Knowing how to groom a goldendoodle in the comfort of your own home will be a lifesaver, whether you’re wanting to do it to reduce your allergies, or simply because he’s becoming a little too shaggy for your liking. The skills especially comes in handy if you want to save yourself some valuable dollars from the groomer’s every year.
We found a great video tutorial series on YouTube that will guide you through the process of how to groom a goldendoodle, and you can find those videos and some brief step-by-step instructions below.
(For a successful groom, first make sure you have the necessary goldendoodle grooming tools on hand).
How to Groom a Goldendoodle
Step 1: Line Brushing
Using a good slicker brush, start at the bottom of the goldendoodle and brush a line of hair away while gradually pulling small portions of hair down. Make sure you can see the skin with each “line.” Brush the whole dog in this manner to ensure all mats and tangles have been eliminated.
After a brush down, you’ll start trimming your goldendoodle with a professional-grade clipper.
If you’re lucky enough to have two or more clippers, the grooming process will be much faster since you won’t have to wait for your blades to cool down from consistent usage. (If you only have one clipper, no worries – here is a cooling spray we recommend. You can also spend that time brushing out the freshly clipped hair).
Before starting, be sure to lubricate your blades with oil so any friction is minimized.
Step 2: Clipping the neck, chest, and under the ears
Step 3: Clipping the body
Continue along the height and length of the body until your goldendoodle is fully clipped. Avoid clipping the face and bottom half of his legs until the body is finished.
After you’ve completed the first full body run-through with the clippers, it’s best to do a final inspection and clip away any rough, choppy, or uneven patches of hair.
You’ll also want to clip away any belly hairs and underarm hairs at this time.
Goldendoodle Grooming Tip: Generally, you should go with the grain of the hair, but you can achieve a shorter length if you go against the grain of the hair with the same blade.
Step 4: Trimming the Face, Beard, and Ears
Unless you want a cut that is uniform between the body and face, this is when you will want to pull out your thinning shears and goldendoodle grooming scissors.
Using the thinning shears, start between the eyes to trim and blend the hair. Continue to use the thinning shears on the top of your goldendoodle’s head and into the neck region.
As for your goldendoodle’s beard, depending on the grooming style you want, you can either trim them neatly with grooming scissors📷 to keep the beard and ears long, or you can use the clippers to shave them off and expose your dood’s classic hound look.
Step 5: Trimming the Legs and Feet
Clippers may not achieve the look you want for your goldendoodle’s legs and feet. If that’s the case, you should continue using your grooming scissors. First start by combing the leg hairs upward so they stand up. Then using the scissors, gradually chop away any hair on the legs and feet to your desired length.
Be sure to (carefully) cut the hair out from between the pads of their paws and their toes/nails, too.
Step 6: Cut the Nails
Using nail clippers📷, start by trimming the tips of the nails and gradually “chisel” away at them to shorten them further.
Check out the video below for visual guidance and to find out what to do if the nail starts bleeding.
And there you have it. Now you know how to groom a goldendoodle yourself!
