Grooming Lagotto Romagnolo

The Lagotto Romagnolo is fairly low-maintenance for a double coated breed. They have curly, non-shedding hair that needs to be clipped or scissored depending on a style you like. I have multiple videos available on YouTube and you are most welcome to watch them.

Puppy grooming

The puppy coat is very soft and gradually develops curl and structure. Soon, after you get your puppy home, you need to clip or scissor their coat. Although puppies look very cute with a long coat, this will help to improve the curls.

Wee introduce puppies to grooming from early age. They have their nails clipped every week since birth. This practice desensitize Lagotto dislike for nails trim and prevents them from scratching their mother. Puppies also introduced to grooming table where they get lots of treats and light brushing with metal comb. They also introduced to clippers vibration on the table and light clipping under the tail. At 5 weeks puppies get full body clip and then maintenance clip (groin, ears, open eyes) before they go home at closer to 9 weeks of age.

Grooming Lagotto

As the coat develops it will loose puppy softness and become more coarse. It takes up to 2 to 3 years for the Lagotto coat to develop fully. The adult coat range from large open curls to small tight curls. Some coats develop mats more than others.

Every grooming begins with a bath. Try not to bath your Lagotto more than once a month because too much shampooing will destroy water and dirt resistant properties of their coat. Choose non-oil stripping shampoo to protect the coat. Then use force blower to fluff the dog. It will blow out some mats and dead hair as well as separate those tight curls for easy combing if needed. If you don’t have force blower the coat can be combed lightly with a metal comb after the dog bathed and let him/her dry up naturally. For puppies use regular fan to dry them up so they do not get cold, unless it is a hot summer day.

Lagotto coat should be trimmed to the lines of the body and the tail trimmed like a carrot. Legs should have longer coat and look like columns. The head should appear round, with the eyes visible and hair on the ears trimmed around the edges to the leather. Lagotto coat is very easy to maintain if you choose shorter version and clip them 4 to 5 times a year.

The hair from the ear canal should be gently plucked regularly to prevent build-up of wax and dirt. Some Lagotto have lots of hair some very minimal amount. Use ear powder to pluck with your fingers for better grip. If the ear is too narrow for you to reach you can use hemostat to pull hair from ear canal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nZzoevkVpc

Key points to easy grooming:

You will need:

Good clippers, I use Andis brand

Several blades, # 30 for pads and ears edges, # 4 would be the longest for body and #7 the shortest

Wide toothed comb

Curved or straight scissors, (I use both) to scissor legs and head

Force blower

Non oil stripping shampoo

1.Wash the dog

2. Use force blower to untangle the coat but not to dry out completely

3. Comb out any mats and let your dog to dry out

4. Clip the body, scissor head and legs and blend the edges

You don't need to do a perfect or complete job when you first attempt to groom your puppy. Keep sessions short and fun, don't stress yourself about half clipped puppy. The most important part for you and your puppy is to learn and be patient. With practice you both will get good at it.