A friend has recently taken ownership of a very cute four year old Bichon frise cross poodle, called Benjie. Benjies' coat is quite long and curly and she can't really get a brush through it. She doesn't want all his lovely coat removed but has no idea how you go about looking after this sort of coat. Any suggestions most welcome!
Thanks in advance, DD.

If he's already knotty if might be worth taking him to a trained groomer, making sure that she explains that she doesn't want him clipped but completely groomed out.  Once he's groomed back to the skin, then the groomer could recommend appropriate grooming equipment, probably a slicker and a medium fine toothed comb, so that she can keep him in good condition. :)
But a combination of Bichon/Poodle coat will probably need trimming/scissoring on a regular basis as both breeds would be diffcult to keep well groomed without.

Thanks for that info. Val , I will pass it on to her. Previous owner ( sadly deceased) didn't want Benjie clipped at all?? Don't know why.  So my friend feels a bit unsure what to do, doesn't want to get the dog clipped but does want him to look good and have a nice unmatted coat.

I wouldn't necessarily clip the dog, but to scissor it 2" long all over in a puppy type trim, not having a breed standard for a cross;), could look pretty and help to manage the coat better. :)

Have you got a photo of the dog? If you have you can e-mail it me.  You could do similar to what we do with the SWD as the coat could be fairly similar but if it's recently in a new home it might be a bit too much.  It may be best to have it clipped as long as possible and then see if the coat can be maintained from there.

sorry to take so long to reply, it's getting a bit mad here now we're starting to pack to leave for France. No , I don't have a pic of Benjie or I would email his pic, he's so adorable. Yes I'd describe his coat as similar to the SWD. Val, will pass on verbatim what you've suggested about 2 inch scissoring all over. Thanks to both of you.