Labradoodle Grooming You Can Do at Home
All dogs benefit from regular brushing and the occasional bath to keep them neat, clean and smelling sweet. Labradoodles may not have a typical doggy scent but they still need regular grooming by way of brushing, bathing and trimming. While most people can brush and bathe their labradoodle at home, many owners prefer to take their dog to a professional groomer for the trim. If this is you, try to find a groomer who has experience with labradoodles so the trim is correct for the breed. Your breeder may be able to help you find an experienced professional groomer.
Labradoodles have varying coat types and lengths and each one has slightly different grooming needs. The wool coat is very soft, hypoallergenic and very curly and can easily become a tangled mess if not attended to on a regular basis. The longer, wavy fleece coat is more forgiving but a weekly brushing is recommended. Some labradoodles have a coarser scruffy coat which needs brushing less often. The grooming tools you will need are determined by the type of coat your dog has.
Regular grooming gives you the opportunity for a complete health check – coat, skin, ears, teeth, eyes, feet and nails; so you can spot a problem before it gets too serious. You are looking for sore spots, skin irritations, dirty ears (on the inside), cut pads and over-long nails.
Many labradoodle owners are happy to do the bathing and brushing at home. When you bath your labradoodle, use a pet shampoo not a human one. Make sure you rinse all traces of shampoo out of the coat; you can use a dog conditioner to help untangle the fur. Towel the dog dry and take him for a brisk walk to finish drying off. In cold weather, use a hair dryer to get the coat completely dry. Only bath your labradoodle as often as needed to keep him clean, as too-frequent bathing can dry out the vital oils in his skin.
Select a brush that gets through the coat and onto the skin to give a gentle but stimulating massage. You can follow this up with a comb to make sure there are no knots or tangles in the coat. Work carefully so as not to pull the hair and hurt the dog. This should be a pleasurable experience for both of you. Labradoodles with a short or a medium length of coat will need a bristle brush; scruffy ones need a pin brush and curly coats need a slicker brush to remove dead hair.
As you brush, look out for burrs, grass seeds and other plant debris which may be caught in the coat. If not removed, these can cause irritation and lead to the fur matting. If mats and tangles won't brush or comb out easily, they might need to be cut off, but do this very carefully. Regular brushing limits this happening and also helps to reduce shedding, if you have a labradoodle with the type of coat that does shed.
Many people take their labradoodle to a professional groomer for bathing,
brushing and clipping. The extent to which your labradoodle will need
to be clipped again depends on the coat type. The curly wool coat type
will need regular clipping to prevent it getting matted and tangled. With
practice, you can learn to use dog clippers and clip your own labradoodle
at home.