Apollo the Goldendoodle

Here's how we like to groom Goldendoodles at Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, Arizona. This is "Apollo", a 6 month old doodle that had never been fully groomed. Fortunately, he had been to training classes and his owner was great about the brushout.

Here is Apollo before his grooming. His coat was 4-6" long, and you could see the curly adult coat beginning to come in at the base. He was one big, hairy dog! Although he did not have any mats to speak of, he did have a lot of soft sticker burrs from one of our local parks.

This is after the bath and brush out. The band around the foreleg is courtesy of the vet. He was recently neutered. For the bath, we used Showseason Texture shampoo and Chrome Coat conditioner. This is one of my favorite product combinations. It leaves the coat workable, and manageable. It helped my assistant, Anita, brush out those soft stickers!

Anita and I both fell in love with this dog. He was cooperative, patient, and gave kisses. And Apollo is handsome. I am a sucker for a handsome dog! I could live with this dog, and I do not say that often. I used a Wahl #A comb over a #10 blade on my Laube Litening clipper to sculpt this coat. The #A comb leaves 3/4", according to the manufacturer. This is my favorite comb attachment for the Goldendoodle body, leaving enough coat to give some substance, while making it more manageable for the owner.

This is our signature look for the Goldendoodle. We think (okay, *I* think), this style best reflects the character and style of the Goldendoodle. This is where we like to start. Some Doodles stay with this

trim, some go shorter for less maintenance, and some (few) customers like a more "Poodley" style. I think it works for the Goldendoodle. Doodles in this style need to be groomed about every 4-6 weeks, depending upon owner maintenance. To be maintained in this style, a Goldendoodle needs to be thoroughly combed weekly and groomed professionally every 4-6 weeks. Sorry, owners, you can forget whatever you were told about this breed not needing grooming. It is a relatively high maintenance breed. This grooming cost $90.00. On a regular 4-6 week schedule, Apollo will be $85.00 per grooming.

Groomers: Charge what you are worth! Pet owners: You get what you pay for in grooming services!