# Rant about doodles from a groomer



## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Eh, that sucks.

There's always room for more in the paper/print/envelope industry where the end product just ends up in the garbage or recycle.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Here is a link to Misty’s post:



__ https://www.facebook.com/misty.reed.58/posts/10226850183746605


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Those poor dogs


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

I am assuming my cockapoos are considered doodles. Cocker spaniels are high maintenance. Poodles are high maintenance. Of course a mix of those is going to be high maintenance.
Do people not check to see what the grooming requirements are before they get a dog?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Short answer, no. They see "non-shedding" and think "low maintenance"...


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

There was a beautiful genial but dumb GoldenDoodle in one of Normie's classes. His owner said that she spent at least an hour a day grooming him. Frankly, even as a self-obsessed teen, I never spent that much time on my own appearance.

I'd guess that too many people fail to do the research before they fall in love with a puppy. And I strongly doubt that many doodle sellers explain the reality.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Last summer I had a chat with someone who adopted a doodle puppy from a rescue. She had no idea about the coat change. She was trying, more than most, to keep the dog groomed. She felt like a total failure that she couldn't manage to keep her dog properly dematted. I could tell it was such a relief when I explained, "Yeah, what you are experiencing is normal. A shave down is probably kindest to everyone right now."


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

also the length most doodles are kept at requires intensive grooming, that length on a poodle would require a bit of work


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## Misteline (Mar 10, 2019)

Too many people are unwilling to believe that the dog they want is well beyond their ability to care for. They don't want to listen. I remember trying to get a coworker to understand that amount of work a doodle would be and how impossible it would be to keep one groomed the way she wanted with our schedule and her salary. In one ear and out the other, she was adamant she wanted a goldendoodle for no other reason than that they were "cute." 

Nothing is more illustrative that some people are determined to be irresponsible regardless of warnings than the surge in people buying dogs after any movie centered around a dog breed, even when the movie is about what a pain that particular breed is! The huskies in Snow Dogs were accurately portrayed as obnoxious divas who would destroy your house and require dedication to train. What did people do? Go out and buy then dump a bunch of huskies. I'm too young to have experienced directly the same with the Beethoven movies, but I believe the same happened to St. Bernards.


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

Misteline said:


> Too many people are unwilling to believe that the dog they want is well beyond their ability to care for. They don't want to listen. I remember trying to get a coworker to understand that amount of work a doodle would be and how impossible it would be to keep one groomed the way she wanted with our schedule and her salary. In one ear and out the other, she was adamant she wanted a goldendoodle for no other reason than that they were "cute."
> 
> Nothing is more illustrative that some people are determined to be irresponsible regardless of warnings than the surge in people buying dogs after any movie centered around a dog breed, even when the movie is about what a pain that particular breed is! The huskies in Snow Dogs were accurately portrayed as obnoxious divas who would destroy your house and require dedication to train. What did people do? Go out and buy then dump a bunch of huskies. I'm too young to have experienced directly the same with the Beethoven movies, but I believe the same happened to St. Bernards.


I remember reading that Dalmation breeders were worried when the 101 Dalmations movie came out.


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## Vee (Mar 2, 2018)

This type of owner is the main reason I decided to stop grooming. It wasn’t just doodles for me. It stopped being enjoyable.

Speaking of trends the blue cross have launched #endthetrend which is a petition calling for an end of brachycephalic breeds being used in advertising which is a really good idea considering the mess a lot of these breeds are in 😔


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

It’s a real thing, supported by the number of animals registered and then abandoned. 









101 Dalmatians Syndrome: Media Influence on Pet Owners


Few would believe that a cartoon could play a role in the deaths of thousands of animals, but Disney's "101 Dalmatians" did just that. "Finding Nemo" and "G-Force" had similarly negative effects. Animals in the media are often purchased by families with little idea of what they're truly getting.




soapboxie.com


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

twyla said:


> also the length most doodles are kept at requires intensive grooming, that length on a poodle would require a bit of work


This is a really good point.

I could keep Peggy in a “doodle cut,” but I’m absolutely not up for the challenge. Neither is my husband who was absolutely opposed to shaved feet and face when we first brought her home. But he quickly learned and changed his mind, because he _prioritized_ her comfort and is _realistic_ about how much time we can spend on home grooming,

Folks who believe doodle marketing may be much more resistant to facing the reality of what they’ve been sold.


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## Misteline (Mar 10, 2019)

Vee said:


> This type of owner is the main reason I decided to stop grooming. It wasn’t just doodles for me. It stopped being enjoyable.
> 
> Speaking of trends the blue cross have launched #endthetrend which is a petition calling for an end of brachycephalic breeds being used in advertising which is a really good idea considering the mess a lot of these breeds are in 😔


Even though I really like the personality of the bulldogs and Boston terriers I've met this is why I would be hard pressed to even rescue one, buying one is completely of the question. Just having one of these brachy dogs in public is marketing for the unscrupulous breeders who have taken what once were reasonably healthy breeds and turned them into dogs who frequently need surgery to open their airways within their first couple of years. There was a lovely pug in Ranna's puppy class with beautiful long legs and an appropriately proportioned face that I fell in love with. He reminded me of Otis from Milo and Otis if Otis was hyper and silly. I had to shake myself out of it, because most pugs these days turn into potatoes. A stark reminder that I'm not immune to marketing.


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## Deere (Jun 25, 2021)

Misteline said:


> Too many people are unwilling to believe that the dog they want is well beyond their ability to care for. They don't want to listen. I remember trying to get a coworker to understand that amount of work a doodle would be and how impossible it would be to keep one groomed the way she wanted with our schedule and her salary. In one ear and out the other, she was adamant she wanted a goldendoodle for no other reason than that they were "cute."
> 
> Nothing is more illustrative that some people are determined to be irresponsible regardless of warnings than the surge in people buying dogs after any movie centered around a dog breed, even when the movie is about what a pain that particular breed is! The huskies in Snow Dogs were accurately portrayed as obnoxious divas who would destroy your house and require dedication to train. What did people do? Go out and buy then dump a bunch of huskies. I'm too young to have experienced directly the same with the Beethoven movies, but I believe the same happened to St. Bernards.
> [/QU
> ...


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

Lady and the Tramp is why I grew up wanting a cocker spaniel. I had one for 11 years. I wanted to get another one when he died, but I ended up getting a cockapoo instead after dealing with a horrible cocker spaniel breeder. The full poodle is due to the younger child's asthma. They don't leave pollen covered hair everywhere. 
I still lover cocker spaniels and may get another one in the future if I can find a good breeder.


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## Vee (Mar 2, 2018)

Misteline said:


> Even though I really like the personality of the bulldogs and Boston terriers I've met this is why I would be hard pressed to even rescue one, buying one is completely of the question. Just having one of these brachy dogs in public is marketing for the unscrupulous breeders who have taken what once were reasonably healthy breeds and turned them into dogs who frequently need surgery to open their airways within their first couple of years. There was a lovely pug in Ranna's puppy class with beautiful long legs and an appropriately proportioned face that I fell in love with. He reminded me of Otis from Milo and Otis if Otis was hyper and silly. I had to shake myself out of it, because most pugs these days turn into potatoes. A stark reminder that I'm not immune to marketing.


Potatoes 😂 I wouldn’t ever consider a brachy breed, hearing some of them breath is so sad. They are massive over here frenchies one of the most popular breeds, bulldogs are also very popular. It’s not just the breathing, they are mainly incorrect colours, like Merles, blue, lilac and these dodgy breeders even use a made up registry like such as; dog world kennel club which basically register anything that’s not registrable with the actual kennel club


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

I_love_dogs said:


> Lady and the Tramp is why I grew up wanting a cocker spaniel. I had one for 11 years. I wanted to get another one when he died, but I ended up getting a cockapoo instead after dealing with a horrible cocker spaniel breeder. The full poodle is due to the younger child's asthma. They don't leave pollen covered hair everywhere.
> I still lover cocker spaniels and may get another one in the future if I can find a good breeder.


And thus began my love of scruffy terriers.


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## jeanne.marklin (Aug 10, 2021)

I have wondered at all the doodles. Pure bred poodles are great dogs, and you know you are getting poodle natural instincts. I believe people think poodles are silly, or stuck up looking or something ridiculous like that. And Doodles are so "in style" now. It makes them feel cool to own one and never considered the care and breed. Just my two cents, but whenever someone tells me they are getting a doodle, I always ask why not go for a pure bred so you'll have a better idea of what you're going to be loving for 10-15 years. We've had 3 Standards and now have a cockapoo. He's a great dog, but I sure miss my Standards!


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

First of all, I am sorry that the original poster, on Facebook, Mysty, k"was so disrespected and unappreciated by the owners of these giant matted, fur babies, never mind the cross. I don’t groom Buck myself, so I bow to my groomer and tip her generously. Deserved on her part. ( Home groomers, you can buy the finest clippers, tables, dryers, scissors, with what I spend, so cheers. ). I always had my Scottie’s professionally groomed and factored that into owning a poodle. Groomer Mysty can get more littles done than any matted doodles or other breeds. She does the math. I don’t blame her for firing clients. Previous groomers of mine fired a biting Pomeranian. No business owner needs a client from Hell.


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## Sylvia K (Feb 4, 2021)

Hubby and I try to keep our poodle matt free as much as we possibly can but take him to a wonderful groomer whenever we are able to travel the 500 kilometres to her! Hubby is pretty good with a pair of clippers and I used to be pretty nifty with scissor clipping a nice little top knot but we are both succumbing to nature (ageing) and my very arthritic hands aren't safe around a pup's head, or anywhere else with a pair of scissors any more. We still manage to keep most of the matts under control though. We used to have two poodles to groom and did a pretty fair job with them. If you have dogs with long curly coats, careful and dedicated grooming needs are a given. The only thing we do have a little trouble with is ears. I just love long poodle ears and don't want them cut short. Hubby doesn't really mind them being short but accommodates me  . Our boy doesn't care what his ears look like or that they drag through his food just so long as he can get his snout into it . I have a lot of sympathy for groomers. One of our previous wonderful groomers had her thumb bitten off by a dog whose owners didn't think to tell her that he could be a bit iffy about some things! Not good, and the poor woman had to close her business for weeks while recovering. A simple warning to use a muzzle for safety would have prevented that awful trauma. Plus, the groomer lost the confidence to take on any bigger dogs with stronger jaws after that dreadful experience.


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

Normie and I get haircuts every five weeks. The cost is the same.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Sylvia K said:


> One of our previous wonderful groomers had her thumb bitten off by a dog whose owners didn't think to tell her that he could be a bit iffy about some things! Not good, and the poor woman had to close her business for weeks while recovering. A simple warning to use a muzzle for safety would have prevented that awful trauma. Plus, the groomer lost the confidence to take on any bigger dogs with stronger jaws after that dreadful experience.


What a shocking and horrible tragedy! I'm stunned. What in the heck were the owners thinking????


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## Sylvia K (Feb 4, 2021)

That was my thought too Liz. The groomer rang me while she was on her way to hospital for emergency treatment to cancel my appointment and I couldn't believe what I was hearing! She was in an awful state of shock (obviously) and just didn't know what on earth she was going to do. To make it worse, she hadn't been able to find her thumb, the dog having apparently swallowed it, so there was no possibility of it being reattached either. Even now, a good few years later, I still feel the same awful shock and horror that any owner could have risked their dog doing this to anyone. The apparently did know that their dog wasn't entirely reliable but said nothing. Such awful irresponsibility and their dog could have ended up being put down had the groomer pressed charges. I have often wondered what happened to the dog afterwards, and whether anything was done to prevent further incidents like this.


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## Wooster Tim (Nov 11, 2021)

While new to the Forum, I'm not new to having dogs. My first dog, a Cocker Spaniel, I groomed myself. I was sixteen and she was the first thing I saved up for and bought with the money I made at a Pizza Shop. The Vet bills, food, licensing were all mine. I learned to groom my buddy and frankly it was a bath, nail clipping and clipper shave down fairly regularly. I wanted a companion not necessarily a particular breed. 

Our Poodles over the years have always been groomed by an expert. We have followed the Groomer we Patronize today for 20 years and she has eventually wound up on her own. Reason being, Pet Owners and Business Owners who are frankly awful. 

We spend more every six weeks grooming than most people spend on their personal hygene in a year. And I love the fact our Groomer Friend Makes Our "Oodle" so Beautiful. 

We stopped at a Mall in Ft Myers a few years back on our way to our destination. So many lovely people were so complimentary and encouraging of the Koko and Karmel (we only had the two at that time). The Dogs loved strutting their stuff and being around all of the people. Since Covid, we haven't been able to go out nearly as much and frankly it's become a chore to just keep our Autistic Child properly distanced, socially. 

But I digress, the Groomer is a key element in our Dogs Well Being. So thank you for being a Groomer.

PS, you don't have to fire anyone, just raise the price to the point they look for alternatives. Hey, wait a minute, maybe our Groomer did this to me! Wink Wink.🙈🙉🙊


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## mvhplank (Dec 5, 2012)

A couple of observations ...

(1) A very good friend has had a whole series of golden doodles--she and her husband love them, she paid extravagant prices for them, and had them professionally groomed (she can well afford it). She could also afford chemotherapy for all of them--maybe 5 that I know of--when they each developed one type of cancer or another. That's apparently the curse of the Golden side of the equation.

(2) I have two standard poodles now, and I groom them myself. They're not just pets but accomplished obedience dogs, and if someone else grooms them, I want to be there to watch to make sure there's no rough stuff. Fitting regular grooming in along with part-time work is hard to do, especially with deadlines. Also, we had an unexpectedly bad year for fleas and everyone--including the rat terrier--was a mess. I did NOT foist my mistake off on my favorite and only groomer--I shaved the older one down myself, and spent many hours combing and dematting the younger one. I figured that's the penance I must pay for neglect. 

I'd love to know what would happen if a groomer set up a table in the lobby of the shop and asked potential clients to demonstrate just exactly how they routinely groom their dogs.

Also, I just discovered some really informative YouTube videos on grooming poodles and many other breeds of show dogs. Leading Edge Dog Show Academy.


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## Retro Chick (Nov 20, 2020)

This is so awful. I’m so tired of people who don’t appreciate the work others do. We have become so disconnected to labor as a society. We expect everything to be done perfectly and for extremely shockingly low pay. I hope more groomers will refuse to work with clients like that so that they are forced to groom their own dogs. Every large dog owner should have to learn the back breaking work of dog grooming. It is truly enlightening. I have gained so much admiration and respect for groomers during my home grooming learning experiences!

I have to say, I have definitely decided I’m not a fan of the entire doodle enterprise. From top to bottom it just seems like a complete mess. I’m sick of poodles being used as some magic genetic answer to making any other breed non-shedding. It’s a disgusting thing to use animals in this way. Where did all the responsible people go?


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## Jilly SummerSunset (Sep 16, 2020)

This topic has points made that I agree with on one side, and totally have mixed feelings on the other. I have lived all aspects of Goldendoodle life as a breeder/owner/self groomer and grooming client. I had a Cockapoo as a teenager that was gifted to me by an aunt & uncle when I was a teenager. I bathed and scissor clipped him. He was a joy. 13 years ago, I had one litter of Goldendoodles. My Standard and my Golden. I groomed them if I didn't have appointments scheduled. I had and have a long time groomer relationship. We are both aging. 🤣 I try from 8 weeks puppyhood to desensitize my personal pups for groomer handling. I groomed my doodle pup that I kept from birth when necessary til groomer visits. They mat behind their ears and anywhere from sitting and laying down easily. I always give my groomers discretion to groom, as may be necessary. I prefer a half inch to 1 inch close length all over with lobger tail. Doodles, as well as, Poodles are not easy to keep any long length on, without matting. That is reality. I expect my dogs to behave. They behave at home and I expect them to be the same when they are outside the home. I would rather pay more for a good groom then to lose my groomer. I think doodle owners don't research what they are getting into. I don't agree with doodles being bred to doodles, to add more Poodle gene in the mix. Get a Poodle! At least my litter was (F1), a pure GR and a pure SPOO. I could prove it! The breeds are too smart to be untrained and unruley. That comes from lack of training. Groomers should have expectations of their clientele. There is a learning curve for pups who are uncomfortable being handled. We know this. You have to allow for that personality growth. You need to have that communication open with your clients. That is acceptable. If my kids are a handful. Tell me. I need to know what to work on. As long as my kid isn't be abused or overheated, I'm open to criticism. Dog owners who have done hands on training know, physical corrective handling is acceptable and necessary sometimes. Post your expectations. If clients aren't ok with them. Send them packing. Ok, there is my $.02. 🤣


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