GROOMING THE GOLDENDOODLE

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.

• 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.

Here is what I arrived at for Gracie.

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!

ADDEDUM: HOME MAINTENANCE - Maintenance of a Goldendoodle or a Labradoodle with any real length of coat requires regular brushing and combing. The two tools that

• 
  

I recommend are the Chris Christensen 16-mm T-Brush, and a PSI Wood Handle Poodle Comb. The rounded tips of the widely spaced pins on both these tools are less likely to break and damage coat than are slicker brushes and fine-tooth combs. Both of these can be purchased in my shopping cart here.

UPDATE 1/12/2011

Hi Doodle fans! I thought I'd add a few more pictures to this article. I'm so impressed with the comments and response.

Gracie, our original model, has been joined by George. George has a more curly "poodley" coat that is a bit more of a challenge to maintain. Fortunately they both come in monthly.

Since getting a second dog, the owners have had me take the coats a bit shorter. I don't leave as much on the legs, often taking them down with an "A" comb or an "0".

Yes, the coat is left rather curly. While this is less acceptable for Poodle grooming, it is desired by many Goldendoodle owners.

This is "Cowboy" Rosenberg. We love his name! Cowboy is a very large Doodle. Fortunately, he is very cooperative and jumps into the tub on command, on hops up on the table with just a gesture. He gets a shorter face. Once we tried giving Gracie eyebrows. We didn't like it so much, but you might! We also tried giving her a Portugese Water Dog style head. That didn't work out because of the length of her muzzle.

These handsome dogs were groomed at Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, Arizona. We're located in mid-town, the little place with the big heart. Owner Barbara Bird, CMG, has been grooming for 40 years.