Labradoodle Grooming Guide — Three Sizes, Three Coats

Most dog owners do not realise the Labradoodle is the original. In 1989, Wally Conron of the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Australia in Victoria crossed a Standard Poodle with a Labrador Retriever. He was trying to create a guide dog for a woman in Hawaii whose husband was allergic to dog dander. The first puppy, Sultan, was a success, with the Labrador's calm guide dog temperament and the Poodle's lower shedding coat. Every doodle breed that followed, the Cavoodle, the Groodle, the Spoodle, the Moodle, the Bordoodle, traces back to that first Australian breeding programme.

No other oodle has this kind of size variation. A miniature and a standard Labradoodle can be four times apart in weight. That affects everything: how long the groom takes, what it costs, how much coat there is to maintain at home, and how fast mats form when you skip a brushing session.

Labradoodles have three coat types and the third catches owners off guard. Wool coats are tight and curly like a Poodle. Fleece coats are soft and wavy, and are what most people picture when they think Labradoodle. Hair coats shed, sit closest to a Labrador coat, and many owners only find out they have one after months of vacuuming. Our guide on telling fleece from wool shows you how to identify which you have.

Labradoodles inherit serious water love from both parents. Labradors were bred to retrieve waterfowl in cold lakes, and Standard Poodles were originally water dogs hunting birds in marshes. Most Labradoodles have webbed feet, and plenty of Adelaide Labradoodles are at the beach, the river or the dam every chance they get. That sounds adorable until you understand what it does to the coat.

Standard Labradoodle owners are often unprepared for how much time daily brushing takes. A standard wool coat can take 30 to 45 minutes of proper line brushing. A miniature wool coat takes 10 to 15. The technique is the same, the time investment is not. Be realistic about what you can commit to before choosing a haircut, because the cut you pick locks in your home routine.

Labradoodle cuts vary more than any other oodle because the breed itself varies more. The right cut depends on coat type, size, lifestyle, and how realistic you are about home brushing time. A common mistake is asking for a long teddy bear on a wool coat you cannot brush daily. It looks beautiful for two weeks, then mats badly.

Labradoodle mats almost always start in five places: behind the ears, in the ear feathering, in the armpits where the harness sits, on the chest where the dog sleeps on it, and on the legs from constant movement. Active Labradoodles who swim or roll mat faster, because the coat dries flat in tangles after every adventure. By the time a mat is visible from outside, it has usually grown down to the skin. Working a tight mat out of a fully grown Labradoodle takes longer and stresses the dog more than clipping it short and starting again.