Meet Gracie! She's a young Goldendoodle, 7-8 months old, that I have groomed three times now, on a four week basis. Gracie is smart, eager, and just a little silly. The silliest thing she does is to flop around in the bath water. What a clown! I can honestly say that in 35 years of grooming, I've never had a dog choose to flop around in the tub like this!
Gracie's owner is very good about keeping her coat combed out between groomings. She has not had more than one or two small tangles. She sought out professional grooming when Gracie was only five months old in order to keep the coat manageable. Very smart move, if I may say so!
I was not the least bit offended when this Goldendoodle owner made it very clear to me that they did not want Gracie to look "poodley." I think it is common for the public to associate groomers with poodle grooming and expect that we might apply that look to the Goldendoodle. I assured her that I could lose the poodle look.
AVOIDING THE POODLE LOOK
So what is it that the public sees as "poodley"? Good question. There are a few styling elements associated with poodle grooming that I can identify.
STYLING SPECIFICS:
Bath - Gracie was bathed before any combing or brushing. We have a Bathing Beauty recirculating bathing system and used Eqyss Premier Shampoo, followed by a rinse of Chris Christensen After Bath Rinse with a squirt of Ice on Ice added. The addition of the silicone detangler results in light conditioning with minimal "weigh down" and maximum combability. It also delivers good protection against damage from combing and brushing.
Drying - Gracie was air dried in an exercise pens with fan and Sahara Turbo dryer. This leaves the coat light and wavy, but does not set in any tangles.
Comb-out - I used a Chris Christensen 16mm "T" style pin brush and a CC Poodle comb. No slicker brush was used. I am in the process of re-evaluating the use of slicker brushes and the possibility that this tool might contribute to matting because of damage caused to the hair cuticle, which makes the surface of the hair shaft more rough and barbed. The 16mm pin brush is remarkable at being able to work through thick and even tangled coat, and the pins are ground and polished.
Trimming - I used a Wahl 1-inch snap-on comb to trim the coat all over. Next time I may skip the legs, just to give the overall appearance a less trimmed look. At the elbows and hocks, I used a blending shear to take off hair without looking scissored. A favorite blender for this type of work is the Arius-Eickert Coqui Blender. An expensive tool ($175), but it makes it easy to achieve a natural "unscissored" look with very little effort.
Head - Gracie's owner requested that we allow the top of the head (crown) to have a little more height, so I did not touch it this time. I blended the back of the head into the neck with the blending shears, and ran the snap-on comb over the sides of the face to prevent a bulgy look. There is no separation over the top of the ears.
Feet - These are what I call "Teddy Bear Feet", trimmed with the AE Cogui Blender. The pads of the feet were cleaned up with a Wahl Peanut trimmer, now called the "Tid Bit."
Here is a close-up of the feet.
SUMMARY
Although there is no established breed standard for the Goldendoodle that would give a reference for styling preferences, there is a look that seems to be popular with many Goldendoodle owners and breeders. This is an informal, somewhat shaggy and untrimmed look. Even though the groomer is shortening and trimming the coat, most owners prefer to not reflect poodle styling elements. When it comes to grooming, the Goldendoodle is a great example of when "less is more". Happy grooming!
Gracie's owner is very good about keeping her coat combed out between groomings. She has not had more than one or two small tangles. She sought out professional grooming when Gracie was only five months old in order to keep the coat manageable. Very smart move, if I may say so!
I was not the least bit offended when this Goldendoodle owner made it very clear to me that they did not want Gracie to look "poodley." I think it is common for the public to associate groomers with poodle grooming and expect that we might apply that look to the Goldendoodle. I assured her that I could lose the poodle look.
AVOIDING THE POODLE LOOK
So what is it that the public sees as "poodley"? Good question. There are a few styling elements associated with poodle grooming that I can identify.
- Cutting a "top knot" across the tops of the ears. Leaving it tall and rounding the crown.
- Clean feet with beveled legs.
- Clipping a clean face, no whiskers, or shaped donut beard.
- Shorter body, full (often puffy) legs.
- Coat is dried so as to remove curl.
- Legs or whole coat is scissored plush, with obvious sculpting.
- Hair at the base of the tail is clipped, with a band around the tail.
STYLING SPECIFICS:
Bath - Gracie was bathed before any combing or brushing. We have a Bathing Beauty recirculating bathing system and used Eqyss Premier Shampoo, followed by a rinse of Chris Christensen After Bath Rinse with a squirt of Ice on Ice added. The addition of the silicone detangler results in light conditioning with minimal "weigh down" and maximum combability. It also delivers good protection against damage from combing and brushing.
Drying - Gracie was air dried in an exercise pens with fan and Sahara Turbo dryer. This leaves the coat light and wavy, but does not set in any tangles.
Comb-out - I used a Chris Christensen 16mm "T" style pin brush and a CC Poodle comb. No slicker brush was used. I am in the process of re-evaluating the use of slicker brushes and the possibility that this tool might contribute to matting because of damage caused to the hair cuticle, which makes the surface of the hair shaft more rough and barbed. The 16mm pin brush is remarkable at being able to work through thick and even tangled coat, and the pins are ground and polished.
Trimming - I used a Wahl 1-inch snap-on comb to trim the coat all over. Next time I may skip the legs, just to give the overall appearance a less trimmed look. At the elbows and hocks, I used a blending shear to take off hair without looking scissored. A favorite blender for this type of work is the Arius-Eickert Coqui Blender. An expensive tool ($175), but it makes it easy to achieve a natural "unscissored" look with very little effort.
Head - Gracie's owner requested that we allow the top of the head (crown) to have a little more height, so I did not touch it this time. I blended the back of the head into the neck with the blending shears, and ran the snap-on comb over the sides of the face to prevent a bulgy look. There is no separation over the top of the ears.
Feet - These are what I call "Teddy Bear Feet", trimmed with the AE Cogui Blender. The pads of the feet were cleaned up with a Wahl Peanut trimmer, now called the "Tid Bit."
Here is a close-up of the feet.
SUMMARY
Although there is no established breed standard for the Goldendoodle that would give a reference for styling preferences, there is a look that seems to be popular with many Goldendoodle owners and breeders. This is an informal, somewhat shaggy and untrimmed look. Even though the groomer is shortening and trimming the coat, most owners prefer to not reflect poodle styling elements. When it comes to grooming, the Goldendoodle is a great example of when "less is more". Happy grooming!
29 comments:
Hi. Very nice grooming on a Goldendoodle! I hope you share your tips with lots of other groomers.
That is fabulous!! You have got it right on. Doodle lovers everywhere thank you :-)
Maggie's Mom
THANK YOU! As a goldendoodle owner, I wish every groomer would read your well-thought out comments and see these pictures. Awesome job! Sure wish you lived in my town.
Love the Goldiedoo groom. I am a groomer and I have several Goldiedoo clients. Thanks for sharing. would love to share my pics with you of the different grooms that are requested from the owners.
Great groom and advice. i am grooming my first goldendoodle and your advice is very useful. thanks for sahring. wonderful groom.
What great instruction and pictures! Thank you! I have printed one of your pictures to take with me next week when I get my 9-month old Goldendoodle groomed for the first time. Thank you for sharing.
Thnak you, I have been trying to get my grommers to stop giving my Goldedoolde a Poodle look...printing this out and giving it to them will help.
Thanks,
Alan Griffin
Silver Spring, MD
My doodle has a tight curly coat and I am finding it hard to get my groomer to rid the poodle head. Is there anything specific I can tell him to do?
Unfortunately, some groomers seem to have Poodle genes, or something going on, so that everything on their table comes out looking poodley. You might try asking that they use a large snap-on comb, such as a Laube B comb, and go over the head, blending into the tops of the ears. A big part of the Poodle head is the cutting straight across over the tops of the ears. Ask them NOT to do this.
You might think of gifting your groomer with a set of snap-on combs. Maybe bribery will work! The most coveted snap-ons of the moment are the Wahl metal combs.
I am glad to have found this, I am about to get a Goldenddodle puppy and even though I know I am not supposed to groom them for the first few months I cannot help thinking and worrying about it
Eek! "Not supposed to groom" your dog for months? I would encourage you to re-evaluate this advice. Clearly, whoever told you this is not going by the same definition of "grooming" as I am. Most likely they are expecting brushing and combing but perhaps discouraging trimming or clipping.
I started professionally grooming the Doodle in this article at about 5 months old. Although the owner was doing an outstanding job of brushing the coat, she needed coaching and some different tools.
If we had not done some trimming at about 6 months old, this dog's coat would have been troublesome. The trimming as per the article has helped he owner succeed in maintaining a lovely "natural" looking Goldendoodle. There was a period about 9-11 months of age where I took Gracie a bit shorter while she went through transition to her adult coat. I still used a snap-on comb, size 0.
What you need to worry about is your brushing/combing ability. I highly recommend a Chris Christensen 16mm "T" brush and a wide tooth "poodle" comb, or at least a coarse/medium greyhound style comb. Mist as you brush with a leave-in conditioner to protect the coat and release static cling.
The only way a groomer can use a snap-on comb on a Doodle and create a natural, but manageable style, is if there are no tangles. Any tangling or matting of the hair causes the comb attachments on the clippers to jam up and they won't go through.
One key to successful comb-out is to start and the feet and work up the legs in layers, always combing into your already combed part. Then work from the tail forward. Brush first, then comb each section.
That's all for tonight...
Happy Grooming,
BBird
As a professional pet stylist, it's hard to understand what some doodle owners expect. We are not mind readers and we battle misinformation given to the owners. Example: that the breed doesn't need much grooming. I agree with you - Yikes!! The opposite is true. Proper brushing and bathing is key. I just read an article on a goldendoodle website that says NOT to use premium shampoos and conditioners. The author recommended baby shampoo or Pantene with a vinegar and water mix as a rinse. Babyshampoo is the most damaging to coat as the pH is off and is drying to skin and coat.The exact opposite of what is needed to maintain the doodle coat. We need to educate our doodle owners so they can have that long flowing coat(that isn't 2 inches thick with undercoat mats).
My doodle research started because our local grooming association is giving a seminar on doodle grooming and I have been volunteered to teach the seminar. I am horrified by the information (and misinformation)given to doodle owners. I also got the impression that a lot of the websites and breeders are Anti-Professional Groomers. We do the best we can with what we are given. Thank you for posting common sense instructions.
Thanks for posting your comment. We are basically on the same page, and I think it is very unfortunate that a breeder would urge Goldendoodle owners to not use high quality products formulated for pet hair. I have to disagree, however, with your statement that "Baby shampoo is the most damaging to coat as the pH is off and is drying to skin and coat." This is a myth. The pH of most baby shampoos is 6.0-6.5, which is exactly the recommended pH for pet shampoos.
To make sure things had not changed since I wrote my book (see below), I tested two products just now at Albertson's supermarket. Huggies regular formula tested at 6.0 and the house brand, Baby Basics, tested at 6.5 pH. Yes, I waited until no one was in the aisle and quickly whipped out my chem lab pH strip and opened two bottles for a consumer preview. Other people just smell the products... :-)
PH itself is not a drying factor, and the lower pH (slightly more acidic) of adult human shampoos is not going to dry hair or skin. Higher (alkaline) solutions can be
more irritating, but we would have to look at hair dyes or permanent wave solutions to find something excessively alkaline. Drying out of the hair is more likely to happen with degreasing or harsh detergent formulas (as found in some pet shampoos or dish detergents). The more of the natural oils that are stripped from the coat, the more drying the shampoo.
IMHO, the drawback to baby shampoo is that it is too mild to adequately clean most dogs. Although there may be individual dogs for which a baby shampoo works, I don't see that being a GD.
What causes me concern about the baby shampoo/vinegar rinse is neither the shampoo nor the vinegar rinse, which can be a great acidifier on dog hair. What would make me cringe is the lack of conditioner. Because of the combination of hair types and the fuzzy undercoat, most GD's need good conditioning to prevent matting.
BBird,
Author "Beyond Suds & Scent - Understanding Pet Shampoos & Conditioners. Available at bbird.biz
You did a great job on Gracie! We recently adopted a super goldendoodle named Max. He is now 11 weeks old and I would like to know what is the proper age to start with professional grooming. I have already bathed him once a week and have done what I think to be a decent job brushing him, but I want this done by a professional as soon as it is proper. We live in North Georgia and would like to know if you can recommend a good groomer here.
I was just wondering --- If you had a VERY matted doodle -- that had a coat more like a poodle than a golden - (F1) -- and you lived in south carolina -- would you go ahead and shave him down once to 'clean' him up...??
Or can a professional groomer get Mattes out unlike us amatuers?
Also -- it will be his first shaving -- he still has his puppy coat. Wil his puppy coat be different from the next coat that grows in?
THANKS!
Jim, it's Shaving Time, regardless of where you live. Once a coat is "very matted" it is not worth the effort and money it would cost to save the coat. First of all, it can be rough on the dog and on the groomer. Your dog has many more groomings ahead, there is no hair worth souring his/her attitude toward grooming. Also, my experience has been that even a master dematter like myself will do so much coat damage in breaking apart matting that the coat will mat easier more profusely after an extensive dematting. The clip down is inevitable, you might buy some time, but for what? Do it now and save the dog and groomer.
Many doodles go through this. It is due to the mixed nature of the coat, which is a challenge to maintain in many individual dogs, especially when they are transitioning between puppy and adult coat. You will get the adult coat when it grows back in.
When I have to clip down, I like to wet clip, which often enables me to use a bigger blade and leave more length. I think I will repost your question on my other blog, AskBBird.blogspot.com and share a picture of "Cowboy" a goldendoodle that I clipped down five weeks ago. He doesn't look too bad.
My Goldendoodle is 6 months old
I gave him a grooming job, but I didnt like the looks of it, as a matter of fact I was really disepointed. He looked so nice and
cute before, probabley I dint explain my self clearly to my groomer.
My question is how long will it take to grow? to a reasonable size
so he gets is cute looks back.
I learend my lessons never again
I wll repeat this.
I am in grooming academy now and have my first Goldendoodle tomorrow...thanks alot for the great pictures and description of the groom it will help me big time tomorrow :) Mike from Toronto Canada
Does anyone know a good groomer for goldendoodles in Tallahassee? We have a five-month-old goldendoodle that needs to visit a groomer soon, but I have no idea where to take her and I definitely do not want the "poodle" look. Thanks for any suggestions.
That looks great! It's hard to find a groomer that can get the doodle look right. I've ended up buying the supplies and doing it myself, which has worked out great.
If you have more doodle clients, send them to a new social network I've created on www.DoodleKisses.com -- a fun place for them to spread the word about your services as well as just to meet other doodle owners. Have a great day!
Does anyone know of a good Goldendoodle groomer in Orange County, CA? Mine is 12 weeks.
Hello, So I am a complete novice, the kind of owner that might not communicate properly with a groomer. The truth is that I love the shaggy look of the un-groomed Goldendoodle. We are picking up our puppy in a couple of weeks and I am planing ahead. Out side of the sanitary area and thinning out his eye area can I leave his coat long and shaggy? My back-ground is with Goldens, this is my first doodle. I have bought an expensive brush that was recommended by the breeder. Can I get away with high quality shampoo/cond and a complete comb through after bath plus a daily brushing?
Thank you!
Sasha
You certainly can leave your Goldendoodle as long and as shaggy as you wish. It will look like something of a sheepdog eventually. That's a cool look.
How successful you are in maintaining a full coat on a GD depends on your combing skills and the individual nature of the coat. Because it is a combination coat, neither a Golden Retriever flat coat, nor a single layer curly Poodle coat, there is an inherent challenge to coat maintenance of the Goldendoodle. Simply put: it mats up very easily, especially when the adult coat comes in. You know how they say it is a "non-shedding breed"? This means that the loose hair does not fall out, but tends to hang on and tangle up. But if you are good at combing, and are using tools and products that don't break coat (which makes it mat worse), you should be able to succeed.
I don't know what brush your breeder suggested, but my recommendation (38 years of professional grooming) is the Chris Christensen 16mm T-brush. It is a stiff pin brush that acts as both a comb and brush. The pins are polished for the least trauma to the hair cuticle. I also recommend a wide-tooth Poodle comb. If matting starts to appear, I like the Les Pooch purple brush, or their Mat Zapper.
Good Luck! I love a shaggy dog...keep us posted on your progress.
Thank you for the recommendations, I will keep you posted and will look into the brushes. The breeder suggested the Les Pooch green brush, so I did buy it, I hop you agree. We will see how I do and will post a photo when he arrives.
S
Your right on about slicker brushes not working well with golden doodle coats. It damages their coat and they get bad mats. Pin brushes FTW (:
Love your work btw (:
WOW great post!!
Great and extremely helpful information!
Thanks so much for sharing! It is so hard to know what to do on the "designer" dogs, since there is no standard. It is great to have input from someone so knowledgable!
Great Article and great information. I have an 11 month goldendoodle who I had groomed for the first time 6 weeks ago. She will be groomed again next week. The groomer gave her the "puppy cut" which looks very close to Gracie's cut, but a bit longer. I am definitely taking your article and pictures with me when I go. The reference you provided is awesome. So thanks. I loved the initial cut, but it grew back so fast and with the summer coming I think she needs to be shorter. Her coat is so thick and I need her to stay comfortable and not mattted! Thanks again.
Madeleine
Long Island, NY
I currently own two GD's and am really glad I found this... I really do not want a "poodly" look but think a trim's necessary for the hot summer. Thanks!
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