Englishdoodle Coats
There are several different coat types for English(golden)doodles. Coats can be straight, unfurnished (very much retriever looking) to straight furnished, wavy furnished, curly furnished. I am not going to reinvent the wheel to show you all of these coat types. For more information,I will direct you to our friends at GANA (Goldendoodle Association of North America).
What I am going to tell you next is honest information that any prospective doodle owner needs to hear... There is a trade-off when you move from a high shedding short-coated dog (lab, boxer, beagle, etc) to a low to non-shedding long-coated dog which includes poodles and ANY type of doodle. IT IS COAT MAINTENANCE. Doodle coats are NOT, I repeat, NOT low or no maintenance. Any breeder of doodles that has told you otherwise is not being truthful and does not have the best interest of their puppies or you in mind. So instead of focusing on what the coat LOOKS like I want to direct your attention to what WORK goes into making their coat look that way.
Groom Maintenance
Short doodle groom: This is the easiest groom to maintain. You can comb them once weekly(PLUS after they play outside for an extended period of time, or after they dry from being wet from water or snow). They can go up to 12 weeks between groomings.
Nala and Penny model short grooms.
Medium doodle groom: This is the shaggy doodle look that most people picture in their heads when they think of a golden doodle. This groom requires combing (typically first with a rake or slicker brush, then with a metal comb) 3-4 times weekly (PLUS after playing outside for an extended period of time, or after they dry from being wet due to water or snow). This look requires a full groom every 8 weeks.
Here is Odie showing off his medium shaggy look- blown out first, then natural.
Full doodle coat groom: This is letting a doodle grow to their full-length coat. This can be up to 5 inches in length. This coat requires DAILY combing (PLUS after playing outside for an extended period of time, or after they dry from being wet due to water or snow). This look requires a full groom every 5-6 weeks.
Our friends Olie and Archie look handsome in their full coats!
Olie before and after combing as well as all the fur that he gets out of the coat with his comb outs!
Low to no shedding dogs actually do shed! Their fur gets caught in their coats instead of falling on your floor, couch, and clothes. This is why combing it so important. The extra fur leads to matting.
Coat Neglect
So, what happens when people do not care for their doodle's coat? They become matted. What is the consequence of matting? First and foremost- It HURTS the dog. Matting and the removal of matting are physically painful, can lead to skin infections and make grooming dangerous. The groomer will need to use clippers that get very close to the skin and your dog could be easily injured or cut. Secondarily, the owner is often upset with how the dog looks when it returns from the groomer. Please see the photo below for an example. You can read more about this from a groomer who wrote a great article about the importance of doodle coat care here.
