11/06/2025
PLEASE READ 🐾
Hi guys, just a friendly reminder especially as it's getting colder and wetter. (Also pls note, this is not directed at anyone in particular 😅).
This post is especially important for anyone with an Oodle (poodle mix) of some sort (Cavoodle, schnoodle, labradoodle etc)
If you are wanting your babies to be a bit longer over the cooler months, this is going to mean a lot more home maintenance between grooms and a lot more frequent grooms in the salon, they will require DAILY brushing and DAILY all over combing to keep them knot and matt free. For some of my clients just being able to get any sort of groom done is scary for them, so when they have to come in when they are matted it's not a pleasant experience as I have to get a blade underneath the matting and this increases the cut risk to their actual skin, it's a very risky and slow process to safely get them groomed when they are matted to the skin, it most certainly is not an easy, lazy thing to do and us groomers don't want to do this if we don't have to.
Please be realistic about how much time you have to set aside at home/how much patience do you have for daily brushing and combing out?/ what is your dogs tolerance of being brushed and combed at home by you? This doesn't mean you are a bad owner if you just can't set time aside for this, you just have to make the right choice for you and your dogs lifestyle. I completely understand, the last thing I want to be doing at the end of the day is brushing and combing my own dog so I have her at a length where I don't need to do that 🙂
Brushing your dog once between a groom is absolutely pointless and doesn't help as the dog will have already gotten matted by this point and it will pull on your dogs skin and be very painful 🥺
As i have said before, once they get to a certain length the brush will just glide over the top of them not touching the skin, so daily combing is a MUST to make sure they aren't matted at skin level and to prevent them being matted at skin level by their next appointment. As you can imagine, it's the same length of time between grooms but they are a longer length so daily home help is required.
It may surprise you to know that in winter if letting the fur be a bit longer, your dogs actually need grooms more often as we need to make sure the coat isn't matting at the skin level so your looking at 4wkly grooming not a longer time between grooms, it's a big commitment and a lot of work between both me and you to keep them comfortable at a longer length.
If your dog is an inside dog and you have a heat pump etc your dog won't be cold throughout the winter period. So please don't feel like you are doing your dog a disservice by keeping it short and easy maintenance especially if your lifestyle is such that you can't be spending time doing home maintenance between grooms, it's just not fair on your fur baby. Your dog will thank you that it can dry off easily after being outside as matting prevents your dog drying easily after getting rained on or bathed, it won't be getting matted and uncomfortable between grooms if you are unable to brush and comb it out all over daily.
Just brushing your dog once or twice between grooms is not going to be enough to prevent it having to be shaved to the skin by the next appointment. I'm just trying to avoid disappointment here as I can only work with the coat I am presented with and unfortunately I can't work magic with a coat that is only not matted along its back. If you think I can just cut out all the matting and leave the rest, this is an extremely time consuming task and most of the 2hour aptmt will be me trying to safely get rid of those matted areas and your dog will end up looking patchy all over with different lengths which I'm not going to send it out looking like its had a hack job, so it's just not realistic to expect this. Just remember, I have 2hr roughly time frame to bath, dry and do the actual groom before it starts affecting the rest of the hours in my work day, so please just consider this when advising how you want your dog groomed. I need a lot of help at home from you to keep your pooch long over winter so it doesn't have to be shaved down to the skin on its next appointment
Thanks for taking the time to read I only have your pooches well-being and comfort at heart ❤️🐾
