Module 6 — First 30 Days Academy™
How much brushing a Bernedoodle coat really needs
About 6 minutes
This is the module we would most like every buyer to read before they choose a coat type, because coat is the single most common reason a doodle ends up shaved down to the skin at eight months old.
The real number
Two to three minutes a day, every day, or fifteen to twenty minutes twice a week. Not once a month before the groomer. A curly coat mats against the skin in the friction points — behind the ears, in the armpits, on the collar line — and once it felts, no brush will fix it.
Month four is when it changes
The puppy coat gives way to the adult coat somewhere between four and eight months, and for those weeks the dog mats faster than at any other point in their life. Families who coasted through the easy puppy fluff get caught out here.
Plan for daily brushing through that window and a shorter clip while it happens.
Groomer visits, and what to ask for
Every six to eight weeks. Book the first appointment for month three even if the coat does not need it — the point of that visit is that the dog learns the table, the dryer and the clippers while it is all still boring.
Be honest with the groomer about how much brushing you will genuinely do. A one-inch clip you can maintain looks far better than a long coat you cannot.
Handling practice at home
Ten seconds a day: ears lifted, paws held, mouth opened, tail touched. Every one of those is something a groomer or a vet will need to do, and a dog who learned it at eight weeks does not need to be muzzled for it at eight months.
Before you move on
- —Metal comb test twice a week, behind the ears and under the legs
- —Two minutes of brushing daily
- —First groomer appointment booked for month three
- —Coat length matched to the grooming you will actually do
- —Daily ten-second handling practice
That's all six
If you want this turned into an hour-by-hour plan for your own house, the Fit Finder does that in about eight minutes.
Start the Fit Finder