Grooming

Maintaining a regular grooming program for your Aussiedor is vital if you want to reduce the quantity of hair that ends up all over your house and furniture. Your Aussiedor may take after his or her Lab or Shepherd father in terms of coat length and thickness. The exact coat type will dictate the grooming requirements.

Grooming your Aussiedor once a week, or even more often if your dog has a thicker coat, is recommended. If your pet has a long coat, a slicker brush may help you keep it detangled and free of dead hair. Keep in mind that Aussiedors tend to shed a lot, which makes them a poor option for families with people who are allergic to pet hair.

A weekly brushing practice is crucial to avoid matting and maintain the coat in excellent shape, and you may need to increase the frequency when your dog is shedding excessively to keep up with the excess hair. Use a dog-specific conditioner to untangle the hairs before brushing, then go over the whole coat with a slicker brush.

A few baths each year are usually all that's needed to keep a dog looking neat and tidy. In order to avoid infections, it is recommended to clean the eyes and ears once a week, and only trim the nails when they get too long.

The Labrador Retriever and the Australian Shepherd are both known for their propensity to shed heavily; the Aussiedor, however, may display shedding that is much more extreme. Because of this, regular grooming is required to control their coat, and anyone who suffers from allergies should look elsewhere since Aussiedors are not hypoallergenic.

Brushing should be done at least once per week, but more often during times of heavy shedding (such as every couple of days). The coat qualities your puppy inherits will determine whether you take a more Australian Shepherd or Labrador approach to grooming. Depending on your family history, you may need to adjust how often and with what kind of equipment you groom.