If you own a Designer Doodle or any hybrid type; you may not know as of yet that these coats are notorious to Matt. The reason for this blog post is to educate you as to why Grooming Salons may have to bring your Doodles coat down to a shave. Believe me, we don't want your Doodle shaved down either. You can avoid this by staying diligent and not only brush your dogs coat but combing it as well. Many clients think that just brushing the top coat will be enough. You have to bush out the entire length of the hair strands. This is why the comb is necessary. You have to get down the the base of the hair. If you feel any type of resistance you need to call and make an appointment right away. We have had to shave down coats on these doodles because the clients were just uneducated on the turmoil the environmental situations can and will occur. Simple dew on the blades of grass can matt your doodles paws and legs. Days with minimal moisture in the air will cause the hair fibers to tangle and lead to matting. Rain, has to be the ultimate culprit of matting. If your doodle enters a pool, this will cause matting. Seeing your doodle shaved down is a traumatic experience. After the first shave down; our clients have a good understanding how to upkeep their dogs coat. Also, keep it to the length that your lifestyle permits. These dogs are considered high maintenance and require almost daily attention to the coat. There are a couple of ways of helping you manage your Doodle's coat that I will share mometarily. Before I do, I want to also give you some insight on how easy these nasty tangles can occur. Matts occur when the topcoat, the undercoat and loose hair get tangled up. Collars and harnesses will aways get them started. Here is a leather rolled collar that will help. Wrestling and playing with other pets can cause hair to tangle. Swimming or playing in the rain can get a matt started. Many common everyday activities can lead to matting. If a small mat isn't addressed properly, it can turn into a much bigger, often painful problem for a dog. Matts can lock down against a dog's skin, like hard knots made of cotton and dirt. Untreated and unresolved, they can be a great place for parasites like fleas to hide and live. They can even cause infection and hot spots underneath your pets coat that will cause a bad smell. Doodles also are highly susceptible to ear infections and odor. Ear hair grows out from the ear canal. This hair can accumulate moisture and debris along with wax. Aways check for this hair and look for any type of these problems that can lead to ear infections. If you can smell anything in your dogs ear. Check with your veterinarian.

If you already have this problem you can have your Doodle have a holistic Thera-Clean bath here at The Shaggy Chic. You can lean more by clicking here.

Not all Doodles hair are the same. We have clients with two or three doodles and some are more susceptible to matting, while others are minimal. Check with your breeder to see what type of doodle you bought from them. There are different percentages and different dog breeds involved. We will break this down for you below to help you in choosing your doodle and to help to know what to look for and ask of a doodle Breeder.

The breeder may have an F-1, F-2, F-3, F-1B, F-2B generation litter. You will want to research which generation is best for you.

You will feel assured that once we keep your doodle at the right length and maintenance is applied, your doodle will not have to undergo the dreaded shave down,

Matting will occur all over the body of the dog. Here are the places that mats will be more frequent. Make sure you brush and comb these areas as they need the most attention to the pets maintenance.

Behind the ears

Around the neck

Chest

Arm pits

Side of ribs, and underneath chest area

Flaps of skin where the leg and belly meet

Outer thighs

Between feet

Tail

When you bring in your Doodle in for grooming The Shaggy Chic always looks for any problematic mats that will require a shave down. If there are minimal matting spots and are not touching the skin we then can work out the matting with our lubricants and tools, or even shave out the spots that can hide the area with the overlying coat. At times we ask that you bring in your doodle multiple times for de-matting sessions even before we can give a full haircut. This is what sets The Shaggy Chic apart from other grooming Salons. We work with you and your pet to save the coat. When your pet has too many areas of matting, using these tools can cause irritation to the skin and even pain and discomfort while trying to de-mat the areas. This is why Doodles require the shave down. Trying to save your Doodles coat is never to be chosen because you want to see your Doodle with longer hair. We will discuss this when bringing in your Doodle in for grooming. Now, I don't want you thinking a shave down requires us going close to the skin. There are times when we can get away with saving some length on your dogs coat.

Now, once we asses your Doodles coat, we can discuss your options. If you bring in your Doodle regularly, you can keep your Doodles hair pretty long. If you wait 6 to 8 weeks then you may consider keeping the coat shorter. If you wait 10 plus weeks then, if the dog is neglected you may be in the shave down category. We do recommend brining your Doodle in for regular bath and brush out maintenance in between haircuts.