How to Give a Golden Doodle a Hair Cut

Lots of fine, wavy hair sometimes equals a thick tangled mess on a mature goldendoodle. This new breed of poodles crossed with a golden retriever and makes a terrific family pet. However, they do require a little more maintenance than your average dog. Keeping your goldendoodle's hair trimmed, especially around the eyes and anal area, is especially important for good pet hygiene. Pam Matthews, a breeder of goldendoodles, suggests to trim the hair on your adult goldendoodle once every four to six weeks, depending on the coat of your dog.

Find a good spot to give your dog a haircut. Keep in mind there will be a lot of hair to clean up afterward. Make clean up easier by performing the haircut in a non-carpeted area, such as a garage, basement, bathtub or outside if the weather is warm.

Use a slicker brush to give your goldendoodle an overall brushing. Brush with the grain of the hair and away from his skin, being careful not to scrape him, suggests Colleen Hill of awardwinninggrooming.com. Pay attention to particularly knotted areas, such as his behind and under the armpits. If there are too many knots, leave this area to be trimmed off instead of brushed through.

Pass a sturdy, wide-toothed comb through the freshly brushed hair to get out all the smaller knots.

Put a long, snap-on comb attachment on the clippers.

Acquaint your dog to the clippers. Turn the clippers on and show them to your dog. Let him sniff them out. This should alleviate any jumpiness from the dog as you begin to trim.

Starting on his back, begin to pass the clippers through your dog's hair. Always go in a downward motion with the grain of his hair. Leave at least 1.5 to 2 inches in length of hair on your goldendoodle, suggests Dee Geerish of goldendoodleworld.com, as his body needs this layer of hair as protection from both the heat and the cold. Use the clippers to trim the hair on his body only.

Switch to sharp scissors with a short blade to trim the hair around his eyes. Tidy up the hair around his mouth and trim off any small, matted areas that would be too difficult to brush out.

Tips

- Bathing your dog after a haircut will get rid of any loose trimmed hair. Be sure to thoroughly dry your goldendoodle after the bath.

Warning

- You may want to leash your dog during a bath to keep him in one spot, depending on the personality of your goldendoodle.