Goldendoodle Grooming Guide: How to Properly Groom a Goldendoodle

There are two things Goldendoodles are best known for: their loyal and loving personalities, and their beautiful golden fur coats! However, maintaining your Goldendoodles’ natural beauty is no easy task. For those new to dog grooming, we’ll help make this learning process a bit smoother. Let’s dive into some tips on how to properly groom your Goldendoodle.

Goldendoodles: A Brief Introduction

The Goldendoodle is a mix between the Poodle and Golden Retriever. These dogs are playful, good-natured, loyal, intelligent, and absolutely gorgeous. This breed brightens up the energy in any home, and their versatile personalities allow them to mesh well with a multitude of different family dynamics. This dog is especially well-suited for homes with young children because of their relaxed temperament.

However, Goldendoodles have the potential to become stubborn if not trained properly. Because of this, it is important to begin training your Goldendoodle early on in their life to ensure their obedience is solidified. The best time to start is right after you bring one home. If their brattiness is not addressed early on, their behavior may cause issues during the grooming process.

At-Home Grooming for Goldendoodles

Grooming at home can feel like a long and complicated process. Despite this, there are certain steps you can follow to break it down into smaller pieces. A full groom begins with brushing, bathing, and blow drying. From here, you can cut back the coat of your Goldendoodle if it has grown too long. Be mindful of sensitive areas of their body like their behind and face, and be sure to cut carefully around these regions. To finish off, you can carefully clip around your dog’s paw pads and give their nails a good trim.

Grooming your Goldendoodle at home will use a lot of supplies. Luckily, many of these will be one-time purchases and others will last for months before needing to be replenished. Dog-safe shampoo and conditioner, a clipper, grooming shears, and various brushes and combs will all be essential when building your kit.

Bringing Your Goldendoodle to the Groomer

If grooming your Goldendoodle at home seems too overwhelming, bringing them to a groomer is another option to consider. These professionals have seen it all, and grooming your pup will likely be a walk in the park to them. However, this option is a bit more pricey than at-home grooming. It is recommended to bathe your Goldendoodle every two weeks, and it will cost between $25 and $40 per appointment on average. Within this range, the price will depend on the size of your dog.

Despite the cost, you can rest assured that your Goldendoodle is getting the highest quality care possible. Before settling on one groomer, try to compare a few. When doing your research, look out for things like their overall rating, customer reviews, and how long they’ve been in business. Try to avoid poorly rated groomers or those that are just starting out.

Don’t Forget to Clean Their Ears and Brush Their Teeth

In addition to maintaining your Goldendoodle’s luscious coat, there are a few other steps that are important to work into your grooming routine. Cleaning out their ears is important because it prevents wax build-up and infection. This only needs to be done about once per month, so try to squeeze this in during every other grooming session.

Additionally, tooth and gum health is incredibly important for dogs. Despite this, it seems this step is easy to overlook. While most owners report only cleaning their dog’s teeth a few times a year, weekly brushing can greatly improve the strength of their teeth and gums and it helps to prevent bad breath. Typically, these treatments will be taken care of when you bring your dog to a professional groomer. However, if you opt to groom them from home, it is paramount you don’t neglect these two steps.

Final Thoughts

Those who choose to groom at home will find that the process of grooming will become easier and easier with more practice. If it’s just not worth all the trouble, there are many wonderful professional groomers who would love to take on your Goldendoodle as a client. No matter what route you choose, what’s most important is that you’re concerned with the well-being of your dog.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Dajuana Jones/ via Getty Images