10/15/2026
The problem with doodles and grooming:
I think a lot of people are mis lead that doodles are this easy low maintenance dog and that is absolutely not the case. Doodles are HIGH maintenance. Unless you want the shaved look which literally no one wants.
Doodles need regular brushing at home and regular scheduled grooming every 4-6 weeks, ESPECIALLY if you want a fluffy doodle.
Great we’re on a schedule we’re brushing at home, why is my groomer still calling me and telling me my doodle is matted??
Well I can think of 3 reasons for this, so let’s talk about it!
Reason number 1: you’re probably brushing your dog wrong. 99% of people run the brush all over the dogs and look at the dog and think yep that looks brush they look good and they call it a day. Problem here is you brush the top lay of fur and that’s it. So that’s great the dog looks amazing but deep under that we have matting forming. Once that matting is too tight we have no option other then to shave it off. To fix this you need to invest in a metal comb, when combing to skin you will learn right away where the tangles are, then you can move to line brushing which allows you to get right to the skin (there are loads of videos online about line brushing) when you are done brushing your dog the metal comb should glide through like butter, if it doesn’t glide you’re probably getting a shave.
Reason number 2: your bathing your dog at home. I know This one seems weird. Eveyone always thinks a bath is a great idea and it’s going to help but you’re actually just making it way worse for your self. Unless you are properly brushing first, then blow drying your dog while brushing after the bath you’re just causing any matting or tangles to get tighter. The mix of water, air drying and any rolling or rubbing your dogs does after a bath is a recipe for a shave!
I generally tell my regular clients that unless your dog is absolutely disgusting don’t bath them at home.
Reason number 3: this one is the least likely but here’s the bottom line. A doodle is generally a lab, golden retriever, or Bernese mixed with a poodle. You are mixing a breed that classically sheds and blows out an under coat to a breed that doesn’t.
So you have NO IDEA what kind of coat you are going to get. Literally every doodle is different. At the end of the day some of them just get blessed with really difficult coats. It’s no one’s fault but genetics and we cant control those. All you can do is your best and sometimes that’s learning that a short coat is just a cute as a fluffy one and is more practical and comfortable for you dog and life style.
As a groomer I want to make everyone happy but sometimes that’s not possible. Having a fluffy dog is expensive and time consuming, you need to put in the work at home and come for regular
Grooming every 4 weeks. A fluffy dog takes way longer to work on, which means it’s going to cost more. There are a lot of things to discuss with your groomer when it comes to having a doodle!
I hope this helps someone!
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