Grooming for beach loving spoodle

[BobTheDog]

So our little (7 months) guy loves running into the water, but only up to his armpits (legpits?). We use a strap style harness for the beach as it's easier to rinse out. This leads to matting where the harness is near his legs and on his chest. 

 

We rinse him on returning from the beach if he really gets wet, but admittedly could be more proactive here. 

 

Brushing with Bob is a challenge as the grooming brush is possibly the most exciting toy in existence. We use treats to entice him to behave, but grooming is a 2 person affair for the most part. We wait until he's dry after washing, then brush as best we can. We have a 2 sided pin and brush style, but mostly use the pin side as the brush side is near useless. 

 

He's to the groomer every month for face, feet and bum trims. We leave his hair au natural otherwise. He's super floofy when he comes back from the groomer, but that settles down over a few days. Maybe this frizz isn't helping? 

 

Anyway, just after some advice to keep this matting at bay and to keep his coat in good condition. I would say he has a wavy coat (not straight or super curly).

 

Any tools, anti matting spray or any tips welcome! 

[BobTheDog]

Anyone? 

[ish]

Your groomer is probably the one to best advise

[Pjrt]

Les Pooch Mat Zapper brush not cheap but worth its weight in gold. Some people reckon the ActiVet slickers are an adequate alternative. 
A strong metal comb that is all pins with no handle, half widely spaced pins, half moderately spaced pins. Often called a Greyhound comb (that’s the brand nothing to do with greyhound dogs!) 

Fine toothed combs, pin brushes and bristle brushes ( anything that looks a bit like a people brush) will be next to useless. 

Now for the hard reality. A full coat on a wavy/curly coat plus swimming plus harness rarely ends well even with the most dedicated of owners. When the coat gets wet and then air dries, it dries tighter, curls up like an open to a closed hand. 
Personally, if you want a swimmer/ beach dog, I’d keep the coat trimmed back to an inch or so. Then the dog can have all the fun without as much grooming stress. 

Trying to have the coat  & the fun just usually isn’t viable. 
If you are dedicated and groom the coat out 100% to the skin after every swim, you might have a chance, but one or two slip ups will end in a matted train wreck. 
If you trim the dog cute & short do it regularly, plus home grooming, and you’ll have an adorable teddy dog who can still have fun without so much grooming rigmarole. The way you’re going, especially coming into the age for ‘coat change’ don’t be surprised if you end up having no choice but to shave it off and start again.  
Ive been a groomer for 34 yrs and I could count on one hand the dogs who’ve gone through with a full coat. There are the occasional unicorn owners but most often it just works out easier to maintain a nice inch long teddy style approximately every 6-8 weeks. 


 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Scratch

[Dogsfevr]

First off you need to start teaching the grooming manners 7 months your pup should know the difference between a game & a being brushed ,it shouldnt be a two people job & you need to make sure your rewarding the right behaviour .
Most people feed treats rewarding the wrong behaviour & just want to bribe or get the dog to stand still with food without teaching it "grooming skills".
This is your next 15 yrs & as a groomer i deal with nightmare dogs weekly who have not had owners step up & be pro active.Coated breeds especially crosses with these coat textures need owners to be brush happy .
Brushing knots out is painful & teaches the dog to either hate being brushed,to start biting/mouthing

You need to brush on a neutral space,like the washing machine with a non slip matt.Ask your groomer to show how to brush the dog correctly as they are the ones most likely brushing the knots out

Your brush is useless,pin brushes are great for there job,bristle is a finishing brush on a drop coat  ,get your groomer to show you the right tools but you need a good soft slicker & above all a comb ,what your using is will never brush your dog out .
You need to line brush out .
I will say as a groomer 99% of owners with this combo end up clipping short or having no choice as they simply don't brush enough & not correctly .
Curly/wavy doesnt factor its all about brushing often & brushing to the skin .
Washing/rinsing an already matted coat makes it worse ,most are often clipped off like a sheep in one piece .

So you need to decide your options .
Keep coat short & simple
Ask your groomer how to brush the dog correctly & what tools
Get into a strict grooming routine especially with manners (this applies even with a shorter coat your pup wont get better for you until you start being the teacher & setting the rules .Manners training can be done daily by placing pup on table & just doing "touch time" patting,feet checking ,standing .Silly behaviour is not rewarded ,grooming is about calm /together time but with a job


 

[BobTheDog]

Thanks all for the advice, some great information here and some stuff we probably should have asked our groomer earlier! 

 

Training grooming manner especially is something we should have researched and worked through. We have absolutely been bribing Bob and it's a bad solution as you mentioned. 

 

We will take your suggestions on board and start getting this show on the road! 

 

Bob is groomed monthly to ensure he can see easily and his feet and bum are trimmed nicely. Our groomers have never suggested anything to do differently so we assumed it was all good. We do ask after every groom and have never had a bad word. 

 

That groomer is busy for a few weeks so we're off to a new groomer and will be getting a short cut. We'll be asking our new groomer a bunch of questions as you've suggested. 

 

Thanks so much for the advice, I'd Googled a lot of this stuff but there is so much info and so many tools it's daunting. I thought asking people who could answer our situation would be best and to be honest you have given some fantastic info, so again, thanks for taking the time! 

[Dogsfevr]

3 hours ago, BobTheDog said:

Thanks all for the advice, some great information here and some stuff we probably should have asked our groomer earlier! 

 

Training grooming manner especially is something we should have researched and worked through. We have absolutely been bribing Bob and it's a bad solution as you mentioned. 

 

We will take your suggestions on board and start getting this show on the road! 

 

Bob is groomed monthly to ensure he can see easily and his feet and bum are trimmed nicely. Our groomers have never suggested anything to do differently so we assumed it was all good. We do ask after every groom and have never had a bad word. 

 

That groomer is busy for a few weeks so we're off to a new groomer and will be getting a short cut. We'll be asking our new groomer a bunch of questions as you've suggested. 

 

Thanks so much for the advice, I'd Googled a lot of this stuff but there is so much info and so many tools it's daunting. I thought asking people who could answer our situation would be best and to be honest you have given some fantastic info, so again, thanks for taking the time! 

Your dog may be very well behaved for the groomer .

That is based on confidence,grooming table and getting on with the job .

 

But your groomer if you ask should happily show you how to brush correctly and the tools to use .

 

Even if trimmed short they still knot .

 

Most oodles /doodles have an open topcoat but felt underneath ,that is where your tools assist  why brushing to the skin is soo important.

 

Too be honest buying a budget dryer would also be your best friend ,

these coats matt especially after baths .

Tne dryer blows to the skin and can actually help blow knots out when line brushing plus separating the coat out before it tightens up again,we brush a lot of knots out with the dryer .

[BobTheDog]

I'll look into a drier. I've bought a few tools to make grooming work for us, as well as some leave in conditioner, and we've started on grooming manners. 

 

At the groomer tomorrow we'll be going through the points you've made!