Aussiedoodle Grooming Guide: Coat Types, Brushing and How Often to Groom
Dog LoveThe Aussiedoodle grooming guide, from a groomer's chair
An Aussiedoodle is an Australian Shepherd crossed with a Poodle, and those two coats could not be less alike. One sheds in handfuls and lies flat against the body; the other sheds almost nothing and locks up solid in a fortnight. We groom both every week in Tranmere, and the routine that works is always the one that matches the coat in front of you rather than the name on the pedigree.
Groom the coat, not the cross
Work out which of the three coats your Aussiedoodle carries, then follow that coat's routine.
- Straight or flat coat (Australian Shepherd side): brush twice a week, more in a shed. Salon every eight to ten weeks. Never shaved.
- Wavy fleece coat (the most common): brush every second or third day. Salon every six to eight weeks.
- Curly or wool coat (Poodle side): brush daily. Salon every four to six weeks.
- Somewhere in between? Follow the curlier routine.
In this guide
Why one Aussiedoodle coat needs nothing like another
Two parents, two completely opposite kinds of hair, and a cross that shuffles them freely from one puppy to the next in the same litter.
The Australian Shepherd side brings a medium length double coat. A weather resistant top layer sits over a soft dense undercoat, there is feathering down the backs of the legs and a good plume on the tail, and the whole thing lifts and drops properly twice a year. It is built to shed, and it does.
The Poodle side brings the exact opposite. A single coat with almost nothing beneath it, hair that keeps growing until somebody clips it, and shedding so light that most owners never notice it. Put those two together and you cannot predict what you will get, which is why the honest answer to what an Aussiedoodle needs always starts with another question.
With an Aussiedoodle you are grooming a coat, not a breed.
In the salon we see three outcomes:
- Straight or flat. Takes after the Australian Shepherd side. Lies flat, carries a real undercoat, and sheds seasonally in a way that surprises owners who were promised a low shedding dog.
- Wavy fleece. The most common of the three, and the one most people picture when they picture the cross. Soft, open and forgiving until it is not.
- Curly or wool. Takes after the Poodle side. Sheds almost nothing and mats faster than anything else we handle.
- Plenty land between two. A wavy body with tighter curl on the ears, the trousers and the tail is very common, and so is a wavy coat with a patchy undercoat underneath it.
Size varies as much as texture, because the Poodle parent can be a Toy, a Miniature or a Standard. A Mini Aussiedoodle may finish under eight kilograms while a standard sized one can be a solidly built dog of twenty five kilograms or more. That changes how long brushing takes, not how often it needs to happen.
Not sure which coat you have? Our guide on telling a fleece coat from a curly coat walks through a hands on test that takes about thirty seconds, and what coat type your dog actually has covers the layered side of the family in detail.
The straight Aussiedoodle coat and the curly Aussiedoodle coat, side by side
These two sit at opposite ends of the cross and behave almost nothing alike on the grooming table.
The straight or flat coat
Hair that lies flat along the body with a soft dense layer beneath it, feathering down the backs of the legs and a full tail.
- It sheds, and it sheds properly. Light all year with two heavier drops, usually as the weather turns in spring and again in autumn. Owners sold a low shedding puppy are often caught out by the first one.
- Never shave it. The undercoat is insulation in both directions and it protects skin from sun. Shaved, it grows back patchy and the texture rarely comes back the same.
- Thinning the undercoat means a brush, a deshedding comb and a release spray. Never a rake and never anything with a blade, because those cut the top layer and leave the soft hair exactly where it was.
- The feathering does the knotting. The backs of the legs, the trousers and the tail. The flat body coat is the easy part.
- Salon every eight to ten weeks is usually enough, with a proper deshed built into it.
The curly or wool coat
Tight springy curls sitting close to the body that hold their shape when you press them. It sheds almost nothing, which sounds like a gift until you learn where the shed hair goes instead.
- Loose hair stays in the coat. It cannot fall out, so it twists around the curls holding it and locks, usually close to the skin where you cannot see it.
- It mats everywhere. Not only at friction points: across the back, down the legs, over the whole chest.
- Damp is the danger. A curly coat felts fastest while it dries, so comb it through once your dog is properly dry after a swim or a wet walk.
- Daily brushing is the truthful answer, with a full groom every four to six weeks.
- A dematting rake earns its place here. Used lightly, and only on a knot you can already slide with your fingers.
And the coat in the middle
The wavy fleece coat is where most Aussiedoodles land, and it is the one that catches good owners out. It is open enough to part to the skin, soft enough that brushing feels easy, and curly enough that a busy fortnight turns the armpits and the ears into felt. Brushing every second or third day and a full groom every six to eight weeks keeps it comfortable. A fleece coat on a working cross also collects more than it should, which is the next thing worth knowing.
Aussiedoodle coat types compared: shedding, brushing and grooming
One table for the fridge. Work down the left column, see which column your dog keeps landing in, and take that routine as yours.
| Checking | Straight or flat | Wavy fleece | Curly or wool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shape of the hair | Lies flat along the body | Loose open wave | Tight defined curl |
| Feel in your hand | Smooth on top, dense beneath | Soft, almost cottony | Springy and dense |
| Shedding | Steady, with two heavier drops | Light | Almost none |
| Layer underneath | Yes, soft and dense | Sometimes, patchy | No |
| Brushing at home | Twice a week, daily in a shed | Every second or third day | Daily |
| In the salon every | Eight to ten weeks | Six to eight weeks | Four to six weeks |
| What the salon does | Full groom with a deshed | Full groom | Full groom |
| Matting risk | Moderate, worst in the feathering | Moderate, at friction points | High, and fastest when damp |
The five places an Aussiedoodle gets matted first
Whichever coat you have, trouble starts in the same handful of spots. Run your comb through these every week, in this order, and you will catch almost everything early.
- Behind and under the ears. Warm soft hair that rubs against itself every time your dog turns its head. On this cross the ear leather sits close and holds the damp in, and it is the single most common mat we cut out.
- The armpits and the chest. Hair that moves against itself with every stride, on a dog that genuinely never stops moving.
- Under the collar and wherever gear rests. Steady friction in one narrow band, hour after hour. Take the gear off at home and comb that band after walks.
- The trousers and the back legs. Long hair around the back end that picks up damp grass and holds it against the skin, plus the hair under the tail that wants keeping short for simple hygiene.
- The tail, from the base out. A plumed tail knots at the base first, where you can least see it. Some Aussiedoodles inherit a naturally short tail from the Shepherd side, which is one job fewer.
An Aussiedoodle grooming routine at home, and the Adelaide bits nobody warns you about
The tools are the easy part. The method and the local hazards decide how the coat looks in six weeks.
Three tools for every coat
- A slicker brush to open the coat.
- A metal comb to check your work.
- A detangling spray so the hair slides instead of snapping. Our Dogify Detangling Spray is what we reach for on the table, because a dry coat is where most breakage happens.
- Fleece or curly coat? Add a dematting rake for stubborn spots, used lightly.
- Straight coat? Add a deshedding comb instead, for the two heavier drops a year.
The comb has the final say
Work in small sections and brush from the skin outwards rather than skimming the top. Finish every section with the comb. If it reaches the skin, that section is done; if it stops partway, the knot is still sitting underneath, and brushing the same spot harder will not move it.
Our guide on how to brush an oodle properly at home walks through the sequence, and how often to groom an oodle sets the salon rhythm around it.
What the week actually looks like
Ears and the friction band
Lift both ears, comb behind them, then run the comb under where the collar or harness sits. Two minutes here saves the most coat.
Armpits, chest and legs
The rest of the friction points. A curly coat wants the whole body at this pace rather than just these spots.
The full once over
Whole body in lines, tail combed from the base out, trousers parted properly, nails and paw pads checked.
The salon
A full groom, or a Tidy Up in between: a bath and blow dry, plus eyes cleaned, paws shaped, paw pads shaved and the sanitary area cleaned.
The Adelaide bits
- Grass seeds. The big one for this cross, because an Aussiedoodle is a working dog in a fleece coat and it will go through the dry grass rather than around it. From spring to the end of summer, check the feet, between the toes, the armpits, the groin and the ear openings after any walk through long grass, and get a seed out the day you find it. Our article on grass seeds in dogs runs through the full nose to toes check.
- Beach, river and dam days. Salt and sand grind in the coat while it dries, and a fleece or curly coat felts fastest at exactly that moment. Rinse, dry properly, then comb. A damp Aussiedoodle left to dry in the car is a matted Aussiedoodle by dinner.
- Hot weather and a double coat. A straight coated Aussiedoodle carries real insulation, so the answer in February is a proper deshed rather than a shave. Our article on what deshedding actually is explains the difference and why it matters.
Three things the cross brings with it
- Merle coats, and one question worth asking. The Shepherd side brings the mottled merle pattern, often with a blue eye or two, and it is beautiful. It also carries a genuine caution: breeding two merle parents together produces double merle puppies, which very often have serious eye defects and may be deaf, because the same gene that mottles the coat also reduces pigment in the eye and the inner ear. If you are choosing a puppy, ask the breeder whether either parent is merle. If your dog is already deaf or partly sighted, tell us when you book, because we will touch before we start and keep a hand on your dog the whole time.
- Ears that want checking, not plucking. A drop ear with hair around it holds damp, and a dog that swims holds more. Keep the ear dry after water and look in once a week. We only pluck hair from inside an ear when a vet has advised it for that particular dog, because for most dogs leaving it alone is kinder. Recurring trouble? Start with why dogs keep getting ear infections.
- Teeth cleaning. A small daily habit is worth far more than anything done occasionally. Get a finger brush onto the outside surfaces while your dog is young and relaxed about being handled, and you will never fight about it later.
Aussiedoodle grooming questions we hear in the salon
Do Aussiedoodles shed?
Some do, quite a lot. A straight or flat coat takes after the Australian Shepherd side, carries a real undercoat and sheds steadily with two heavier drops a year. A curly or wool coat takes after the Poodle side and sheds almost nothing. A wavy fleece coat, the most common of the three, sheds lightly. Low shedding is a fair hope with this cross but it is never a guarantee, and the first seasonal drop is usually what tells an owner which coat they actually have.
How often should an Aussiedoodle be groomed?
A curly coat wants a full groom every four to six weeks. A wavy fleece coat sits comfortably at six to eight weeks. A straight coat can usually stretch to eight or ten weeks, with a proper deshed built into the appointment. Whatever the coat, the ears and the trousers set the pace, because they knot well before the back does.
How often should I brush an Aussiedoodle?
Daily for a curly coat, every second or third day for a wavy fleece coat, and twice a week for a straight coat, going daily while it is dropping. If your dog sits between two coats, follow the curlier routine. Five honest minutes most days beats an hour on a Sunday, because a knot caught early combs out and a knot left for a week does not.
Can you shave an Aussiedoodle?
Not a straight coated one. That undercoat insulates in both directions and shields skin from the sun, and once it is shaved it often grows back patchy with the texture permanently changed. A proper deshed takes the dead hair out and leaves the coat doing its job, which is what a hot Adelaide summer actually calls for. A curly or fleece coat has no undercoat, so a short clip is perfectly safe there, and we will talk through a length that suits your dog.
Where do Aussiedoodles get matted?
Five places, whatever the coat: behind and under the ears, the armpits and chest, the band under the collar or harness, the trousers and back legs, and the tail from the base out. Push a knot sideways with your fingers. If it slides, combing with a detangling spray will clear it. If it feels fixed against the skin, it is a job for a groomer.
When does an Aussiedoodle's coat change?
Somewhere between eight and fourteen months for most dogs. The soft, forgiving puppy coat gives way to the adult coat, and brushing suddenly gets harder. If your Aussiedoodle has started knotting after a year of easy brushing, that change is almost always why. Nothing has gone wrong, but check the coat type again, because it may not be the one you started with.
Are merle Aussiedoodles harder to groom?
No. Merle is a colour pattern, not a texture, so a merle coat brushes exactly like any other coat of the same type. The thing worth knowing is health rather than grooming: two merle parents can produce double merle puppies with serious eye defects and hearing loss, so it is a sensible question to ask a breeder. A deaf or partly sighted dog is very easy to groom once we know, because we approach by touch instead of voice and never startle them.