Grooming your Australian Labradoodle
Australian Labradoodles require a LOT of grooming! ALD hair has the blessing of being non-shedding and allergy friendly, but that comes with a lot of maintenance and care.
We start introducing our puppies to grooming as early as 3 weeks old when we start trimming their toe nails. By 4 weeks, we give them their first bath and blow dry and trim the hair in front of their eyes. By the time our puppies are 8 weeks old they have had multiple bath time experiences, exposure to being blow dried, had their eyes, ears and feet trimmed up, and their nails clipped several times. This early exposure is so important for learning grooming manners, and being willing to be brushed at home!
A common misconception and lie that breeders will tell their clients is that their dog doesn’t need grooming until 6-12 months old, and this couldn’t be further from the truth. Australian Labradoodles require brushing at home at least once a week, more often for really fluffy coats. The most effective, and in some cases the only effective, way of brushing your dog is with a technique called “line brushing.” To line brush, you will need a slicker brush and a poodle comb. All of our puppies go to their new homes with a poodle comb.
We recommend to all owners that they schedule their first grooming appointment for their puppy within a week of their last round of vaccines. Even if you are not ready to have their hair cut off of their body (if this is the case then communicate this clearly with the groomer) bringing them to the groomer will get them used to the environment and the feeling of being groomed. Ask your groomer to trim in front of her eyes, trim her ears, round out her feet, and give her a sanitary cut. However, if your puppy goes into the salon matted be prepared for those mats to need to come off, which is why regular brushing and upkeep is so important. Australian Labradoodles should be professionally groomed every 4-8 weeks depending on the length of coat desired. For the first year of your puppy’s life it is our strong recommendation to have them professionally groomed monthly so they can grow accustomed to it AND so that when they grow in their adult coat you can reduce the chances of needing to shave the puppy coat to start over. We do not recommend dematting tools as they are painful and can cause injuries on the skin. Some light mats can be brushed out with a slicker brush, but if they are throughout the coat the most humane method to remove them is to shave them off. If matting is left unchecked it can be extremely painful for your dog as it pulls on the skin. In some areas like ears and tails, if they are too matted they will start to constrict blood flow to that area which is very, very dangerous.
ALD’s need their ears cleaned regularly! Some dogs will need the hair in their ear canals plucked out every so often, but this will depend on the individual. If there is enough hair in the ear that it is causing buildup or matting, it MUST be plucked out.
For my local puppy buyers: I am a groomer! If you want groomer recommendations or want your puppies to be groomed by me, I am happy to help and to teach owners the in’s and out’s of coat care.
Below are my favorite grooming products that I recommend for puppy owners. I think that some owners can develop the skill of grooming at home, but it is a lot of work and not for everyone. However, here are my favorite items for at-home maintenance and care, click on the titles to access the links.
We use Chris Christensen shampoo and conditioner at Endeavor. It is a professional quality grooming shampoo and dilutes 50:1 with water. A small bottle is $20, but it goes a long way since it does need to be diluted with a lot of water. Out of the many shampoos I’ve used this is my favorite and keeps them smelling fantastic the longest. There are multiple different scents and they all small great. Our favorites are Cherry&Oats and Tropical Breeze.
