matted hair
|
|
| Hi,
All I can tell you is if you plan to do the grooming yourself, is learn the line brushing method. Speak with a professional groomer so they can show you the proper way it is done. A good comb and lots of pateince. Good Luck!!!!! |
| How bad are the mats and how big? We had our pup boarded and she came back so matted we had to shave her in spots and cut out the smaller ones. If it is too matted, cut it out. If you try to brush or comb through it you will only hurt your sheepie, and brush brush brush every day! As for a product that unmatts, haven't found one that works. Hope this helps! |
| A tip from our grooming video (easier to demonstrate than to describe, but here goes):
take the matt with thumb and forefinger of each hand either side of the matt, and gently tease the matt apart. If all you feel is resistance, try teasing the matt at right angles to the original direction...and so on. It takes a lot of patience, but it works. |
| If the mats are not very big or just starting to tangle, I use that teasing method mentioned by Mikeyg. It works great even on bigger mats, but I am not very patient.
So I bought a pair of blunted end hair shears and a dematting comb with wide teeth. I already had a metal comb with wide teeth. If the mat is continuous all the way to the ends, take the blunted shears, work it carefully through the middle of the mat and cut outwards towards you. Cut up from the roots to out towards you. You want to split the mat up. Do not just cut the mat off, as the dead matted hair roots will then still be there making a mat if you don't get it combed out. So you will just be growing another mat. After you split the mat, take the dematting comb and place it at the base of one of the matt (I go left to right) and using a gentle sawing motion bring it through the matt. Ok, if the matt is dene it will need a bit more force, so hold the matt at its base with your fingers as you work the de-matting comb through. Never just pull it through, always go back in forth in a sawing motion. Then take the comb and comb it out again. see if you can just pick out any big clumps of dead hair or use the teasing method described by Mikeyg. Make sure you are combing in a uniform manner and not covering up tangled patches when you are brushing the dog out. Always pay attention to the elbows and under arms as well as under the ears. I wouldn't advice using a small dematting comb, for some reason it hurts the dog and isn't as easy to handle. Dematting combs can be found at Petco or PetSmart and run about $16-24. Each razor sharp tooth is curved at the ends. The curvature makes it where they will not touch the dog's skin as long as you control it and use a sawing motion. Pulling is not only torture to the dog, but can end with you slashing your fingers. Don't use a dematting comb unless you have the patience to go one matt at a time. But once you get good at it, the comb can be used to thin out the hair so you can brush and comb it easier. If the thought of a dematting comb is unbearable, think about getting a thinning comb to thin out some of the underhair. Matts can creap up fast when you have an active dog, so brushing after a good run will help you find them early -- as long as you are brushing the entire coat and not just until it looks fluffy. OES hair can fluff up and cover up a tangled patch, so you need to go back through combed/brushed areasand check. The line brushing method is covered in many grooming books and videos and can be found at your local library. Look at the grooming of standard poodles if that is the only book you find at the library --it goes over various grooming methods used on all multi-layered dog hairs. |
| Ron gave this address as a reference in the grooming topics. As I was reading through it I realized it covers the subject of line brushing and mats much better than I did.
I hope this shortcut from Ron helps: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dogs-faq/breeds/oes/ |
| Agingright - you wonderful personage - we bought an anti-matting comb following your post - it's brilliant".
To be honest, I looked at it in the Pet shop and thought "this looks like a medieval instrument of torture" - I mean, this thing has seven blades all with saw teeth as sharp as razors - the dog won't go near it! However, once I'd let him sniff the thing, and Jacqui started to groom his back I had a go at the matts that have appeared on Woof's face (seemingly overnight) - well, to my great surprise he not only neglected to shy away, but he acutally slumped with his head on my leg - I've never seen him so relaxed when being groomed! Thank You!  |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|