Goldendoodle Grooming at Home: Video Tutorial Step-by-Step Guide!

Whether you have a puppy or a 10 year old pup, Goldendoodle grooming in the comfort of your own home is a valuable skill. Maybe you’re wanting to reduce your allergies. Maybe your pup’s a little too shaggy for your liking. Or maybe you just want to save some cash…after all, those trips to the groomer aren’t cheap!

Lucky for you, we have a video tutorial series on DIY full-body grooming that will guide you through the entire process of Doodle grooming. You can find those videos and some brief step-by-step instructions below, as well as on our YouTube channel. Let’s get into it!

Goldendoodle Grooming at Home: 11 Steps to Take

Step 1) Have the Right Tools on Hand

For a successful home groom, first make sure you have the necessary Goldendoodle grooming tools on hand.

Step 2) FIRST and Foremost: Line Brush

Using a good slicker brush, start at the bottom of your Doodle and brush one line of hair away at a time. Gradually pull small portions of hair down with the brush. Make sure you can see your pup’s skin with each “line.” Brush the whole dog in this manner to ensure all mats and tangles have been eliminated. If this doesn’t make sense, watch our great tutorial video on how to line brush.

Brushing and removing mats is especially important before going on to the next step, because water will make mats bigger and tighter.

Step 3) Bathe and Blow Dry

Now depending on how long (or short) you will be clipping your Doodle’s coat, bathing and blow drying beforehand may not be necessary.

For instance, since blades by themselves take off most of the hair and cut closer to the skin than clipper combs, it may not make much sense to spend all that time bathing and blow drying your Doodle, only to clip all their hair off in the end.

However, if you will be using clipper combs (a.k.a. clipper guards/attachment combs) bathing and fully blow drying before clipping is definitely a must. If you don’t, you won’t get a good finish, your blades will yell at you, and hair is going to get snagged and not go through the coat cleanly.

By the way, if you don’t know whether you want to use a blade by itself or if you will need clipper combs, the next step has more information on all that.

Step 4) Prepare to Clip

After a good brush down, bath, and blow dry, you’ll be ready to start trimming your Doodle with high-quality animal clippers. You can use the clippers with just a blade, or you can attach clipper combs to get various lengths.

If you’ll be using just a bare blade, be aware that it will get hot every few minutes due to friction. At this point, you will need to stop clipping and allow the blade to cool down before proceeding. You can use a cooling spray, or simply lay your blade face down on a ceramic tile or stone countertop. These will help to speed up the blade cooling process.

If you use clipper combs, however, you won’t need to worry about the blade overheating, since the combs will shield your dog from feeling the heat. Still, it is a good idea to stop clipping every once in a while to clean off the blade and add a fresh few drops of lubricant oil to the blade.

Before starting, be sure to lubricate your blade with clipper oil so friction is minimized. Less is more – a drop or two goes a long way.

Step 5) Clip the Top-Half

In the above video, we show you how to clip the entire top-half of your dog, including the back, back of the neck, chest, and upper hind legs.

Step 6) Clip the Head, Neck, and Face

Now it’s time to clip the head, neck, and face. Here’s a good video on how to do that:

If You Want to Leave the Face Long

Depending on the Goldendoodle grooming style you want, you can either give your Dood a clean face (short/shaved facial area), or scissor trim it neatly with grooming scissors to keep the face, beard, and ears long.

If you don’t want a cut that is uniform between the body and face, this is where you will want to pull out your thinning shears and grooming scissors.

Here’s a good video on scissor-trimming the face:

Step 7) Clip and Trim the Ears

In regards to the ears, it’s important to manage the hairs inside the ear canal. It’s especially important to do so if your Doodle is prone to ear infections.

In the following video, we clip the outside of the ears and trim along the outline of the ears with scissors. We also scissor trim the hairs inside of the ear canal. (Alternatively, you can shave or pluck the inside of the ear flap.)

Step 8) Clip and Trim the Legs, Feet, and Paws

Here’s a good tutorial video on how to clip and trim the legs, feet, and paws:

If the clipper won’t achieve the look you want for your Doodle’s legs and feet, feel free to hand-trim by using your grooming scissors. If proceeding with a scissor trim, start by combing the leg hairs upward so they stand up. Using your scissors, gradually trim the hair on the legs and feet to the desired length.

Be sure to (carefully) shave the hair out from between the paw pads and toes, too. Use a #30 or #40 blade by itself for the closest shave. Sometimes, the hairs between the paw pads will be matted, so take extra care here.

Step 9) Trim the Nails

Using traditional dog nail clippers or a nail grinder, it is really important not to forget to trim the nails.

With dog nail clippers, start by trimming the tips of the nails and gradually “chisel” away at them to shorten them further. Here’s a good tutorial video on how to do that:

With a dog nail grinder, start by grinding down the tips of the nails and gradually grind away at them to shorten them further. Here’s a good tutorial video on how to do that:

Step 10) Clip the Belly and Groin

Here’s a good tutorial video on how to trim the belly and groin areas:

Step 11) Clip the Bum and Tail

Here’s a good tutorial video on how to trim the rear end and tail area:

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And there you have it. Now you know what it takes for Goldendoodle grooming yourself at home!