Poodles/doodles and wet and muddy country life

[Doodledilemma]

I have been offered a poodle cross which I am considering.

Im posting here as I have read that care of poodle coats is quite specific.
One thing I am thinking, is that I have an outdoors life style, and my dogs get wet and muddy frequently.

I know this won’t be a problem for the dog itself, but I realise that my other dogs are pretty smooth haired, whereas this one looks like a real mop.

I’ve never used dog groomers, a quick brush and occasional dunk in the bath has always been enough.
Any tips on dealing with muddy doodles?

Probably due to the mixed coat, yeah.

He's very fleecy, rather than curly, and we keep him quite long.

He takes her over an hour just to dry.

@Doodledilemma

Went for a walk in the woods earlier, he had his coat on so just his legs and tail got dirty. This is the colour of the water from rinsing them!

I have a border terrier who only gets roughly dried with a towel if he's very wet, or bathed if he's rolled in something revolting. Otherwise he gets handstripped twice a year for £40 a go. Very low maintenance!

Then we recently got a cockapoo. 🙄Lord, he is like the most absorbent walking sponge, and everything sticks to him. He's only 6 months old but he's already on a regime of being fairly closely clipped every 7 weeks (£20 a time where we are, bargain), and whilst I towel him off and use a drying coat if possible, I generally let him dry then just rub the dirt off him. In between grooms he'll have at least one full bath and brush out just to make sure no mats are forming. I love him but never again, should have got another BT!

@JanesSadLittleLife we’ve said our next dog will be a border terrier. Never getting another Schnauzer, gorgeous as she is!

@JanesSadLittleLife I so want a BT. Gorgeous things. That's actually what I thought we'd end up with after we lost our previous dog.

DP was concerned about yapping (purely because there's one on our road that yaps constantly when walking), and I wanted minimal shedding so we went for a large poodle mix. Who, ironically, is the most vocal little prick I've ever met. We can't even hear to greet each other when we get home because the dog is grumbling like a loon!

I'm hoping that in a few years, once the children are older, DP will agree to a second dog.

We use a Equafleece full suit for ours on really muddy walks - they do summer and winter weight ones, but we just use the winter one in the colder months. Keeps him warm, dry in even heavy rain and clean - it’s a great thing.

They all have different coats - ours very rarely matts and I can’t remember the last time I brushed him, his coat is more spaniel-like than poodle. I stick him in the groomers every 8-10 weeks for a trim.

I had a labradoodle that had a wire coat like a lab on a bad hair day. She didn't shed and didn't need clipping either. Best dog ever. Our current dog is a St Bernard collie cross. I clip him myself every 6 weeks.

@DrMeredithGrey2023 @MissyB1 BTs are amazing - our first dog was a Patterdale and she was virtually fucking feral, so our border by comparison is just lovely. He is not yappy at all, he's great with other dogs, he's clever and funny, loves people but is also independent. We adore him, my dad has one and there are 3 in our tiny rural village. Vets often have them!

The cockapoo is a massive prick (I still love him obvs, he's a gorgeous blue merle just such a knob) and I WISH we'd got another BT - but there was a woman we knew who had 2 borders, and she said it was the worst mistake she ever made because it made her first BT reactive/protective over the younger one. Damn thing just barked constantly, so we thought we'd get a fairly nondescript, non-terrier crossbreed. Friends of ours have a lovely cockapoo so we went there, but OMG he never sits still and the coat maintenance...!