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hi
Odd question maybe, do labradoodles have undercoats?
Odd question maybe, do labradoodles have undercoats?
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Labradoodle undercoats
- Thread starter Knackered
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It depends! With a crossbreed there are variations even between littermates. If you need to know about a specific dog you would need to ask a groomer to look at the coat.
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Labradoodles can have undercoats but it depends ask your groomer to have a look for you 
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I thought most double-coaters were pastoral herders: shelties, GSD's...corgis, etc. Neither poodles nor labs are, so maybe this is just a single woolly coat?
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Double-coated dogs are in all groups - herding, hunt / gundogs, scenthound, sighthound, U name it.
They have an outer coat of stiffer guard hair, which sheds water, & an undercoat of softer hair as insulation.
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Double-coated dogs are in all groups - herding, hunt / gundogs, scenthound, sighthound, U name it.
They have an outer coat of stiffer guard hair, which sheds water, & an undercoat of softer hair as insulation.
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In UK, Terri, many labs are classed as single-coated though you're right there can be double-coaters too. I think there's a lot of variation between show and working lines. I've only known single coated labs BUT either type seem to moult non-stop throughout the year. Too high maintenance for me. I'd sort-of assumed doodles would be bred from single-coated labs because the point of them originally was to be non-shedding.
I'd sort-of assumed doodles would be bred from single-coated labs because the point of them originally was to be non-shedding.
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QUOTE, merlina:
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I'd sort-of assumed "LabraDoodles" [Lab x Poodle] would be bred from single-coated Labs, because the point of [the original cross] was to be non-shedding.
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Labradors, to the best of my knowledge, are classed as smooth-coats, but they do have undercoats.
The theory in breeding a cross of Labs & Poodles was that their crossbred progeny would get the non-shed AKA mandatory-groom coat of the Poodle parent, supposedly over-riding the SHED EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES Lab-parent's coat.
As it turned out,
- 50% of the F1 progeny shed into the environs every day,
- 50% shed into the coat like the Poodle - &
- all of the crossbred pups inherit the mandatory-groom coat texture.
I'm not sure why the original breeder thot that mandatory-groom was a dominant trait that required only one mandatory-groom parent to determine shed-into-coat, vs shed-into-surroundings.
- terry
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I'd sort-of assumed "LabraDoodles" [Lab x Poodle] would be bred from single-coated Labs, because the point of [the original cross] was to be non-shedding.
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Labradors, to the best of my knowledge, are classed as smooth-coats, but they do have undercoats.
The theory in breeding a cross of Labs & Poodles was that their crossbred progeny would get the non-shed AKA mandatory-groom coat of the Poodle parent, supposedly over-riding the SHED EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES Lab-parent's coat.
As it turned out,
- 50% of the F1 progeny shed into the environs every day,
- 50% shed into the coat like the Poodle - &
- all of the crossbred pups inherit the mandatory-groom coat texture.
I'm not sure why the original breeder thot that mandatory-groom was a dominant trait that required only one mandatory-groom parent to determine shed-into-coat, vs shed-into-surroundings.
- terry
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Last edited:
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QUOTE, Knackered:
...do Lab / Poodle crosses have undercoats?
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@Knackered -
Yes. The texture of their coats, which is more or less curly, causes them to be mandatory-groom AKA 'non-shed'.
Poodles & Poodle-mixes do shed - as do Airedales, Wire-Coated Fox Terriers, Lhasa-Apsos, Bergomasco, & other curly-coated or wooly-coated breeds, but they shed INTO their own coats, rather than dropping their hairs individually into their surroundings - on the floor, the sofa, the car-seat, ...
If this shed, dead hair is not regularly combed-out of the live, still-growing coat, it accumulates as dense interwoven mats; smaller mats can be split vertically - as if U were slicing them, parallel to the growth of hair. Once split, the smaller mats can often be carefully combed out.
Large mats wider than 4-inches often cannot be split - they must be scissored off by hand, or clipped off with electric clippers, being very very careful not to nick, cut, or burn the dog [friction makes the moving parts of the clippers extremely hot, & touching them to the dog's skin can cause painful burns which can even become infected].
Mats are painful - they pull night & day on the skin beneath them; they collect water, dander, oils from the coat, dirt of all kinds, pollen, bacteria... beneath them, air-flow to the skin is blocked, & yeast will flourish in these dark, moist areas.
Depending upon where they are, mats can restrict the dog's stride / limit their gait, blind them by covering the eyes, make defecation difficult or impossible, & the sheer weight of accumulated dirty knotted locks adds POUNDS to the dog's own body-weight.
Mats also affect behavior: a dog who cannot see can become timid & shrinking, or highly reactive - snappy & vocal, barking sharply & biting to send off perceived threats that s/he cannot see. A dog in pain from tight mats will be hypersensitive to touch, & may bite when handled.
A dog carrying 8 to 12# of mats will overheat easily, & will also be exercise-intolerant - they'll be exhausted just from hauling all that hair around.
- terry
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...do Lab / Poodle crosses have undercoats?
________________________________
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@Knackered -
Yes.
The texture of their coats, which is more or less curly, causes them to be mandatory-groom AKA 'non-shed'.Poodles & Poodle-mixes do shed - as do Airedales, Wire-Coated Fox Terriers, Lhasa-Apsos, Bergomasco, & other curly-coated or wooly-coated breeds, but they shed INTO their own coats, rather than dropping their hairs individually into their surroundings - on the floor, the sofa, the car-seat, ...
If this shed, dead hair is not regularly combed-out of the live, still-growing coat, it accumulates as dense interwoven mats; smaller mats can be split vertically - as if U were slicing them, parallel to the growth of hair. Once split, the smaller mats can often be carefully combed out.
Large mats wider than 4-inches often cannot be split - they must be scissored off by hand, or clipped off with electric clippers, being very very careful not to nick, cut, or burn the dog [friction makes the moving parts of the clippers extremely hot, & touching them to the dog's skin can cause painful burns which can even become infected].
Mats are painful - they pull night & day on the skin beneath them; they collect water, dander, oils from the coat, dirt of all kinds, pollen, bacteria... beneath them, air-flow to the skin is blocked, & yeast will flourish in these dark, moist areas.
Depending upon where they are, mats can restrict the dog's stride / limit their gait, blind them by covering the eyes, make defecation difficult or impossible, & the sheer weight of accumulated dirty knotted locks adds POUNDS to the dog's own body-weight.
Mats also affect behavior: a dog who cannot see can become timid & shrinking, or highly reactive - snappy & vocal, barking sharply & biting to send off perceived threats that s/he cannot see. A dog in pain from tight mats will be hypersensitive to touch, & may bite when handled.
A dog carrying 8 to 12# of mats will overheat easily, & will also be exercise-intolerant - they'll be exhausted just from hauling all that hair around.
- terry
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