This is a very common question asked by people, especially those who are concerned about getting a poodle as their pet. Well, I really love my poodle curly hair, and there’s nothing better than rubbing my fingers through his fluffy coat. The only thing that might be a problem at times is when I have to brush him.
So, do all poodles have curly hair? Yes, if you look closely you’ll notice that all poodles that’s purebred have curly hair. When a poodle is young they tend to have some form of straight hair which sometimes takes up to 3 to 4 years to fully mature into curls. It’s sad to say that you may find some poodles even taking longer to mature. Unless your poodle is some type of mixed breed, your poodle will definitely have curly hair as they get older.
After spending several hours researching and learning new things about my little one, I realized that there were many things I didn’t know about my poodles hair. I have literally got asked this question a lot and decided I would make it my main focus to know as much as possible. Down below I’ve shared everything you need to know about poodles and their curly hair.
Why Do Poodles Have Curly Hair?
This might sound a bit strange but poodles are known to be water dogs. This is why their hair tends to be spongy and curly. One of the main purposes for poodles hair is to actually protect them from cold or even freezing water temperatures.
Back in the days hunters normally used poodles to hunt with them, but after realizing how smart poodle breeds were, many people started to use them as water dogs. When it comes to work, poodles have an edge over many dogs breeds and this is due to their intelligence as well as their curly coats.
It’s safe to say that water dog breeds has been around for a very long time now and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Learn More: Best Brushes For Poodles
How Do Curly Hair Actually Protects a Poodle’s Skin?
Lots of people might be wondering how curly hair across protects poodles skin and other water dogs. Even though you’ll find that most dogs have topcoat and undercoat layers of fur, poodles are quite different, all they need is their single-layer coat to keep them warm. What will happen is that the dense, tight curls will help to keep water from actually reaching their skin. With that said, a poodle’s hair will eventually soak up all of the water before it even has a chance to reach the skin which may cause your dog to shiver.
Poodles and Their Fancy Haircuts
There might be a confusion for many people regarding fancy poodle show cuts. Most people actually think that these cuts are a bit weird, but the good news is that they have a history. At any moment a poodle’s curly hair gets wet, it tends to become heavy and whenever this happens you can expect the poodle to become very slow especially when they are doing their jobs as a water dog. What a lot of owners do is shave their hind legs in order to make them move faster and more aerodynamic in the water. Even to this day, these cuts are very popular and you may find that lots of people still do it as it is also seen as a traditional look for a show dog.
Is Poodle Hair Hypoallergenic?
Sure I’m not the only poodle owner to actually think that they were hypoallergenic. However, after doing multiple research I came to realization that the rumors I was hearing all along was pretty much a myth. The truth is this have been a rumor that has been circulating for a very long time.
What happened is that Henry Ford Hospital’s department of public health took a few samples from homes where hypoallergenic dogs lived and compared them with the homes of other dog breeds. After months of testing, the researchers found that there is no scientific basis to claim that poodles or any other dog breeds that stated to have hypoallergenic have lesser allergens.
The scientists actually stated that they couldn’t find any difference between the homes of the dogs with hypoallergenic and homes with the other dogs. They also find that some rooms had a considerable amount of dander and allergens, but what the scientists did was chalked that up to lenient and lax dog owners as they were under the impression that their dogs had no allergens.
The reason why lots of people think that poodles and other dog breeds with curly hair are hypoallergenic is the fact that these dog breeds doesn’t shed frequently. Because these dogs breed doesn’t shed, you may rarely find any dander and allergens across the house. Though this may seems like facts, it’s far from the actual truth.
Why Does Poodles Rarely Shed?
Due to the fact that poodles have curly hair is the main reason why they don’t often shed. As I’ve mentioned above, most dog breeds out there have two different coat, including topcoat and undercoat, while poodles on the other hand only have a single-layer coat of hair.
The undercoat is the culprit behind the shedding of hair that you normally see laying around the house. Though poodles tend to shed pretty much the same as the other dog breeds, their curly hair help to prevent it from dropping to the floor, as the curls trap the hair in their long strands.
There’s no doubt that this is a good thing since your poodle will not be leaving hair around the house. However, over a period of time the lost hair can become tangled with the rest of the coat, this will actually cause them to matte, which causes grooming to become difficult.
Guide On Untangling a Poodle’s Matted Curls
If it’s a case where your poodle have mats in their hair, you can literally get rid of them by following the steps below.
The first thing you have to do is get the right tool for the job. What you’ll need is proper de-matting tool. A tool that you can use for a task like this is a comb. If the tangling is moderate, the comb would be the best option, but if the tangling is severe, using a rake would do a wonderful job.
Apart from that, you can use an effective product to remove the matte coat. A product you can use to solve this problem would be a Petway de-matting solution. I have personally used this product in the past and surely did a wonderful job. You can find this product for purchase right here on Amazon.
These products are suber because it has conditioning oils that is super effective when it comes to repairing the damage. Don’t worry, this treatment is known to be painless so your dog will not endure any pain during this process.
While we highly recommend using this method, remember that it will take some time for it to work, so it’s best to have some patience.
Guide On De-matting Your Poodle’s Curly Hair
Once you’ve successfully invest in the right tools and supplies. Here are a few steps you can follow:
- You can start by saturating all of the matted hair with the products you’ve purchased. First, make sure that the mats are completely wet and then take your time and massage the hair with your fingers. This step is very important to follow since the conditioning oils are needed in order to prevent friction.
- Make sure to let the product properly dry into the hair
- Use your finger to separate the large clump into smaller sections. Once this is done use your tool to comb through the small sections.
- Take your time to break the mats into smaller sections and comb from the tip to skin until you remove all the tangles.
- If it is a case where your dogs has large mats, you should take a couple of days to get the job done. Some groomers also recommend that you use scissors in order to split large mats.