grooming ALDs

[Ginny Nightingale]

Hi there everyone! My ALD is now 13 months old and her adult coat is super soft and thick with a lot of undercoat. Problem is, it is like a cotton ball and tangles and mats pretty easily. Her coat was about 3 inches long up until today and was so difficult to keep mat-free. I would work for an hour or more each day just on the mats.Lyric hates to be groomed, so this is not a pleasant thing. I just came back from the groomer and she cut her back to 3/4 of an inch.(The same as in my profile picture). I am not sure I will ever be able to let her have long hair. I have read all about grooming as a member of the grooming group, but it would be so time-consuming and unpleasant to have a shaggy ALD. Oh, well! Just wondering if anyone else has this problem. I think that the ALD enthusaists want this supersoft coat, but my other (F1) doodle's more wiry coat is so much EASIER!

[Melissa & Porter]

I have an ALD and am going through the same questions in my mind. At the beginning of the summer, I had him shaved--too close, see pic next to my name. I felt bad for how naked he looked and for taking off his lovely curly fleece locks--and he wasn't even matted. I only had to brush him twice a week. BUT, and this is a big BUT, he tracked in so much less dirt and smelled less doggy. Don't get me wrong, I like a little doggy smell (and I hate perfume-y smell on dogs), but he stayed fresh longer after an unscented bath and after rolling in mud or dog-park pools.

So, now his hair is about 1 1/2 inches long. I still only brush it every couple weeks, but he is tracking in more and more dirt, his beard is dripping water ALL over the place again--which he steps in and turns to mud, and he is a little ripe. I did bathe him after a hike in the woods today during which he immersed himself in mud, but I am considering getting him cut again. I do not want to see bare skin EVER again on him, so I am actually considering a poodle puppy cut. Face, Feet and Fanny (i.e. hygiene). I will probably let the body keep growing for a while longer.

How funny to get an ALD and decide that a poodle cut makes the most sense? He has a very short face and a squat body, so he looks pretty lab-y in some ways. I will nix the fluffy ears and the poof on the top of the head.

You aren't the only one contemplating a short doodle or a non-traditional doodle cut.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I had the same thing with Luca. For months the mats would appear magically They were like felt, with hair running in all directions (Les Pooch brush conditioner not withstanding). It was a pain for me and him to try to comb/brush them out. Eventually I cut them out. Sometimes he had holes in his coat but not they were not visible too long. I'm happy to report that I never shaved him down but did trim him to 2-3 inches and now, at 17 months, the mats are fewer and smaller. I still generally just cut them out.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Let's see. Where to begin? Ned began matting at about 6 months and now at 1 1/2 I am seeing the light of day. We decided at the beginning of summer just to cut his hair shorter and get him groomed monthly - if that is what it takes, so be it. (Of course my groomer only charges $25 dollars for the monthly stuff and $35 when I wait 2 - 3 months.) He was matting so much - we were combing daily and using all of the Cowboy Magic, special brushes etc. I also began cutting the cottony mats out. We continued to brush and comb every other day but were spending much less time. Then when our other dog was injured at the end of July and our time priorities changed, we began brushing him every 3 or 4 days. We found that it didn't matter. No mats but we still have to brush out tangles. Yesterday, I found 1 mat on his chest (not counting the baby snail tangled on his shoulder. I have learned to like this "mid length" - it shows their wonderful physique. Ned has a wonderful athletic body. What I just figured out is that I need to cut the hair between his eyes shorter and he will look more doodle than poodle. PS my groomer says that she thins Neds fur - whatever that is I think it helps.

This is what I call mid length but if he starts matting when we do stuff, I will cut is shorter. PS Ned runs when I even think grooming. He hides if he sees a brush. To thoroughly brush him, my husband hugs him and it is a two - person job.

[1x9uqqr4btfe6]

Treasure is now 13 mo. I hated to cut his coat short but he started matting for the first time about 2 monoths ago. We cut his coat back to 1 inch on his body, and short around his collar and chest area. his fur is very soft but I have to spend 1/2 daily combing him. right now his coat is about 2 inches long and ok. The area around the collar, ears and tail are the biggest problem. He has a very long tail. He is going to get a cut soon and we will cut his hair 1 3/4 inches and see how that works out. I am going to keep his collar area and around his ears short and let the rest grown out and hope it will be ok. Also i like a short face, so he will get a puppy cut on his face.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Sounds like we are all going thru the same thing! I started this same discussion on the doodle grooming page and some people wrote that the mats could really decrease when they reach 2 years or so and that their adult coats have not really come in yet. There is HOPE!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned's mats really have decreased over this summer. It has been gradual and I suddenly realized with the exception of the one day before yesterday, he hadn't had a mat since the end of June. He had lots with his June grooming and we even thought he would have to be shaved! He does have tangles and it takes the brush then the comb to manage it. But, whew, I am glad there is improvement. If I had known how much work the coat was going to be, I probably wouldn't have gotten my little impulse buy boy and I sure would have missed out on something special. With my next doodle (I must not have been totally discouraged) the coat will by my main priority.

[Ginny Nightingale]

But the coats are tough to predict, aren't they? It is a matter of luck, I think. At least, we can count on their lovable-ness!!
I am glad that one of my doodles is super-easy to groom-- it would be really hard to keep up with two challenging coats.