How Chris Christensen Big G Changed Life With Our Aussiedoodle

Every Aussiedoodle owner knows the exact moment I am talking about. You run your hand along your dog's side and your fingers catch on something that was not there yesterday. That happened to us in early 2024, when June was about six months old and her puppy coat was changing. Behind her ears, under her armpits, along the collar line, little tangles appeared overnight. My cheap pin brush just slid over the top of them, and June hated every second of brushing. I hated it too. It was our groomer who finally said the name I had been circling around: Chris Christensen. She told me the Big G slicker reaches down to the skin without scraping, and that with the right technique it could keep June from ever needing to be shaved down.

I ordered the Chris Christensen Big G in February 2024. It showed up with a lightweight coral handle and a cushioned pad full of long, flexible metal pins, and I will be honest, I did not know what to do with it at first. I had been brushing June the way you brush a short-haired dog, big sweeping strokes from neck to tail. That is exactly what you should not do with a wavy-curly coat. The slicker only works when you brush in small sections, line by line, all the way down to the skin, and then check your work with a steel comb.

The first evening, June lay on her old towel on the living-room floor and gave me about four minutes before she tried to leave. I handed her treats, kept the sections small, and quit while we were both still calm. The next evening we did a little more. Within a couple of weeks she started leaning into the brush the way she leans into a good back scratch. That was the moment everything changed. It was the brush reaching the skin without pulling, and me finally brushing the way her coat needed.

The difference showed up at the groomer's. June sees a local professional groomer about every eight weeks for a bath and a moderate-length trim, and for the first few months I braced myself for the phone call saying they had to shave her down. That call never came. The groomer said her coat was in good shape, and I knew exactly which tool deserved the credit.

Two and a half years later, the Chris Christensen Big G is still the first thing I reach for on brushing evenings. Three or four evenings a week, fifteen to twenty minutes on the living-room floor, and June has never been shaved down. That is not a small thing with an Aussiedoodle.

Fifteen minutes, three evenings a week, and June has never been shaved down in two and a half years. That is the number I am proudest of.

Here is what I want you to understand, because it took me months to learn it. The Big G is not a brush that does the work for you. It is a brush that finally lets you do the work properly. The pins are long and flexible and set into a cushioned pad, so you can reach down to the skin without scraping it, as long as you use a light hand. But you still have to work in small sections, and you still have to follow up with a plain steel comb to catch the little tangles the brush missed. I already owned that comb. I just had not understood that brushing an Aussiedoodle is a two-tool job.

In April 2024 I added TropiClean's leave-in detangling spray to the routine. A light mist on the spots that mat first, behind the ears, under the armpits, along the collar line, and the brush glides instead of tugging. I mention it because the brush works even better with a little slip, and because nobody had told me that either. The spray does not dissolve felted mats. Neither does the brush. Tight mats still go to the groomer. But the three of them together, spray, slicker, comb, are the difference between a dog who dreads brushing and a dog who settles onto her towel and waits for it.

I am a dental hygienist, not a groomer. I do not have a dog grooming channel, and I am not going to promise you a routine that works for every coat. What I can tell you is what happened in this house. June came home in October 2023 at ten weeks old. She is about 48 pounds now, with a blue merle wavy-curly coat that mats behind the ears, in the armpits and along the collar line. That is the coat type that makes owners reach for the clippers in despair. Instead, I reach for the brush.

There are things I would want to know before buying it. It costs more than the brushes on the hook at the pet supply store, and it takes practice to use well. If you brush with a heavy hand, you can scrape the skin, so you have to slow down and learn line brushing. And if you are hoping for a tool that removes a solid mat in one pass, this is not it. Nothing is. Felted mats mean a trip to the groomer. The Big G's job is to keep small tangles from ever becoming mats in the first place.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you are standing in the aisle wondering whether a better brush is worth it, here is my honest answer. Your Aussiedoodle's coat will not get easier on its own. The puppy coat change comes for every one of them, and the mats will win if you keep brushing the way you brush a short-haired dog. A brush that reaches the skin without scraping, used in small sections with a comb to check your work, is what keeps the clippers away. That is the whole thing. No promised outcomes, no gimmicks, just the right tool and twenty minutes three evenings a week. And if your dog's skin ever looks red or sore, or anything worries you, ask your groomer or your vet. That is what they are there for. The brush is just a brush. But it is a very good brush.