Goldendoodle and swimming

[Cindy]

We are about to head to our lake house for the summer.  Scout is almost 6 months old and I would love for her to like the water and the boat!  We have a life vest for her and can't wait to introduce her to the water.  My question is, what should be the grooming protocol after a swim.  I have only bathed her once myself when she was really small.  She is an f1b and has just wavy hair.  I read on one post about Slicker spray.  Is that something that we will need?  I don't want her to be a matted mess but I also don't want to cut her super short.  I'm also a little concerned about her ears.  Just to let you know, she is super small, only about 6.5 pounds at the moment.  Would love to here from others whose doodles swim on a regular basis.  The picture is from about a month ago but you can get an idea of what her hair is like.

[Katie]

You are not going to want to hear this!

We live on a beach and Bonnie is our 3rd doodle, over 30 years. We ended up cutting all of them short. Bonnie has never had a long coat, and although we let coats grow a little in winter, it's basically short all the time around water.

We tried various brushes etc, but in the end it was just too much work. We would come back from the beach with 3 wet and sandy kids and one wet and sandy dog, and somehow the dog just got hosed off with the kids and that was it. They matted terribly and so we made the decision to go short. You can leave some facial furnishings! No need for a poodle shaved face!

Never worried about water in the ears, it has never been a problem for us, even with our first doodle who used to dive to the bottom for stones.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Enzo swims just about every day in our pool. I let her air dry and then she needs to be brushed. Her coat is very soft and semi straight...but once wet, looks like a perm gone bad. I keep her coat at about 3 inches.
Just as a FYI, not all dogs will like or take to the water. Go slow and never force her in. At first she will doggie paddle and flail all over. As she gets more confidence, she'll perfect her stroke and learn to paddle smoothly.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would be extremely cautious about over doing her water time since she is sooooo tiny.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Introduce her to the water with you in the water, then gradually let her go and reward her with a small treat.  If she seems very nervous settle for just in the water with you the first day. 

Nancy was right, keep her water time short until the water warms up and then be careful not to let her overtire.

She will also need a source of water when on the boat.  Swimming takes energy, body heat, and is dehydrating.

My doodles swam for six years in our pool until we moved.  Roo was a natural, Tigger needed to be coaxed.  Both dogs had been clicker trained and TIgger loves loves LOVES treats.  I clicked (and treated)for even a paw toward me in the water, but the clicker was a big help because I needed to fumble the treats out of my swimsuit and the click marked the exact time of the good thing that happened.  Each day it to a little more to get a treat.  Within two to three weeks Tigger was water safe and jumping in to retrieve a ball.

Bad news is I kept both clipped short all summer, just too much work.  Good news is that clipping short is easy to do by yourself  cheap.  I just rinsed them in tap water from the hose and put a couple of kids swim ear drops in each ear (over the counter - vet approved) in each ear.  Swimming with them was so much fun.  I surely miss that pool.

It sounds like you will have a very fun summer. 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Yogi loves, loves the water. But it does take more time to brush him back out. I'm going for the shorter cut this summer, about 1 1/2". I did wonder about spraying something like "the stuff" on him before he dries to help reduce tangles.