Grooming

The grooming and upkeep of a labradoodle is very important.

If you take your Labradoodle to a groomer, here is a great checklist to take with you.

Ears:

Labradoodles have tendencies towards ear infections if not monitored closely.  They usually grow hair in their ear canals and they also have waxy ears so the combination can cause dirty ears and a lack of air flow that leads to infection.  The recommended maintenance for a labradoodle’s ears are to purchase an ear cleaning solution from your veterinarian and use this in their ears once a week, we also suggest that you trim the hair underneath your labradoodles earflaps and also pluck the ear canal to help with air flow.  Groomers use a powder to make the hair easier to grip and pull out hair a bit at a time. It’s painful and the dogs have to get used to it. By doing this you will help to ensure that your labradoodle does not have ear infections. For puppies I like to soak cosmetic pads and clean their ears. When they are older you can pour the solution in the ear and wipe well with the pads, going as deep as possible to clean any brown that is in the ear. Surolan is good product for ear infections that you can get from your vet.

Skin:

Some breeders and veterinarians believe that the ear problems that are seen in the Labradoodle today are in fact just an extension of a skin and allergy problem that the Labradoodles can display.   When we bath our Labradoodles we preventively use a shampoo product called Malaseb.  This product will kill any bacteria or fungus that may be on your dog’s skin.   Malaseb’s active ingredients are chlorhexidine and miconazole.  Malaseb is an antibacterial, antifungal, antipruritic shampoo for dogs.   We highly recommend use of this product as a preventative to possible skin irritation and allergies.  Please note that we do not recommend heavy bathing.  Our dogs get one bath about every 6 months. You can actually damage your Labradoodles coat and the natural oils it contains by over bathing.

Coat:

The Australian Labradoodle also requires varying degrees of grooming depending on their coat type.  For more information about the grooming needs please go to our Coat Types link.

This is a great book for doing your own grooming or instructing your groomer on how to groom a labradoodle.

Credit to Noble Vestal Labradoodles

Just make sure you dont end up with a Poodle!

There are a variety of types of scissors you can have in your personal grooming kit. Scissors with rounded ends are great for trimming around the inside of the eyes. A nice sharp pair of curved blade scissors are great for bang trimming. I usually cut the bangs straight across the front just about the eyes and taper down the sides towards the bottom of the ears. For trimming ears, feel for the end of the ear, ear leather, and trim about and inch or so below. The ears get very matted on the ends if not combed out regularly. Brushes range from a nice open bristle brush with nubby ends to a soft slicer bristle brush and combs with wider set teeth. You can get combs where the teeth swivel  for less painful combing. Matt cutters are great but I find a sharp pair of pointed scissors work well for cutting through the mats and then you can comb them out with a slicker and then a comb. A small set of clippers for trimming under ears, butts and feet are handy. If you want to clip the body of your doodle a “real” pair of good clipper from a brand like Andis is needed and also some good blades. Rens Pets online carries all of the grooming supplies needed and have good explanations for what each item is best used for.

When your doodle is about 8-9 months old the puppy coat may tend to mat. If you are faithful with combing you can get a nice scissor cut from a qualified groomer to take care of the length of the coat.  Be very firm with groomers that you don’t want to pick up a poodle when you come back! In fact, for a first or second grooming I like to be able to stay with the puppy as groomers are pretty scary places! The head and ears are left longer. Doodles have a cute beard! Keep the tail fluffy unless very matted.
Take pictures into the groomer with you! It’s nice to recognize your dog when you come back for it!