[Donna]

Hi, Tucker is 8mon old and suddenly really matting up easily. Very thick wooly undercoat with new longer coarse hair. I'm combing out tons of hair now. Any suggestions and how long will this last? HE's an F1. Thanks. Sorry if this has been brought up numerous times before. Donna

 

[Jac]

Hi Donna...I don't know that serious matting problems in F1 coats have been discussed before and, frankly, I don't have an answer for you. My F1s have never had the type of coat to mat. Sorry that I can't help, but I am sure that someone here will be able to.
I would just suggest lots of brushing, several times a day if necessary. There is a good chance that his puppy coat is changing to the adult, but I don't know if that would cause matting.
I'll be watching for the answers from others too...we have some people who are groomers on this site, I'm sure they can help.

 

[gracielou]

I would say he is blowing his puppy coat most won't matt if you keep brushing but I have seen some that have matted if not brushed they can blow their coat for a couple months so a good brushing at least once a week will help. F1's have such different coats I'm not sure we will ever as breeders see them all... :lol:

 

[Donna]

Thanks, I've been able to comb out the mats in his hair. Just noticed alot more hair than usual. I'm using 3 different combs on his hair, more than I use on my own hair! Tucker doesn't understand all the fuss, it doesn't help that he goes swimming in the neighborhood lake several times a week!

 

[Jac]

Oh, Donna...that's it! Really, if he gets wet and if his coat is thick and/or curly AND shedding...it will mat.
I don't know if this is a permanent situation or not for you, but I found a great brush that I use on my Poodle and many Doodle owners swear by it...I couldn't brush through my Poodle's coat until I found this and it glides right through...mats and all!
I tried to find a link for Les Pooches brushes, but found this instead:
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post ... 5&trail=45
I bought my Les Pooches from a breeder who bought in bulk so I got mine much cheaper and didn't go through the web site to buy them.

 

[Maureen]

how did I miss the chance to buy the Les Pooches brush in a group buy? And is that person going to do it again? (I hope)?

If you have a doodle that has a matting coat, I don't think you would really call the coat a typical "F1" coat, since most of the coarser coats are really the f1, or combination types.

This Les Pooches craze is really intriguing me!

 

[Jac]

I had another breeder tell me that she was buying from a breeder friend of hers...and gave me her contact info...so I wrote and asked to buy from her. I think that she just took a chance and ordered a bunch, hoping that someone would buy them! I bought two and LOVE them!
I told Diane about them...she ordered one, but I don't know if she likes it or not...haven't heard...
Diane???
Then I saw on one of the other forums that people were pitching in to buy them...I don't recall if it was the Zoo or the Breeder's forum.
Sorry, Maureen...I didn't know if they would be good so I didn't make any effort to tell anyone...until I used it! Wow!

 

[Maureen]

Jac, I'm glad for you that you siezed the opportunity but if you see that option again let me know!

 

[Donna]

Thanks for the tip, I looked up le pooch brushes, wow- they are pricey. I'll start saving! Let's hope its just the "coat change" we're going through. By the way, do you think its ok to use conditioner on Tucker to detangle?

 

[Maureen]

Hi, given Tucker's age I would say it's very likely you are in that transition time. How long is his coat? If he were mine I would take him down to 1" all over I think, to let his adult coat grow in. But that's just me. Do you have the .pdf link for the grooming tips?

Here it is:
http://idog.biz/QuickDownloads/Professi ... 20Inst.pdf

This is a checklist for grooming, so it doesn't specifically help with the matting issue, but it is a good resource - I'm now printing it out and giving it in our Puppy Folder at the time of adoption as a resource.

YES, there are conditioners available for dogs!
www.omahavaccine.com has the best prices and lowest shipping cost, typically. :wink:

 

[angelaj]

I tried the link you posted to see the groomer guidelines but the pictures did not come through. Anybody else have that problem and any suggestions? I even tried going directly to idog.biz to check it out.

Thanks a bunch!