The most requested goldendoodle haircut styles are the teddy bear cut, the puppy cut, the lamb cut, and the kennel cut, each defined by a different body length and a different face shape.
Coat type decides which one works. A tight curly coat mats within days, while a wavy fleece coat forgives a skipped brushing.
Season, swimming habits, and your daily brushing time move the length up or down from there.
Every style below comes with numbers: body length in inches, blade size, regroom interval, and maintenance level.
Plus real price ranges and the exact wording to give your groomer so you get the cut you pictured.
What Determines the Best Haircut for a Goldendoodle?
Coat type determines the best Goldendoodle haircut. Curly coats need shorter body lengths to stay mat-free, wavy fleece coats hold 1 to 2 inches comfortably, and straight coats keep length without tangling. Climate, activity level, and daily brushing time adjust that baseline.
The Goldendoodle is a cross between the Golden Retriever and the Poodle, so coat texture lands anywhere on a spectrum between the two parents.
Goldendoodle Report notes that coat texture comes down to genetics, mainly the KRT71 curl gene and the furnishings gene inherited from each parent. Coat type is not a guess once the dog matures.
The three coat types
| Coat type | Brushing | Mat risk |
|---|---|---|
| Curly (Poodle-like) | Daily, 15 to 20 minutes | Highest |
| Wavy fleece (most common) | 3 to 5 times weekly | Moderate |
| Straight flat | 2 to 3 times weekly | Lowest, sheds more |
Goldoodle grooming data puts curly coats on a 4 to 6 week professional schedule, wavy coats on 6 to 8 weeks, and straight coats on 8 to 10 weeks.
The factors that shift the length
- Season: summer favors 1/2 inch or shorter, winter favors 1 to 2 inches
- Activity: swimmers, hikers, and mud-lovers do better short
- Age: the 12 to 18 week puppy coat transition is the highest mat-risk period of a Goldendoodle’s life
- Your brushing habit: honest answer, not aspirational answer
Skip the brushing and the cut decision gets made for you. Devoted to Dog points out that using the wrong brush on the wrong coat can cause painful mats in under a week.
The Seven Most Popular Goldendoodle Haircut Styles
Seven styles cover almost every doodle on a grooming table. Names matter here, because groomers price and cut by name.
- Teddy Bear Cut: 1 to 2 inch body, hand-scissored round face
- Puppy Cut: one even length all over, usually 1 inch or less
- Lamb Cut: short body, longer legs, rounded head
- Kennel Cut (Summer Cut): under 1/2 inch everywhere
- Lion Cut: full front end, shaved rear, pom on the tail
- Mohawk Trim: kennel-length body with a raised strip along the topline
- Feathered Natural: length preserved, edges tidied only
Pride and Groom names the teddy bear cut the single most requested Goldendoodle style, with the puppy cut close behind.
The Teddy Bear Cut
The teddy bear cut keeps the body coat at 1 to 2 inches and rounds the face into a soft, full circle with hand scissoring. It suits wavy fleece and curly coats on owners who commit to medium maintenance, and it works best in spring, fall, and mild winters.
At a glance
- Body length: 1 to 2 inches (1 inch guard comb or a #3 blade with a comb over)
- Face and head: rounded teddy expression, muzzle left full, topknot blended into the skull
- Ears: left long, rounded at the tips, blended into the cheek
- Legs and feet: cylindrical columns, feet scissored round
- Tail: full plume, tip rounded
- Maintenance: Medium. 10 to 15 minutes brushing per day
- Regroom every: 6 to 8 weeks
- Best for: family dogs, photo-heavy households, mild climates
Who it suits: Owners who want the Instagram doodle look and own a slicker brush plus a greyhound comb. It flatters apricot, cream, and red coats especially well.
Watch out for: PawBasic, a Mississauga grooming salon, says the plain truth about it: scissoring only works on a mat-free coat, and if matting has set in near the skin, a shorter cut becomes the kind option.
The Puppy Cut
The puppy cut clips the entire coat to one even length, most often 1 inch or shorter. It suits every coat type, including tight curls, and asks for low maintenance. It works year-round and stretches the interval between salon visits.
At a glance
- Body length: 1/2 to 1 inch (#4 blade or a 1/2 inch guard)
- Face and head: same length as body, lightly rounded, eyes cleared
- Ears: trimmed to jawline or shorter
- Legs and feet: same length as body, no column shaping
- Tail: trimmed short, tip tidied
- Maintenance: Low. 5 minutes brushing per day
- Regroom every: 8 to 10 weeks
- Best for: first-time owners, busy households, dogs learning to enjoy the table
Who it suits: Anyone whose brushing routine slips. Groomers interpret the length differently, with Daily Paws reporting a range of 1/2 inch to 2 inches depending on the salon, so always name a number.
Watch out for: The style has no sculpted shape, so a Goldendoodle in a puppy cut reads as generic fluff rather than a distinct breed silhouette.
The Lamb Cut
The lamb cut clips the body short and leaves the legs full, creating a column-and-barrel contrast borrowed from classic poodle haircut styles. It suits wavy and curly coats, sits at medium maintenance, and performs well from late spring through early fall.
At a glance
- Body length: 1/4 to 1/2 inch (#5 or #4 blade)
- Face and head: rounded teddy-style head to balance the short body
- Ears: left long and feathered
- Legs and feet: 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches, scissored into straight columns
- Tail: pom left full
- Maintenance: Medium. 10 minutes daily, concentrated on the legs
- Regroom every: 6 to 8 weeks
- Best for: standard Goldendoodles, warm months, owners who want shape without daily full-body work
Who it suits: Dogs with leggy proportions. The contrast makes a lanky doodle look balanced, which is the reason groomers reach for it in the first place.
Watch out for: The legs mat faster than everything else, because that hair drags through grass and gets missed during a rushed brush-out.
The Kennel Cut (Summer Cut)
The kennel cut takes the whole coat under 1/2 inch, body, legs, face, and tail at a single short length. It suits every coat type, especially neglected curly coats, and demands the lowest maintenance of any Goldendoodle style. Built for summer and for water dogs.
At a glance
- Body length: 1/8 to 1/4 inch (#7F or #5 blade)
- Face and head: clipped short, eyes and muzzle cleared
- Ears: short, kept close to the head
- Legs and feet: same length as body, pads trimmed
- Tail: clipped short
- Maintenance: Low. 2 to 3 minutes brushing, a few times a week
- Regroom every: 10 to 12 weeks
- Best for: swimmers, hikers, hot climates, senior dogs, matted coats
Who it suits: Active families. Love of Puppies reports the kennel cut stretches the longest between appointments of any doodle style.
Watch out for: The coat provides sun protection, and going to the skin removes it. A 1/2 inch to 1 inch length keeps a doodle cool and still covered, which is why most reputable salons refuse to shave without a phone call first.
The Lion Cut
The lion cut leaves a full mane across the head, neck, chest, and front legs, then clips the body short behind the ribs and finishes with a pom on the tail tip. It suits wavy and curly coats and needs medium maintenance concentrated on the front end.
At a glance
- Body length (behind ribs): 1/4 inch, #5 blade
- Mane: 2 to 3 inches, scissored into a rounded frame
- Ears: left long, blended into the mane
- Legs: front legs full, hind legs clipped with cuffs left at the ankle
- Tail: shaved shaft, round pom at the tip
- Maintenance: Medium. 10 minutes daily on the mane
- Regroom every: 6 weeks
- Best for: apricot and tan coats, show-off owners, dogs with heavy front coat
Who it suits: Apricot and tan Goldendoodles, because the color sells the effect. Daily Paws describes it as a specialty style that belongs in the hands of an experienced groomer.
Watch out for: The mane still mats at full length while the body needs nothing, so brushing feels lopsided and gets skipped.
The Mohawk Trim
The mohawk trim clips the body to kennel length and leaves a raised strip of coat 2 to 3 inches tall running from the topknot down the spine. It suits curly coats that hold shape, needs low body maintenance, and works in warm weather.
At a glance
- Body length: 1/4 inch, #5 blade
- Strip: 2 to 3 inches tall, 1 to 2 inches wide, scissored upright
- Ears: short, kept out of the way of the strip
- Maintenance: Low body, high strip. 5 minutes of comb-and-set daily
- Regroom every: 5 to 6 weeks
- Best for: curly coats, summer, owners who want something other than a teddy face
Who it suits: Tight curly coats only. A wavy fleece coat flops and the strip disappears within a week.
Watch out for: The strip flattens after every swim and needs re-combing, so this is a creative style with a chore attached.
The Feathered Natural Cut
The feathered natural cut preserves full coat length and tidies only the eyes, feet, sanitary area, and stray ends. It suits straight and loosely wavy coats, carries the highest maintenance of any style, and belongs in cold climates.
At a glance
- Body length: 3 inches and up, no clipper work
- Face and head: untouched apart from a small eye-clearing trim
- Ears: long, feathered, tips squared or rounded
- Legs and feet: feathering left, paw pads and nail hair trimmed
- Tail: full plume, flyaway ends tidied
- Maintenance: High. 20 minutes of line brushing daily
- Regroom every: 4 to 6 weeks for a tidy and full brush-out
- Best for: straight-coated doodles, cold winters, retired show homes
Who it suits: Owners of a dog with a soft wavy coat who actually enjoy brushing. TrustedHousesitters notes that an untrimmed doodle coat reaches eight inches, so this look is a commitment, not a default.
Watch out for: Miss four days of line brushing behind the ears and armpits, and the next appointment turns into a shave-down.
How to Choose the Right Goldendoodle Haircut
Match the cut to the coat type first, then adjust for season, brushing time, and the dog’s activity level. Curly coats cap out around 1 inch without daily work. Straight coats hold 2 to 3 inches with a brush-through three times a week.
Run through these in order:
- Match the length to the coat texture, not to a photo you liked
- Factor in the season and your local climate
- Estimate the brushing minutes you will honestly commit to daily
- Consider age and activity, since swimmers and seniors both benefit from short
- Check the coat for existing mats behind the ears, in the armpits, and under the collar before booking
| Style | Maintenance | Best season |
|---|---|---|
| Teddy Bear Cut | Medium | Spring, fall |
| Puppy Cut | Low | Year-round |
| Lamb Cut | Medium | Late spring to early fall |
| Kennel Cut | Low | Summer |
| Feathered Natural | High | Winter |
The same decision logic applies across doodle crosses, which is why the cuts used on Labradoodles overlap heavily with this list.
How Often Should a Goldendoodle Be Groomed?
Groom a Goldendoodle professionally every 6 to 8 weeks. Curly coats move to 4 to 6 weeks, straight coats stretch to 8 to 10 weeks, and a kennel cut runs 10 to 12 weeks between salon visits.
MOSA Pet Spa and Resort recommends a 4 to 6 week schedule for doodles as a house standard.
What shortens the interval
- The 12 to 18 week puppy coat transition, the highest mat-risk window of the dog’s life
- Swimming, since wet curls tighten and lock
- Winter, when a wet coat dries under a harness or collar
Between appointments, check behind the ears, under the armpits, and around the collar daily. Trim around the eyes every 2 to 3 weeks so vision stays clear.
Ear hair traps moisture in floppy doodle ears, so run a wipe made for cleaning dog ears through them after every swim.
Goldendoodle Haircut Grooming Cost and What to Tell Your Groomer
A full Goldendoodle groom costs 65 to 150 dollars per session, and that adds up to roughly 560 to 1,000 dollars a year on a 6 to 8 week schedule. Matted coats add a de-matting fee, and metro salons charge well above the national average.
Price factors
- Session range: 65 to 120 dollars nationally, per Animal Friends breed data
- Metro premium: New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco run 30 to 50 percent higher
- De-matting fee: 15 to 50 dollars and up
- Annual total: 558 to 840 dollars at a 6 to 8 week interval
Premier Pups puts the mini Goldendoodle range at 75 to 150 dollars per session, landing on 600 to 1,000 dollars a year. Grooming is the single largest recurring line item for the breed, and it’s one reason owning a dog costs far more than the purchase price.
What to say at the salon
Name the clip and the number. “Puppy cut” alone gets you anywhere between 1/2 inch and 2 inches depending on the groomer.
Use this script:
- “Teddy bear face, 1 inch guard on the body, ears left long and rounded.”
- “Kennel cut, #5 blade, please leave 1/4 inch and don’t go to the skin.”
- “Lamb cut, #4 on the body, legs scissored at 2 inches.”
- “Call me before shaving if the mats are too tight to brush out.”
Bring a photo. Photos settle the length argument faster than any adjective does.
FAQ on Goldendoodle Haircut Styles
What is the most popular Goldendoodle haircut?
The teddy bear cut is the most requested style. It keeps the body at 1 to 2 inches and rounds the face into a soft circle with hand scissoring, which is the look most owners picture.
What is the difference between a teddy bear cut and a puppy cut?
The teddy bear cut describes the face: rounded, full, scissored. The puppy cut describes the body: one even length all over, usually 1 inch or less, with no sculpting.
How short can I cut a Goldendoodle?
A kennel cut at 1/8 to 1/4 inch is the practical floor. Going to bare skin removes sun protection, so most groomers stop at 1/4 inch unless matting forces a full shave-down.
How often should a Goldendoodle be groomed?
Every 6 to 8 weeks professionally. Curly coats shift to 4 to 6 weeks, straight flat coats stretch to 8 to 10, and a short kennel cut runs 10 to 12 weeks.
Will my Goldendoodle’s coat grow back after a shave?
Yes. Doodle coats regrow fast, usually reaching a full inch within eight to ten weeks. Texture sometimes returns slightly softer or straighter after a shave-down, then firms up again.
Which haircut is best for summer?
The kennel cut, also sold as the summer cut. It runs 1/4 inch everywhere and suits swimmers and hikers. A lamb cut works too, keeping the legs long while the body stays short.
What blade length should I ask for?
Name the number. A #5 blade leaves roughly 1/4 inch, a #4 leaves 3/8 inch, and a 1 inch guard comb gives the classic teddy bear body length.
Why does my Goldendoodle mat so fast?
Curly and wavy fleece coats trap shed hair instead of dropping it. Mats form first behind the ears, under the armpits, and around the collar line. Line brushing prevents them.
Do Labradoodles use the same haircut styles?
Mostly yes. The Labradoodle shares Poodle coat genetics, so teddy bear, puppy, lamb, and kennel cuts all transfer, with minor differences in leg shaping and coat density.
How much does a Goldendoodle haircut cost?
Between 65 and 150 dollars per session nationally. Metro salons charge 30 to 50 percent more, and a matted coat adds a de-matting fee starting around 15 dollars.
Conclusion
Picking between goldendoodle haircut styles comes down to coat texture and honest math about your brushing routine.
Curly coats reward short. Straight flat coats hold a feathered length without punishing you for it.
The teddy bear trim wins on looks, the kennel clip wins on convenience, and the lamb cut splits the difference with fluffy leg columns over a short body.
Whatever you choose, hand your groomer a blade number and an inch measurement instead of an adjective.
Then keep a slicker brush and a greyhound comb near the door for the spots that mat first: behind the ears, the armpits, the collar line.
Regroom on schedule and no cut ever turns into a forced shave-down.
