How Linda Holdtgreve experienced the grooming workshop

As the proud owner of an 11 months old Labradoodle, I was looking for a suitable adres to touch up the dog.

Ideally I wanted an adres where the groomer could (and would) familiarize me with the techniques so that I could do the grooming myself in the future. I also got some information from the breeder who said that the owners of the brother and sister of my dog would attend a grooming workshop in two days. Exactly what I was looking for.

There was space left for a third person so i immediately signed myself up.
Of the nine pups from the litter, three looked much like each other and those exact same 3 black ones were signed up for the workshop. It was a lot of fun meeting the dogs and their owners. But after the welcome with tea and biscuits we had to go to work.

I’ve had dogs my whole life, but mostly dogs that didn’t require such intensive grooming like a Doodle.
With a retriever you go a long way if you give him a good brushing every week. When the fur started to grow the Doodle needed to be brushed more often; now it’s even on a daily basis.

However we waited too long with giving her a good haircut, and at one point the hair became so long that it started to tangle everywhere. Wet weather (what a summer…) and a young guest dog which was played with all day were the determining factors.

We were warned by the breeder that the hairs would tangle at a certain moment and you should keep an eye on it, because you don’t want to shave your dog. I can recommend that every Doodle owner take action sooner!

We managed to get her hair untangled, but it´s not an easy job. Not for the dog and not for the person doing it. It takes a lot of time and effort; from now on I’ll put that time into prevention

The workshop began with an explanation on “how” to brush and use the right materials. Once a dog is brushed thoroughly and made tangle free, you can start cutting the hairs. All components of care are discussed. Each part is demonstrated on one dog and afterwards Wanda checks if everyone is working in the correct way and gives pointers where needed.

You have to put a lot of time into giving your dog a nice coupe; it took us all day.

At the end of the day I was satisfied. The dog was groomed and I learned a lot to try in two months. In addition I can now choose to treat the dog in “parts”; the whole dog doesn’t need to be done at once. Off course this isn’t something you can learn in 1 day; That chic little model that Wanda can create, will have to wait for my Doodle. But I did learn how to maintain the fur and if I have any pressing questions I can always follow another workshop to put the finishing touches on there.

It was fun too!