Water dogs and Doodles are wonderfully fun, loving, loyal, hardworking, energetic dogs with a fantastic coat. Truly dogs to fall head over heels in love with. Especially as puppies, they will melt your heart. But what coat care is needed for Doodles?
To keep the coat of a Water Dog or Labradoodle nice and long and tangle-free, regular brushing and trimming are absolutely necessary.
He is very suitable for dog sports like agility or obedience, but training requires care and patience.
Once he has learned to swim, he loves to keep doing it.
To his “own” people, he is a wonderful household dog who loves to be pampered.
He has a high cuddle factor.
Care for Doodles or Water Dogs
An advantage of the Lagotto Romagnolo, a Miniature Poodle, and most Doodles is that they shed almost no hair. This makes them suitable for people who are allergic to dogs. Note: Hybrid dogs can shed! Call us for detailed information.
The coat does require maintenance. It tends to mat.
Parasites and other pests can take shelter in mats. Regular brushing (at least once every 2 weeks) is therefore a must.
It is possible to have the dog shaved almost bare twice a year. But if you don’t like a bare dog, he will need to go to the groomer about 4 times a year for a trim. Or you can learn how to groom your dog yourself.
Removal of ear hair is an important consideration. Coat care for doodles is a crucial aspect after acquiring a puppy.
When is the coat ready for trimming?
Undergoing a grooming session takes a lot of energy from every dog. A dog that regularly receives grooming will have less difficulty with it compared to a dog that is only occasionally brushed at home but goes to the groomer just twice a year.
Coat care for doodles: Because the coat of a Water Dog or Doodle requires a lot of maintenance, it is important to get your dog used to grooming as soon as possible. The earlier you get your dog accustomed, the more benefit you will have later on.
The best approach is to have your puppy go through a so-called puppy habituation session at about 15 weeks old. During this session, the pup learns what it’s like to stand on a table for a longer time while someone handles its body and coat, what it’s like to take a bath, and to be thoroughly washed.
If the puppy is exposed to the water blower and hairdryer (which can be quite a scary first encounter), to lifting and trimming the paws, etc. The more the puppy is already used from home to regular brushing, washing/drying, lifting paws, holding its head, checking teeth, and similar, the less stressful the first grooming session will be.
Moreover, it is very important that the puppy learns to stay calm in someone else’s hands while the owner is not there to hold her and protect her from the scary outside world; in other words: the puppy learns to function independently.
The first real grooming session can only take place once the coat has grown sufficiently, usually after 5 to 7 months. By then, the coat has become long enough that it is high time to trim the feet, pluck the ears, and shorten the coat a bit so it hangs less and regains more shine and body.
Tips for coat care for doodles
What to do if your Water Dog or Labradoodle is soaking wet and dirty and you don’t want to spend hours washing and drying the coat?
Most Water Dogs love water, swimming, wandering through dirty puddles, and often come back from walks with wet dirty paws that leave a lot of sand around your house, on the floor, furniture, etc. Coat care for doodles is also important at these times.
And even a walk in the pouring rain or a day at the beach can leave quite an impact. This is not a pleasant situation for you as the owner, but you also know that if you start washing your dog, you will lose 2 hours of your time. Water dogs do not get wet quickly (with a little shaking most coats dry fast), but if they really get wet, it takes ages for the coat to dry again.
An unpleasant downside is that a coat that tangles when wet reacts like wool in a washing machine: the coat felts. This means that the coat must always be brushed during drying to prevent felting. For more information on the differences and similarities between a Labradoodle and Lagotto Romagnolo, you can consult this article.
Many owners are not yet aware of this important fact, with all the problems that come with it.
An ideal tool to solve this problem is the water blower. If you are interested in buying a Lagotto Romagnolo puppy, please visit our website for more information.
This is a device that blows air with extreme force (a kind of reverse vacuum cleaner) which, if it has a heat setting, can also be used as a very powerful hairdryer. The device blows so powerfully that it blows all the water, dirt, and sand out of the coat (you literally see it splatter out of the coat).
How to use?
Because the water and dirt literally splatter out of the coat, using a water blower requires a space that can get wet and dirty: think of outdoors, the shed/garage, utility room, possibly the bathroom, or another suitable space.
Upon returning home, if desired, first dab the paws and body with a towel to absorb most of the moisture.
Then switch on the water blower on the cold setting, starting at the paws and working upwards (for the very first time, set it to the lowest setting so the dog can get used to the blowing force) and blow from the hair root outward, while slightly moving the hose (so the hose never blows on one spot for too long. This is especially important if you have the heat setting turned on!).
This way you dry the whole dog. Note: when drying the ears, always keep the ear canal closed and never blow into the eyes or other sensitive areas of your dog!!! Also don’t forget to blow out the insides of the front and back legs, the bottoms of the paws, and the tail.
When you feel your dog is mostly dry, you can turn on the heat setting and dry your dog the same way. If then your dog is dry enough to your satisfaction, you are done and can confidently let your dog back inside.
