The amount of brushing needed is dependent upon your Labradoodle’s individual coat, the length you keep it, and what their activities are. For an adult Australian Labradoodle, you should allow on average, 60 minutes every two weeks for brushing time. If your Labradoodle is active in the water or hiking in nature areas, you may have to run a brush through them more often to remove debris or loosen hair clumping during the drying process post-swimming. Don’t try to brush wet hair as it is very elastic and can break off or mat tighter. Wait until your dog is dry, then run a slicker through their coat.
Purchasing a small grooming table and arm and training them to stand still during brushing and drying will save your back. But be warned that you need to always have a hand on your dog when they are on the grooming table or attached to a grooming arm. Never leave them or turn away or they can try to jump off the table and injure themselves.
When your Labradoodle has short hair, an inch or two, regular brushing with a slicker can work just fine. Once the hair gets longer, it is important to make sure you are reaching all the way to the base of the hair by adding a metal greyhound comb. If loose hair is not removed near the skin, mats can begin to form.
If you take a matted dog to your groomer, the only alternative will be to shave the hair under the matting and close to the skin.
In separating your dog’s coat with your hand, you can brush and comb all the way to the skin. Work backwards from the feet up to the body, and the tail to the head. Brush in the direction of the hair but add small amounts of coat to each stroke. At approximately eight months old a puppy coat needs more frequent brushing during its changeover to the adult coat. This is to remove the puppy coat, so it doesn’t tangle and get matted as the adult coat is growing in.
You can thin a mat with a thinning shears but be careful to cut the mat at the length you want your Labradoodle’s coat to end up, or you can cut with the natural grain of the hair. You don’t want to unknowingly create a swiss cheese effect with holes in the length of the coat. Also, watch that you do not pull on the mat while you are cutting it, and be aware of how closely the skin may be to your scissors. We also use a de-matting tool to help break a mat into a smaller piece for easier removal. Then brush, comb, or gently work any mats out.
We recommend hand drying your Australian Labradoodle and blowing the air in the natural direction of the coat. Purchasing a commercial hair dryer is worth the investment and will speed up the drying process. You can also do some brushing and combing when your dog is mostly dry, but again, don’t try to brush wet hair as it is very elastic and can break off or mat tighter.
- Grooming Table
- Grooming Arm with attachment.
- Commercial Dryer
- Slicker Brush
- Metal Comb with
- Wide and Narrow ‘Teeth”
- De-matting Tool
- Round Ended
- Scissors
- Thinning Shears
- Nail Clippers
- Styptic Powder for accidents Shampoo with Conditioner
- Ear Wash-Rebalancing Solution
- Ear Powder
- Electric clippers
- #10 blade#30 clipper blade’
- Set of Extension Combs
- Clipper Spray Coolant
