A hard coat to manage!

Since no dog is perfect, I have picked my own Booly Wooly to use as an example of what a Barbet coat should never look like. He takes after his father Tiboubou de la Baie des Landes. As said in the standard the coat when brushed out to the skin, should shor-te-ly...fall back into strands. This type of bushy coat will never fall into strands. it is most difficult to manage. This type of coat is also difficult when in the standard it says it should cover the eyes. Hard to do when it completely blocks them from seeing.
The graying in the tail comes from the poodle in him and is different from the graying in the ones who have a lot of SWD or Portuguese water dog blood.They have several different shades on them.
Bottom line, his coat is fabulous when he comes out of water, with lots of lovely rings and for a day or so after. Then it matts.
Notice how lovely his eyes are?! He knows I'm talking about him.