Monday, March 14, 2011

Labradoodle Coat Types

The first type is the hair coat. This coat is often found on the first generation American Labradoodle or F1 Labradoodle. This coat can be easy to maintain and requires minimal grooming. This coat however is not very reliable when it comes to allergies, and being non-shedding. There are varying degrees of a hair coat. Some are only slightly longer than a Labrador Retriever, while others can have that cute shaggy look. The coats can be wiry or course but also sometimes very soft.

The second type is the fleece coat. This coat is soft and full and is also fairly easy to maintain. It can vary in texture. Sometimes a fleece coat is straight, but fluffy, or it can be wavy, or even a loose spiral curl. It does require more grooming than the hair coat to avoid tangles and matts. This coat does very well with allergy sufferers and is very reliable in regards to being low-non-shedding. This is the coat that many breeders strive for as it is hypoallergenic without being too hard to groom. You can find the fleece coat in many different generations of Labradoodles. Sometimes it can be found in the F1 labradoodle but is most commonly found in F1b, F2b, F3, multi-gen American Labradoodles and Australian Labradoodles.

The next coat is the wool coat. This coat is a tighter curl with a slightly course feel. These coats are very reliable with allergies and being non-shedding. They do however require the most grooming of all the coat types. These coats can be left to grow out and the curl will loosen up to a flowing curl, or it can be kept shorter. This coat is usually found in second generation Labradoodles, otherwise known as the F1b and further generations. For example, F2, F2b’s, F3’s or American mulit-gen Labradoodles. These coats can also be found in the Australian Labradoodle.

Another coat type to mention is the hair/fleece mixtures. Many times in the earlier generations of Labradoodles you can get a mix of hair and fleece. These coats are generally much softer than the hair coat, but not quite as thick as the fleece. They are more reliable when it comes to shedding, but still tend to shed a bit.

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