!  I had all the passion in the world. Well, even with passion and dedication, (as well as researching grooming) I got so much contradicting information from doodle owners about coat/coat care.  When Gumbo was a tiny puppy, I would take pics and put them on here asking what kind of coat he had, fleece, wool, hair,fur?? straight, wavy, curly, ???  Shed/non shedding/?  I spent hundreds of dollars on grooming tools, did the best I could with never even brushing a dog before. He came with me to work for the first 6 months of his life. I brushed him daily. I DID NOT NEGLECT GUMBO.  Even tho I was brushing him all the time, it was almost pointless because I wasn't brushing him correctly.  That's why the whole time I thought I was getting the tangles out, but I wasn't going close enough to the skin at the base. Well, BIG LESSON LEARNED. Also, once I came on here and got some great advice, not a lecture,  about back brushing and how to do it, and the green Activet brush. I just realized I was doing it wrong and needed a better tool.  That Green Activet has made all the difference in the world. And now I know HOW to de matt properly, not just run a brush through it like I was doing before. I do line brushing too. So, with all due respect Marie, I did KNOW that a doodle was high maintenance. I just wasn't experienced or knowledgeable with the techniques. Please do not come onto my discussion and make me feel like I am a bad dog owner.  For someone who has never lived with a dog, much less had to groom any, I think I'm doing pretty good. And if you read my story, this was the FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED. It's not like this has happened over and over and I keep doing nothing about it.  I learned the hard way, and it only took one time for me to come on here asking for some help. You sound like you have had years of experience with multiple dogs, and along the way had to figure out the perfect "formula" for each dog with what cut and look works best. I'm sure you didn't get it perfect on the first try with your first dogs. I'm still learning....Gumbo is only 9 months old. Cut me some slack. I'll figure it out too, with time. . And sorry If I sound overly sensitive, I've been home the last 10 days with him watching him closely after his neuter. It has been a very stressful week for me and my sweet baby.

[Marie Dennen]

In no way do I think you are a neglectful dog owner. And you are absolutely correct, I did not get it right on the first try. There is a huuuuuuge learning curve in dog ownership.  I really meant my comments in a big picture type of way. I also was reacting a lot to Winnie's comment about never returning to that groomer, which in no way is forgiving or cutting slack to that particular person. I know I have practically broke my back over working on someone's matted doodle to save as much coat as I possibly can only to have the owner turn around and complain about the price or the job. The style given in the pic is really not how I would have approached it all but that is just me.  You are not the first of the last person this has happened to. If one or more doodle mom or dad can get on here and read your situation prevent it from happening to them that's one less doodle that has to go through an uncomfortable grooming session. There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding grooming for these dogs. I try to educate over and over about line brushing, combing and sometimes I get the feeling people either don't believe me. I only responded to what asked which was about grooming. I did apologize for sounding forward or harsh.