08/19/2024
Do you own a "Doodle” or other “long” hair breed dog? If you do, this post is a must read! 🐾
The doodle is up and coming and we see a lot of them in our grooming facility. Some dogs that may be referred to as “doodles'' include labradoodles, goldendoodles, bernedoodles, sheepadoodles, cavagoldendoodles, cockapoos, and other breeds mixed with poodles, we groom mostly the mini versions of these breeds.
They are all cute little fluff balls.🐶
Doodles can come in a variety of colors, hair type or texture, and length. No matter how unique their coat, all doodles require regular grooming at home and with a professional groomer throughout life. They are not a low maintenance breed. Doodle puppies , as well as any breed , should be introduced to daily brushing at a young age. They should also get accustomed to having their feet touched, ears cleaned, nails trimmed, faces groomed, and fur shaved and/or scissored. Therefore, they should meet and enjoy their time with their groomer early in their life. All breeds of long haired dogs, especially doodles, will require regular grooming to maintain healthy skin and coats, so it is best to ensure that they enjoy this process from the outset.🐾
Matting is very common in any long hair dog and doodles are especially prone to this. Matting is uncomfortable and even painful for pets, and the longer the mats are there, the tighter they become, and the more they pull on their skin. If matting is not addressed, it can lead to irritation of the skin, infection, or even bruising which often can’t be seen until the mats are removed. The only way to fix heavy or tight matting is to shave the fur. Sometimes this means having to shave the coat very short as mats tend to form close to the skin. Even once mats are removed, your pup will require daily brushing to ensure that mats don’t reform as the fur grows out. 🐶
To prevent matting and an undesirable short shave to fix this problem, you will need to brush your dog daily at home and you want to make sure that you are using the right equipment and doing it correctly. You should use a slicker brush and follow that up with using a metal tooth comb to make sure no mats remain. When brushing, make sure you are getting the fur coat all the way down to the skin otherwise mats can form close to the skin despite your efforts to brush. It is especially important to thoroughly brush the areas that are more prone to mat like behind the ears, under a harness, behind the legs, and along the tail. Something you don’t want to do is bathe a matted pet as this only makes the mats tighter and then they pull more on the skin. If you have questions about brushing your dog at home, you should ask us, your friendly groomer, for advice.🐾
Sometimes if you look at a matted dog, you cannot immediately tell that they have mats because they are close to the skin and the fur on the top coat is still fluffy. So we understand it can be surprising to get a call from us and hear that your dog needs to be shaved short. Please understand that as a professional groomer, we only want what is best for your pets. We want them to look and feel their best and sometimes that means we have to shave them to get rid of matting and make them comfortable. 🐶
We are proud of the work we do, we want your pets to feel good when they leave after a spaw day, and we want you to be happy with how they look. We also want to make sure you know that grooming is a major part of owning a doodle or any long hair breed and you have to do your part at home as well as bring them to a groomer as often as every 4-6 weeks. 🐾🐶
Please feel free to reach out if you have and questions or concerns, your pups health and well being comes first to me. I want their spaw day to be a great experience 🐾🐶
