Before and After

Owning a Goldendoodle is mostly delightful. 

Fritz is three years old now, and behaves most of the time. He does not shed. After owning dogs that shed a lot, I don't take this for granted.

Since he doesn't shed, his fur grows like hair. It can get quite long. I've never let it grow all the way out. I like the way he looks with fluffy curly fur, but it gets tangled, and a bit matted in some areas, unless he is brushed. He doesn't love brushing. He tolerates brushing for a while, but moans when I work on his legs and feet, which are the areas that get the most tangled.

So, he gets trimmed. I do it myself, at least so far. He is a large dog, and it isn't cheap. I'm not saying it should be. I know what goes into it. It's a lot of work.

These are the steps.

• First he must be pretty thoroughly combed out. This week that took about four hours, broken up into smaller sessions.
• Then he needs a bath, because the trimmer works so much better on very clean fur. The bath itself takes another hour, and getting dry without a commercial drier takes half a day. He gets special shampoo, and an extra rinse with baking soda added to the water to prevent skin issues.
• Then comes the trimming. Today was the fastest I've ever accomplished that task. I worked for about an hour on each side of his body, with a good long break in between. I use the electric clipper for most of his body, but his lower legs, tail, and face need to be trimmed with a scissors. So this time I put in a total of seven hours of work to get him to look like this.

It is always jarring to see how different he looks. His legs look so long and skinny, and the squeezable teddy bear look is gone. But he seems particularly affectionate now that it is done. He's played hide and seek with the grandchildren with enthusiasm several times this afternoon. And now that his fur is so short, brushing takes minutes instead of hours. Win-win!