Labradoodle Grooming Guide & Coat Maintenance

Regular grooming and coat maintenance are essential to keep your dog’s fur and skin healthy and in excellent condition.

Labradoodle grooming is essential for your pet’s health. These popular dogs can have curly coats that mat and tangle easily; grooming your furry friend can prevent that.

But how do you groom a Labradoodle? How often should you bathe your pet? And should you groom your Doodle’s face?

Read this guide to learn how to groom and care for your Labradoodle’s coat!

How To Groom Your Labradoodle – Top Tips

Many Labradoodle owners take their pets to a professional groomer every four to six weeks to have their dogs bathed, clipped, and for a nail trim. When you consider that professional groomers charge from $45 to up to $100, you can see why some people prefer to groom their dogs at home!

Grooming your dog isn’t especially difficult. One of my dogs had a thick, double coat that shed constantly. Consequently, I spent hours on basic brushing for my dog every day, and she loved her grooming routine!

The length of time you’ll need to spend on brushing your pet depends on the type of coat he has. Doodles have low-shedding coats, but the fur is typically silky and prone to tangling. So, you’ll need to dedicate a fair amount of time to keeping those mats at bay.

Of course, you will need to invest in a few grooming tools and assemble a dedicated grooming kit. But once you’ve bought a selection of high-quality tools, you won’t need to buy them again for many years.

Having a dedicated grooming kit box for your equipment is a good idea. That makes it much easier to find everything when you settle down to brush, bathe, and groom your dog.

Clipping

If you fancy the challenge, you can clip your dog yourself, but most owners take their pets to a professional groomer every four to six weeks.

If you decide to clip your Labradoodle yourself at home, you can choose from quite a few different haircuts. Labradoodle haircuts can be short, mid-length, or left longer; it’s really up to you to choose the look you want for your pet.

However, most Doodle owners prefer to have their Labradoodle shaved quite short, especially in summer, to help keep their pets cool and comfortable.

Trimming Tips

The grooming process includes trimming your dog to keep him looking neat and tidy and for practical reasons.

Body

Although you can allow your Labradoodle’s body hair to grow longer than 4 inches, we don’t recommend that, as a longer coat needs lots of brushing daily to keep it in good condition.

The ideal coat length for a Labradoodle haircut is between 1 and 2 inches long.

Face

Trimming or clipping your Labradoodle’s face can be tricky, and it’s easy to snag your dog with the clippers accidentally.

For that reason, many pet parents prefer to use their favorite grooming scissors to do the job.

Eyes

Labradoodles should always be able to see where they are going and not be hampered by tufts of hair growing from the dog’s nose up into his eyes. If your Doodle has a long fringe hanging over his eyes, you’ll need to trim it back neatly across his browline, blending the hair down into the sides of his face.

Carefully smudge away any eye gunk using a damp sponge or eye wipe. You’ll probably need to do that fairly regularly between grooming sessions. Keeping your dog’s eyes clean is extremely important, especially in summer when flies can bother your dog and potentially cause eye infections.

Ear Cleaning and Trim

The hair on your Labradoodle’s ears should grow to 0.5 to 1 inch below the end of the dog’s ear leather. If you allow the fur to grow much longer than that, it will be prone to matting, and your dog will lose that sought-after teddy bear look.

Shape the dog’s ears carefully and blend the fur into the top of your pup’s head. To allow good airflow and prevent bacterial ear infections, keep the hair trimmed no longer than 0.5 inches just under the ear canal and ear flap.

Use a clipper with a #10 blade to achieve the correct hair length in that area. If the dog’s ear canal has lots of hair inside, you’ll need to gently pluck it out in tiny amounts so that the fur doesn’t irritate your dog.

If ear hair is allowed to grow inside the canal, it will ball up and accumulate bacteria and wax. Clean the ear canal with a solution, then use special ear powder to remove moisture.

Feet

Your Labradoodle’s paws should be trimmed in a rounded shape without the hair dangling over the foot where it could be walked on.

Carefully clip hair from the bottom of the dog’s feet and between the pads, using electric clippers with a #30 blade. Keeping your dog’s feet neatly trimmed prevents dirt and debris from getting into the feet and finding their way into your home.

Muzzle

You should trim the hair underneath your Labradoodle’s muzzle to a length of less than 1 inch below the jawbone. Round the hair along the jawline toward the neck.

Trailing muzzle hair ends up in your dog’s water and food bowls, resulting in a mess all over your floors. The shorter hair on the sides of your pet’s muzzle should be on the same level as the bottom of his jaw.

Tail

There are several popular grooming styles that can be applied to tail hair. But those tail hairstyles are not just about aesthetics. Tail hair is notorious for becoming matted, especially if the hair is simply allowed to keep growing.

So, ideally, you want the hair no longer than 2 to 3 inches long with an attractive feathered look. Matted hair close to the skin on your dog’s tail should not be a problem at that length.

The hair underneath the tail should be kept to a length of 0.05 inches. That prevents matted hair and keeps pee and poop from accumulating on the fur whenever your dog takes a potty stop.

Nails

My dog hates having her nails trimmed! I spent so many hours chasing my pup around the room, trying to persuade her to sit still so that I could trim her nails, that in the end, I gave up and asked my vet clinic to do the job for me.

Dog’s claws are like your fingernails. If the nails get too long, the dog will have trouble walking, the nail could break off, and your flooring could be damaged, too.

Be careful when trimming your dog’s nails, so you don’t catch the quick. That’s extremely painful for your dog and can provide an entry point for bacteria to set up an infection.

So, always use a set of nail clippers with a safety guard to prevent you from accidentally cutting the nail too short.

How Often Should I Bathe My Labradoodle?

Most Labradoodles love water and swimming, which can leave your dog muddy and dirty after a fun time at the park or lake. In that case, you’ll need to bathe your pet.

However, it’s best not to overdo bathing your dog, as that can strip valuable natural oils from your Doodle’s skin and coat. Ideally, you should bathe your Labradoodle once a month or so unless your pup rolls in something disgusting or gets extremely muddy.

Always use a gentle, dog-specific shampoo and coat conditioner, and thoroughly rinse it out of your dog’s coat.

If you get the coat wet, combing out tangles will be virtually impossible. So, before bathing your dog, be sure to brush the fur completely down to the skin to get rid of any mats and tangles.

How Often Do You Groom A Labradoodle?

Curly-coated Doodles should be brushed daily to prevent mats from forming in the fur. However, a dog with a straight coat can typically be brushed every other day.

If you’re not sure how to care for your Labradoodle’s coat, ask for professional groomer advice.

Final Thoughts

Did you enjoy our top tips on Labradoodle grooming and coat maintenance? If you did, please share the article!

Some Labradoodle owners opt to groom or clip their dogs themselves at home, while others prefer to splash their cash and visit a pro groomer every four to six weeks.

However, whichever option you decide on, regardless of what type of coat your dog has, you must still brush your Labradoodle every day to prevent mats from forming.

Do you shave your Doodle yourself? What’s your favorite Labradoodle haircut style? Tell us in the comments box below!