ALOHA Grooming Hints

Do not let a grooming salon give your labradoodle a poodle clip. You and you doggy will regret it. 

• Always leave the head and tail long
  and even the head hair into the shorter body hair.
  
  
• Use a dog shampoo
  as they have different PH than humans.
  
  
• Fleece coats may require constant grooming
  during transition from puppy to adult coat or better yet clip them at this stage.
  
  
• Keep Hair trimmed around eye area
  between the eye area to inch above and one inch below the eyes, but never above or below or any wider than this area or you doodle will look silly.
  
  
• Daily pick out the 2-3 bits of debris in your dogs coat
  which are the major contributors to mats.  If you do this you will only need to brush your dog every 2-4 weeks, if not you will need to brush weekly.
  
  
• Use the scissors to cut vertically through the mats
  and pull the mats open and keep cutting through till gone, especially around the upper mouth area.
  
  
• Once every 3-4 weeks
  Use the mat breaker (I prefer ones that have cutting blades)  to get all the mats out first or cut through them as described above.
  
  
• While dog coat is still fluffed up
  you can trim about a third of the hair off if you prefer a shorter coat. Next brush the dog firmly to fluff the waves/curls loose from the SKIN OUT.  De-mat the tail as well on a regular basis.
  
  
• Trim the coat a little shorter
  under the chin, under ear flap, along the line of the ear, where skin ends on ear (for nice short pert ears), around the collar, throat, under elbows and under/between hind legs, around the bottoms of feet and in between the toes.
  
  
• To prevent future tangles
  it is important to restore the waves/curls by spraying with an atomizer water bottle, until the outside hair is wet.
  
  
• Pat hands over the dog to flatten and settle coat
  Grooming too frequently can make coat overly fluffy and frizzy.
  
  

Nail trimming

• Special nail clippers
  for your dog are available from your pet store. We suggest that you don’t attempt clipping before someone with expertise has shown you the right way to do a safe job.
  
  

Ear Cleaning

• Clean religiously
  or expect problems
  
  
• Clean ears weekly
  with 2 Tablespoons vinegar in 1 cup of water.  Squirt in and wipe out with cotton ball.
  
  
• Use cotton Q tip to clean crevices but not ear canal
  If this doesn’t seem to help, then dilute1 ml Malaseb fungicidal shampoo in 30 ml water and rinse daily for 5-7 days.  If this doesn’t get results see your Vet, as can develop into ear infections and even hearing loss. 
  
  
• Red warm ears and strong smell are signs of ear infection
  Keep hair trimmed under ear flap (so as to not be noticeable), for ventilation. 
  
  
• Pluck hairs from ear canal
  or have your vet or groomer do this, as it is very important if you get ear infections.  (We use small hobby-type springloaded pliers.)