Thursday, January 24, 2013

Little Known Secrets of Doodles

If you do not own any sort of doodle, golden-, Labra-, or Aussie-, you might not be aware of some of their odd, little eccentricities.  We certainly did not know until we had Milton home for a few months.  Now we are more than aware of all the little unique features that make the Milt, Milt. 

1.  Last week when Jeff picked up Milton from daycare, he was informed that Milton was having trouble keeping himself clean down there.  Of course, I was the one to check the Milt dog later that evening, and I saw one little cling-on which I promptly cut out.  On Monday though, I took Milton for a walk, and, like always, he went number two while we were out and about.  We stopped by a neighbor's house, and I noticed an absolute stench permeating the air.  When the Milt raised his tail, to my horror, I observed this:


Yuck

Yes, that is Milton's dirty bottom.  Since doodles barely shed, fur just grows and grows even around important parts of their anatomy.  So what was I to do but get the clippers out and snip away until I saw pink.  This was highly unpleasant for all parties involved.  Although, the next day at daycare, I was informed that Milton still had a stinky behind.  Jeff and I feel like bad parents with "the smelly kid," so we are going to pay for a basic sanitary cut.  Don't worry, we are not sheering the Milt like a sheep, but he will be much more tidy in his privates.

2.  Milton has a beard!  Our boy is certainly prepubescent, but as a doodle he is capable of growing a full beard.  Just like a human beard, it retains both crumbs and water.  It certainly rivals anything that I have seen Jeff grow.

I mean he's not Santa Claus, but he is still young.

Milt has certainly passed that awkward peach fuzz stage.  I bet he could even give his Daddy some pointers.

3.  Doodles mat.  What does this mean?  As a doodle's fur grows, it clumps together in a way analogous to dreadlocks.  These are two that I recently snip snapped off Milton:

There appears to be some dirt in those mats as well.

Apparently, if your doodle is matting, you should be brushing him or her more frequently.  The other option is a haircut, and that is certainly not an option for us.  Some really good dood parents, like my friend Thuy, brush the mats out of their dog's hair.  In Milt's case, he is overgrown, so we just cut.  I don't think he will miss it.

Well, you just got an earful of the "Little Known Secrets of Doodles."  Do you feel smarter?  I don't think you will ever actively use this knowledge, unless perhaps at a casual dinner party or a dog park.  Some people just love to learn, and if you don't, just store it away until you need to sound witty.  That's what I do.

3 comments:

  1. We don't have issues with matting - yet. But Stanlee's beard is about four times the length of The Milt's beard so he leaves "watermarks" just about everywhere. We also have the issue of "are you in there" because his bangs are so long you actually can't see his eyes.

    We've been lucky with the matting and poop klingons so far but I'm not holding my breath as I foresee this doody, and duty, in our future.



    ....the smelly kid....LOL

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  2. i was so not expecting to see a picture of your dog's poopy butt. can you imagine if i posted poopy butt pics of the kid? haha!

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    1. hahaaha you would if you could! I took a lot of flak for that shot.

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