Fed up after three groomers and really bad haircuts. Need advise.

[Sonal & Coco]

We have taken Coco to three highly reviewed, expensive and highly rated boutique groomers for a puppy cut the first time, a short 1.5" cut the second time and a trim the third time. Each time she comes back with a bad haircut. 

1. The head is poofy and has lots of hair

2. The muzzle is always shaved off with no fan like hair

3. Eyes are always droopy or feel like weird circular cut-outs and this time I had to take her to Petco for them to specifically trim her eyes because she could barely see. 

Basically she doesn't look like an Australian Labradoodle anymore. :( 

What should I do beyond showing instructions, pictures of the cut we want and giving specific measurements? It's almost like the groomers ignore anything we say and we never a desired outcome. Our cute dog always looks messy. Really frustrated that we can't get a good groomer or rather the groomers don't seem to know what to do with her hair.

Does anyone have recommendations for doodle groomers in the Seattle area? 

Hair cut #1 - poofy and shaved off muzzle. Asked for a puppy cut this time. 

Haircut #2 - Then her hair grew out and we did haircut #2. Here's the groomer left 1.5" length upon my request but the face is completely messed up. 

Haircut #3 - Poofed up. this is more of a face trim so the groomer trimmed her ears, muzzle and yet again, everything looks messy and unlike a labradoodle. 

Now, Coco doesn't have the usual wavy hair of the Australian Labradoodle but, she is super adorable and was a cute puppy.

Her puppy cut here is perfect on the face with nice hair around the muzzle, clear eyes with the right length hair around them and defined eyebrows. This was when we got her from the breeder. 

As you can see, her hair is curly/wiry and not wavy.

This is another gripe we have because the breeder never shared any concerns how her coat would grow out to be fuzzy unlike her litter mates who have perfect wavy coats. 

Coco is as cute as a button but, I'm so sad that her haircuts seem to have messed up her Aussie Doodle look. 

Coco's litter mate with perfect waves. 

[Judith and Addie]

If you do a search you may be able to find a chart and an instruction sheet that show each area and how you want your pup groomed. I have to admit, I have brought it to groomers and they have ignored it, but it is worth a shot.

I believe my Addie has the same coat type as your Coco. Addie also has a color pattern that is from the poodle side, phantom black. I think because she is so poodle-y the groomers want to trim her like a poodle, similar to your cut #2.  So today, I did my very first trim of her. I may continue.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I just had a thought.  Have you been showing the groomer pictures of doodles with Coco's type of coat?  She is never going to look like your wavy dream coat. Ned has Coco's coat exactly. I really liked your first cut except for the shave between the eyes.  The second and third cuts were not acceptable in my opinion.  Some of the poofiness is just the way the coat grows. Perhaps the groomer you have been using is not good with Coco's type of coat, like some human hair dressers can't work well with fine, thin hair or curly hair. I love Ned's groomer but when I look back at some of his haircuts, I see lots of "misses" - sometimes head too flat or too poofy, sometimes ears too long, but overall  Ned pretty much looks the same all of the time, especially as an adult.  You can go on my page and look at some of the albums I have. Perhaps print up a some of Ned's that you don't like and circle what you consider wrong about them. Perhaps if you show her what you don't want, it will work better.  Or, if you find a pic of Ned you do like, as her to do that same thing.  I wish Ned had that dream, silky, wavy coat too.

[Erin]

Is the photo on the top left Ned as a puppy or just a different cut. He looks adorable!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The photo on the left is Ned at 7 months; the one on the right is at 6 years. Puppies are just adorable, but they can't quite keep that look forever. 

Coco DOES look like an Australian labradoodle as does Ned. Ned is 7th generation Australian Labradoodle! The wavy coat you want is simply one way the genes fall on coats. I wish Ned's coat was easier care, but it is what it is.

I don't groom my dogs myself.  I am all thumbs when it comes to scissors and hair.  Ned's hair is scissor cut - clippers aren't used.  If he is too poofy, I spritz him with water and scrunch.

[Erin]

Adorable young and old. I think you should try the shorter ears on him sometime like one of the other doodles on here...I can't remember who tried it but they looked cute!

[Sonal & Coco]

Thanks Nancy, will take these pictures and ones from the gallery, super helpful!! 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I think cut #1 is really cute. Your doodle's hair is unlike the litter mates. This is typical for doodles. You need to embrace your puppies look. Which is adorable. I personally recommend doing the grooming yourself. That way you get what you want. It really is easy!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I think that more than a problem with the groomer, it is the change in your puppies coat from the puppy coat to the adult coat.  I had two Doodles from the same liter and they had completely different coats.  That's the thing about doodles, you never know what you are going to get.  Depending on the experience level of your breeder, they may or may not have understood what type coat each puppy would end up with.  I think your best bet would be to try grooming yourself.  If you aren't willing to try that, then I would find a groomer that is willing to work with you, that you like, and I would stick with them and each time you can address specific things that you liked or didn't like, or what worked and what didn't.  Rather than changing each time because you didn't get what you wanted.  Basically, the coat is what it is and you will just have to figure out what look works best for you.  Look at Nancy's Ned's pictures and show them to the groomer you decide to go with.  Also, if the "poofy" that you refer to when they come home bothers you just spritz it with a spray bottle and it will curl up and not be so "poofy".  I have that same problem with my hairdresser ... they have some sort of pride in making me "poofy" ... my hair is short and staight and I like it that way ... don't make me all poofy!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I agree with what others have said. Unfortunately, it's very common that puppies from the same litter are going to have very different coats.

As much as you like the wavy look, she is probably going to have more of a poodle coat. And, in order to clip a poodle-type coat with a clipper, the groomer has to "poof it out." Making it stand out from the body enables the clipper to go through the coat. This is true even for a wavy coat, but to a lesser extent. I actually like the cuts shown in your pictures. No, she doesn't look like a traditional Aussiedoodle, but for the coat she has they did a pretty nice job.

Of course the other thing to do would be to do it yourself. My 2 year old Winnie (the one with the wavy coat) has never been to a groomer. I've always groomed her myself because I know exactly "the look" that I want and how to achieve it. It takes some practice and time, but it is worth it!

[Kamela & Beckett]

Our Aussiedoodle, Beckett has a super curly, poodle like coat. We knew it when we got him. I love the wavy coats too, but we love our Beck, so it's fine. I'm grooming him myself so I can get the cut the way I want. It hasn't always been perfect, but I adjust what I didn't like and do better next time. I agree with what everyone has said, embrace her coat type and shoot for cuts on doodles with similar coats. You won't get the wavy coat look on your curly coated pup.

[Lynda Kamrath]

My advice would be to learn to do it yourself.  It really is satisfying and you get exactly what you want (after some practice, that is).  We have never taken our dogs to a groomer.  Since they are not show dogs, the perfect cut is not necessary.  It also is a great bond builder to do your own grooming.  Here are a couple of photos from Carmel Beach last year.  Can you guess which are our dogs?  Clue:  They are enjoying the beach.

[DonMarie and Picco]

At least you didn't end up with a pink puff-butt poodle like in Lynda's photo!   It's hard to get what you expect. Doodle coats are so different even in the same litter - and hard to deal with!  I do my own grooming mostly for the cost but Picco has patches that like to hide and pop out a day or so later so it always looks like you missed something.  That also happens when I do take him to the groomer so it's no just a bad job from me! 

You could look at all our doodle photos and find some cuts you like and check out which of those have the same type of coat as Coco, then print that one out for the groomer.