Your thoughts please

[Sherry Zinn]

My puppy is 6 months and 21 days old.  I know at some point I will need to cut his puppy hair off.  I am trying to prepare myself for this change.  Any thoughts on what his hair will look like trimmed?  This is him after a bath-- my baby!!  ** the White is the puppy hair as it dries, the apricot is the underneath hair before brushed and dried.  

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

My Fudge mats easily and Vern is just plain messy, so I prefer to keep both of them with a shorter coat. I think they feel better, too. Just my opinion. If you have no trouble maintaining his coat, wait until you feel better about it. I can't tell from the picture about his face, but I like to be able to see eyes and know they can see. I started taking both of my dogs to the groomer when they were puppies. I wanted them to get used to it as early as possible. They still hate going, so I give big kudos to anyone who can groom their own pups. 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I second the fact that I think my guy feels better trimmed up!

[Sherry Zinn]

I like the shaggy look of him!! Adorable.  

[Sherry Zinn]

His ears, paws, eyes, nose, sanitary are trimmed. My labradoodle was a rescue and was shaved at 4 months and her hair has never really recovered.  I have to keep her short, she is wavy.  I am not going to keep him long as he is very hot blooded and I am a camper and he will need to be able to withstand the elements!!  After reading the replies, I am going to give it another 2 months till he is a little over 8 1/2 months and then take off the baby hair. Of course that is providing he continues to allow me to brush him well nightly.  

[Sherry Zinn]

Fudge is gorgeous, love his coat and his face! Vern has a coat like my labradoodle!!  

[DonMarie and Picco]

I kept Picco on the shaggy side till about 1 year old.  I keep it short, especially in summer, and it is so much easier to take care of!  He appreciates it too because less grooming is involved!

[Sherry Zinn]

OH I love his coat!!!  That is the perfect length!  He is gorgeous. 

[LORRY SWETLAND]

I heard that at about 1 yr they sluff off their puppy coat. And what a mess you can have in the house. So at about 9 months old when I was noticing some hair balls not many but enough that I was cleaning them up several times a week I decided to take turbo to the groomer and had a poodle puppy cut done. He looked so cute and I didn't notice any more hair fluffs around the house. He was  and still is a hot blooded doodle so now I keep him short. I should mention that he is curly like a poodle no matter how long he gets. Very very very curly and I like that better  and he is more comfortable that way. His last hair cut was Beginning of November and when he is bathed and not blown dry he is very tight curly. His next cut will be in March provided there is no snow. I don't like him blown dry because that seems to dry his skin and make him scratch more than the I've got an itch. LOL His hair is cut to about 1/2 in to 1 inch in length. I keep his face and feet and butt cleaned off from the hair so he doesn't have ice balls in his feet in the snow. Personal preference.

[Sherry Zinn]

I have a labradoodle that is the wavy coat.  I am hoping for curls!!  But either way, I love him. 

His puppy hair is almost gone around his neck, the cone from his neutering magically removed the white fluff ball hair from there.  He is apricot and curly-ish.  :) 

[Ginny Nightingale]

Here is my two cents--as a puppy raiser and doodle groomer, I tell folks to get the pup introduced to the breeder between 4 and 6 months old--stay there with the pup so they do not shave the poor guy down--just a brush out (bath the pup at home first because some groomers wash them and then do cage drying which can be very scary for a first visit). and a trim up at the tail and head end, nails, under the ears and any place else that needs it. This should be a pleasant, short experience--bring treats to make it even better or to distract the pup if they are giving the groomer a hard time.

Now, by 10 months old, the pup will need a full groom--see all that puppy hair? There is a lot of it that is falling out or will and it is not always showing up on the floor--it is matting against the skin--in many cases, people do not realize that under all the shag, there is a layer of felted puppy hair and shaving is the only option...many DKers have brought their pups to a groomer and have been dismayed by the shavedowns they came back to--but a groomer has no choice...sometimes the coat comes off in one piece it is so felted! So a good comb out and fairly short cut at that age will save you tons of work later--and the possibility of a naked doodle. I think this pup will have a gorgeous silky ringlet type coat and if you keep up with it after that initial shorter cut, you should be able to let it grow out.

One other thing--if you do not get mats out before a bath, they clump up like cement--if you are bathing the pup, make sure the mats are out first--either with a comb or cutting them with a scissor--just do not get to close to the skin! You can cut the top half of a mat away and then comb out the part that is against the skin.

[Sherry Zinn]

Thank you, yes he is bathed bi-weekly.  He loves the bath and the blow dryer and I hold his paws and clean his ears nightly.  He is getting a little more playful during brush time than before now that he is getting older.  

He was at the groomer 3 weeks ago for a sanitary, paws, and ears.  He did very well, I watched from behind the glass.  

[Ginny Nightingale]

Sounds like you are way ahead of me!! Bi-weekly bath is a bit of an issue though--dries out the skin--usually once a month is fine. Diluted gentle shampoo....