Mini Goldendoodle Haircuts & Grooming Styles
Are you a proud owner of a Goldendoodle? One of the things that makes a Goldendoodle so magnificent is their unique curly coats.
In fact, that’s one of the primary reasons why they were first designed and bred. The Goldendoodle’s development was strategically crafted to bring out the Poodle’s low dander and low shedding coat while showcasing the family-friendly nature of the Golden Retriever.
And since their development, they’ve become one of the most popular designer dog breeds in the world. It seems like everyone’s after these jovial pups with the hypoallergenic coats. However, there’s nothing like a fresh haircut to set yours apart from all the others.
But you don’t have to settle for just a standard trim. There are many different styles out there that will fit your Goldendoodle and give them a personality all of their own. And we’ll cover some of the most popular cuts for these doodles, starting with the standard kennel cut and working our way up to radical stylings.
What is a Goldendoodle?
Known for their teddy bear-like appearance and loving personalities, Goldendoodles are a popular crossbreed.
What are the Most Popular Goldendoodle Cuts?
Poodle Cut
Seeing a Goldendoodle with a Poodle cut shouldn’t come across as a surprise. They are half-Poodle, after all! Poodle cuts can often come without warning as well. Even though you may have a specific hairstyle in mind, your groomer may think otherwise.
They’re not doing this just to spite you, though. With a Goldendoodle, mattes can run relatively deep due to their thick curly fur. And if your groomer’s having a difficult time running their comb through your pup’s coat, they’ll probably need to shave it down. This keeps your dog happy and mat-free without ruining their experience at the groomers.
And with a Poodle cut, your pup will generally receive a clean low-cut face, back, belly, and sides. But the tops of their head, ears, tail, and legs can normally maintain a thicker, fluffy appearance as that where less matting will occur. If your pooch doesn’t have much matting, there is definite room for customization—just be sure to address your concerns with your groomer first.
While many Goldendoodle owners love the Poodle cut, others are less enthused by it. This particular hairstyling tends to make your dog look much older and elegant. So, if you’re trying to keep up their youthful stature, you might want to opt for something else.
Puppy Cut (Teddy Bear Cut)
This is probably the most common haircut you’ll find on a Goldendoodle. And that’s because it’s just so stinking cute! It’s as if their coats and bodies were built for it. Most dogs look good with a puppy cut; however, the fluffy nature of their coats brings out their charm in this do.
Like the kennel cut, this hairstyle is of uniform length all over their body. But instead of it being cropped short, it’s cut with longer clippers or even scissored to create a poofy or bouffant look. It also helps give your pup a youthful appearance no matter their age.
You’ll also hear some folks call it the teddy bear cut, and that’s because of particular customization you can do. Instead of uniformly trimming their face, the area around their snoot is a bit longer against the backdrop of the rest of their face. This gives them a unique, playful look.
The puppy cut does have some added benefits besides just making your pooch cute as a button. The short length helps them to prevent mattes and tangles. However, it leaves enough hair to prevent them from completely freezing out when it gets colder.
Kennel Cut
This haircut is also known as the summer cut, and it’s super easy to see why. Goldendoodles have thick, dense coats which can be a total drag in the hot summer months. That’s why a good all-over shave down can help them stay cool and look neat doing so.
Now, this doesn’t mean your pup’s going to run around bald. But their coats are going to be significantly shorter than normal. A standard kennel cut translates to your dog’s hair being trimmed to a short uniform length from nose to tail with a cleanly trimmed face and feet and topknot.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t customize your pup’s kennel cut. You can have your dog’s groomer make special considerations such as doing different tail, ears, and face lengths with the rest of your dog’s coat staying short.
While customizable, the kennel cut doesn’t bring much pizzazz to your pup, and it takes away one of your pooch’s trademarks—it’s curly coat. However, there are some huge advantages to this trim other than heat considerations. Firstly, it’s awesome for keeping your pet’s grooming to a minimum, plus it shows off your pup’s beautiful physique.
It’s much less likely to accumulate random dirt, twigs, and bugs after a good romp outside. And finally, you aren’t going to find very many dingleberries after your pooch goes number two.
Lion Cut
The lion cut is one of those Goldendoodle haircut styles that can set your dog apart from the rest. Normally given to smaller dogs such as the Pomeranian, the lion cut does exactly what it sounds like—makes your pooch look like a lion!
This is done by recreating the shaggy mane of a lion and its signature pom tail. With this style, your dog’s coat will be cut relatively short around their back, belly, and legs. But they’ll keep the mane extending down their chests with minimal tapering to make it pop.
You can also customize the lion cut with smaller details. For example, one common route is to clean-cut your dog’s face with the mane starting at the topknot. Another is to flare or pom the areas above your dog’s feet. It gives them a bit more body and the illusion of a more muscular stature.
Clipped Ears
Since Goldendoodles have dense hair all over, you can choose to keep it under control with shorter hair. The Clipped Ears style is great to flaunt those gorgeous floppy ears and keep them nice and neat.
For this cut, you will need a clipper comb or blade to trim the ear hair shorter. When all done, this style makes the ears more visible instead of covered in thick fur.
Clean Feet
When you want to get rid of all that hair on your pup’s feet, then you can do so with this cut. The clean feet cut is particularly appealing when combined with shorter Goldendoodle haircuts such as the teddy bear or lamb cut.
Give your pooch the clean feet look by completely having the hair around this area. You can also include even the ankle, so it exposes the entire feet and nails. This is a classic look for Poodles, as well as Doodles.
Full Ears
If you don’t like to bother trimming the ears, then you can definitely just leave the hair in that area long and fluffy. You can choose not to clip it at all and keep the natural length.
But you can also add some variations to the full ears by adding layers, or cutting it bluntly or with a rounded edge. No matter how you do it, this style will flatter your Goldendoodle’s adorable face.
Pom Poms
Pom poms are a fun look for Goldendoodles, which make them look like purebred Poodles. After all, that’s where this haircut generally comes from!
You can create the pom pom style by adding some rounded balls right above the clean, shaven feet. Then, you trim the leg hair short to emphasize those cute pom poms.
Plume Tail Cut
Earlier, we mentioned the flag tail and how to achieve this look. Think of the plume tail cut as a variation of the flag tail, which is a creative style for your pooch.
Goldendoodles naturally have fluffy tails, so it’s easy to get them looking like plumes. Simply let the hair grow out even up to the base, and this will eventually billow out beautifully.
Round Feet
Round feet on Goldendoodles make them look like they’re wearing boots. It’s absolutely cute and will flatter your pup’s fluffy coat.
To create the round feet look, simply scissor neatly the fur on the feet. This will make the feet appear fluffy and round, which is exactly what you are shooting for. Be sure that the nails remain concealed in all that fur.
Medium Length Cut
Not too long, not too short – the medium length cut is the perfect choice when you can’t decide between clipping the hair short or growing it out.
With a medium length cut, this gives you more styling options for your pooch. It’s also not too long, which makes it hard to maintain.
Lamb Cut
The lamb cut is another very popular Poodle cut that’s been adopted by the Goldendoodle. It’s a super adorable Goldendoodle cut that gives your dog the likeness of a cuddly little lamb. However, it’s also a more adventurous cut than any before it on our list.
To achieve this look, your pup’s coat is clipped down to an even inch all over their body except the legs. Their legs are left a little longer and shaped for a puffier, rounder look. However, there’s nothing awkward about it as your groomer will artfully scissor the legs to blend it into the rest of the style.
Although there’s a relatively standard approach to this cut, you can still customize the look. You may want to leave a taller topknot or cleanly shave your pup’s feet and face. One popular option is to round out—and even fluff out—your pooch’s ears.
And while the lamb cut clocks in at our most radical clip so far, the next style takes things to a whole new level.
Dino Cut
This is easily the most ridiculous Goldendoodle haircut styles on our list. But there’s nothing wrong with it at all! If you’ve ever wanted a dinosaur as a pet, this dino cut is probably the closest thing you’ll get from your pooch.
The coat of the Goldendoodle seems almost too perfect for unique stylings such as this. Their dense coats allow for bold cuts and shaping. It’s essentially a kennel cut with blocky tufts of hair running the length of their back.
Just be careful when finding a stylist to do this type of cut. It’s not a very common choice, so your groomer may need some precise guidance as to how you want to pull this look off.
Mohawk Cut
If you’re looking for your Goldendoodle to have one seriously kick-butt hairdo, you may want to consider the mohawk cut. The mohawk cut gives your Doodle the rocker look and shows off their personality—that they’re fun and full of life!
This style is achieved by giving your pup a kennel cut but leaving a fluffy mohawk that runs down their back starting from the top knot.
With your Goldendoodle’s mohawk, you’ve got some real stylistic decisions to make. First, how thick is your Doodle’s mohawk going to be? You can have it run the width of their topknot; however, a common tactic is to shave the sides down and make it just a tad narrower. Also, you’ll need to determine the length of your pup’s hawk. Is it going to end near their shoulder blades? Or go down their back a bit?
The most fun part about a mohawk cut is the colors that you can choose to dye it! Sure, you can go without, and keep it their natural color. But if you’re going to give your pup a mohawk, you might as well go all the way.
Round Face Cut
With their naturally charming faces, you can emphasize it even more with a round face cut. It’s actually quite easy to achieve this style, and it can go great with most haircuts, as well.
The rounded face requires trimming the fur on the head and face at the same length. Pair it off with the teddy bear cut, and it’s absolutely perfect.
Bell Bottom cut
Who says bell bottoms are just for humans? Even your Goldendoodle can sport this look – and it’s just as classy.
The bell bottom cut is just as the term suggests – long, flared fur on the bottom of the legs. To emphasize the bell bottom shape, the upper portion of the legs is cut shorter.
Clean Face Cut
Goldendoodles naturally have thick and wavy facial hair when you let it grow out. So, if you like less hair in that area, a clean face cut works well.
With the hair on the cheeks, muzzle, and face cut short to about an inch, this exposes your pup’s cuteness even more. You can also combine this with other haircuts you want for your pooch.
Flag Tail Cut
Give your Goldendoodle’s tail some character with a flag style. As the name implies, this haircut makes your puppy’s tail look like a flag. Overall, it accentuates your doggo’s long locks.
To achieve this cut, simply cut the base of your dog’s tail short, about an inch or two. Then, keep the rest of the length long enough to taper off nicely toward the tip. The image above is what you’re aiming for with this cut.
Full Shave
While this particular Goldendoodle haircut isn’t as stylish as the rest on this list, it’s one that most dogs will receive in their lifetimes. The full shave is exactly what it sounds like. From tip to tail, your Goldendoodle will be completely stripped of their coat.
And while this doesn’t sound too appealing, this can be one of the most useful Goldendoodle cuts. Since your doodle’s coat is generally thick and curly, mats and tangles are bound to happen. Unless you’re dedicating extensive time to grooming every day, these are issues you’ll have to deal with.
By giving your pup a full shave, you can remove all of those nasty mats and other coat clumps. This allows you to start anew and style as you see fit in the future. This can also be a summer option for those who live in extreme heat or tropical climates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I give my Goldendoodle haircuts?
Goldendoodles need to be combed daily and groomed thoroughly twice a month. Dogs with long hair need professional grooming every 6 to 8 weeks. For more information, check out our Goldendoodle Grooming Guide.
Do Goldendoodles need haircuts?
Yes, Goldendoodles require regular grooming! Goldendoodles’ coats form mats when left unattended. Matting causes discomfort, infections, and many other issues.
Final Thoughts
Not all of the Goldendoodle haircut styles found on this list are meant for every dog. Polarizing cuts such as the dino or mohawk may add a bunch of personality, but that doesn’t mean they’ll make for a great fit.
However, you know your dog better than anyone else. And if they’ve got the chops to pull it off, you can get wildly creative with your Goldendoodle’s hairstyle.
