27/02/2024
Everyone who knows me knows I have been grooming show and pet dogs since the early 80āsI love the art of grooming a dog and sending it home happy and comfortable and as cute as can be. Grooming is both an art and a science.
Since the poodle mix/designer dog craze started big time about 15 years ago grooming has become much more challenging. For years I was the only one in our town who could handle the most complicated of dogs of all ages and sizes.
The burnout happened when day after day the same dogs returned for yet another rodeo of grooming. Not all dogs are comfortable having their entire bodies being brushed or shaved. The hard work isn't always fair to the dog. MANY of the doodle owners have unrealistic expectations, lack ability or desire to keep their dog combed to the skin at home between pro grooms. And the end result is a very emotional and physical drain on the groomer, and pet owners dissatisfaction. Pro grooming when a dog is matted is expensive, and in the end NOT FAIR to the dog or the groomer.
This is a very long post, but is so truthful. When will people who breed and buy these mixes educate themselves and do better??
Christina Hollands
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Written by HEATHER JONES AUSBURNE
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Goldendoodles were first bred in 1969 but didnāt gain in popularity until the 1990ās. With their adorable look and outgoing personality no one could blame anyone for not falling in love. Yet, even with all these decades of being in our homes, I am constantly surprised every time a new doodle puppy comes to my shop that their parent is oblivious to how difficult their coat is to maintain. And how expensive.
While they make a wonderful pet, their coats are some of the hardest to maintain. The require more at home brushing then a poodle and their hair can take twice as long for your groomer to wash and dry than a poodle. Due to their high maintenance, their grooming bill will be significantly higher than a poodle of the same size.
If you are deciding to add one of these wonderful mix breeds to your family, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Daily brushing and combing when they start coat change which starts typically at 6 months of age and can last up to 3 years. Daily means every day folks. After that, depending on the length of coat you keep your doodle in, you will need to brush and comb every 3-7 days to keep the mats away for the life of the dog.
2. Professional grooming starting at 4 months of age on an every 4-6 weeks schedule depending on how long you want the coat left.
3. A grooming bill starting at Ā£35 for the smallest size doodle shave down. Price going up if you want to keep the long fancy hair. My typical doodle client on a four week schedule spends a lot of money a year on their pets coat. While an every 6 week client should be looking at a smaller bill, their doodles will almost always have mats so they spend about the same amount as a 4 week client due to
de-matting fees. This is for a shave down not a fluffy coat. If you want the doodle you saw on social media with long fluffy hair, a groom can easily start jumping to Ā£50hr for a small doodle. Longer coat means you would need to come to the groomer every 3 weeks minimum making that yearly bill even more expensive.
4. A lengthy bath regimen if you decide to do any bathing at home. Water will shrink up the two coat types and cause immediate matting. To avoid mats you will need to brush then comb the entire body properly when the pup is dry. This includes if your doodle get wet from rain.
5. You most likely will be buying a dog that has had zero genetic testing or any thought into the temperament of the parents. You could end up with a puppy that is genetically set up to have hip dysplasia, a skin disease called sebaceous adenitis, a heart condition called subvalvular aortic stenosis, Addison's disease, and eye diseases such as progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts and glaucoma. Or have a temperament that is wild and willful so your brushing invokes screaming, thrashing, and biting. I have had to dismiss many doodles because they were a danger to themselves and me. The parents were beside themselves because they have a pet who was just impossible at home as well.
I have had many client in tears when I had to tell them I would need to completely shave their dog due to the matting that has occurred. It is never anything that a groomer wants to do, but it so often what we have to do due to the parents lack of knowledge about coat care. Or the parents lack of dedication to the coat even with the knowledge.
Sadly almost all doodle parents were never told about the coat care by the breeder. When I ask the parent āWould you have gotten this mix breed if the breeder was honest about the expense and care involved with managing their coat?ā Their answer is usually no. My response is typically āNow you know why the breeder did not inform you of thisā. Of course a quick Google search about the doodle would have informed the parent about their coat care as the web is littered with articles about this subject. With so many decades of groomers yelling at the top of their lungs to be informed before you purchase any breed, this subject seems to always fall on dear ears. An article I was was recently reading compared the doodle coat care to that of an Afghan hound. Thatās a good way of looking at it. Any of you out there brave enough to take an Afghan grooming on?
If you had your heart set on a doodle and now are reconsidering I would tell you to look to the less expensive and easier to care for poodle. A good poodle breeder only breeds dogs that have had their genetic testing and the poodle parents are of the right temperament.
Most of the goofy traits and large personality that people love about doodles actually comes from the poodle. Poodles also grow hair on their muzzles so you can still have the cute teddy bear look if you donāt like the shave muzzle and topknot look.
I currently have four poodles and brushing is never anything I fret about. The ones that are kept in pet trims can handle a coat brushing every week or so and there is never any mats. Or if there is a small mat it is easily brushed out since it isnāt two coats types fighting each other.
This is just something that was on my mind this morning after a hard month of new doodle clients whose dogs where a mess of painful mats that the poor puppies had been living with for months. These babies had very smart parents who just werenāt educated by their breeder about the care their puppy needed. And the puppy had to pay the price.
The picture below is of an 11 month old doodle who came in for its very first groom. Not only is this waaaaay to long to go for a first groom coat wise, any puppy needs to be introduced to the loud and new sensations of grooming at 4 months of age. Her parents were convinced they were brushing properly and taking perfect care of her coat. Sadly they were only brushing the top layer and underneath was such tight matting it took me 35 minutes to remove the pelted coat. After I was finished removing mats that covered her ear opening, I discovered very bad yeast infections in both ears. She had just been to the vet two days before her appt with me and the vet didnāt even notice the infections because the opening was blocking their ability to see them. She had to go back the day after the groom to have the ears looked at. They weighed her again and this poor dog had ālostā 2.6 pounds of hair. To me that is quite shocking to know that not only were the mats painful she also had all this extra weight on her too.
Why are mats such a problem? Not only can they be breeding grounds for infections, yeast, lice, fleas, etc, once a mat is removed from the skin, the hair follicles will move back to their correct position. This causes the hair follicle to think itās been injured. A pain signal is sent to the brain and the dog thinks the groomer has just injured them. Imagine when you have taken out a very tight ponytail at the end of the day. That weird bruised feeling that is left on your head is the same feeling that happens when a tight mat is removed. But a dog doesnāt understand why, so all it thinks is that the groomer is purposefully hurting it. It is a very anxiety causing experience for both the dog and the groomer who knows they are causing the dog to experience it. I educated the owners and thankfully they decided to keep their doodle in a short clip and on a grooming schedule.
If you made it the end of my novel you are awesome. Even if you are not looking to get any sort of dog, being on planet earth you have to know someone who is considering getting a doodle. You can now help them make a more informed decision.
H. Ausburne
