A bit confused!
Would you use a de-matting comb for this to thin the undercoat?? Currently I use the pin brush, a slicker, and a comb to brush him, but there are some small matts on his undercoat recently. They do brush out, but not so easily. So what I am asking is for tips to thin the undercoat to make grooming him a bit easier!? Thank you in advance. |
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| If you brush properly & with the correct tools, you should be able to manage the undercoat & keep the coat relatively mat free. Even those of us who show will get mats in their dog's coats. It's just part of the breed. Taking part or all of the undercoat out will make the rest of the coat "hang" sort of in a limp way & make your dog look ilke he doesn't have the proper kind of coat for an OES. You'll lose that "fluffy, plumped up look". Keeping them "in coat" just requires a bit more grooming time on a regular basis. I break mine down into doing 1/3 or 1/2 of a dog an evening. When in full coat & in good condition generally takes about 1 hour or so, depending on the size of the dog & how well they behave on the table. |
| What Marilyn said. Most of the stripping for show happens on the neck and chest (where most dogs are typically primarily white) and even there you don't want to go crazy. On the body and legs you try to preserve as much undercoat as possible. What often happens is that people don't know how to brush (or can't be bothered?), so they strip out the undercoat, but grow these obscenely long coats that lay flat, making the dog look like a beardie/OES wannabe (mix). In those cases, I'd much rather see the dog naked, or in a nice, bold puppy cut. If the matting/grooming gets out of hand, never be afraid to shave the dog down and start over. It doesn't take that long to grow it out again, really, depending on the dog. Plus, it's a learning process. Too, with puppies, many go through these horrible matting stages during coat transitions that just aren't worth working through. Now, if you want to keep an OES in (true) coat, two things: 1) you invest in a grooming table, if you haven't already, to save your back 2) you teach the dog to lie down on the grooming table on its side Then you can line-brush through one side (primarily using a pin brush), turn the dog over, and line brush the other. Some times, depending on amount and state of coat, it helps to do one side one night and one the other. Removing mats does effectively thin coat some. But there are ways to minimize that, by splitting the mats open with your fingers. If I'm intentionally stripping (say some neck or chest coat from a overgrown bushy dog) I use a stripper (a certain type of mat splitter, even if the dog has no mats, ideally, but not a rake), and not a comb. And the dog is standing on the table for that. Kristine |
Ditto Kristine  |
| Thank you everyone. Yeah I was reading through and definitely got a bit confused. He's more tangled underneath than matted right now, as they do come out as I brush through and work on him. I have also found that doing one side, then the other on the other night definitely works better for us. He's in a transitioning stage right now, with the puppy coat coming out more, the undercoat finally coming in, which as I have read might be also why it's a bit more difficult right now. He's my first OES and I do want him to be fully and beautiful! WE are a work in progress! LOL. |
| Oh the transitioning stage is difficult!! It could be why you are having so many issues. I wanted lily to be in full coat too but I found that stage so difficult. I would look at her too long and her coat would matt, lol. I shaved her down and started with the new coat. It was much much easier after that. It didn't take too long to have her new beautiful coat grow. Before I knew it she had 7" of hair. |
AnInnocentEvil wrote: Oh the transitioning stage is difficult!! It could be why you are having so many issues. I wanted lily to be in full coat too but I found that stage so difficult. I would look at her too long and her coat would matt, lol. I shaved her down and started with the new coat. It was much much easier after that. It didn't take too long to have her new beautiful coat grow. Before I knew it she had 7" of hair. Thank you! Yeah, I feel exactly the same, that the tangles I brushed out last night will be there when I get home, lol. |
| One little tip - if you are in the midst of a matted area, get it all worked out before you stop if at all possible. Otherwise, the remnants you leave in will mat up in the surrounding hair faster than the other non-matted areas, causing you more time and wasted effort. I swear, they grow while we sleep (or are at work)... |
got sheep wrote: One little tip - if you are in the midst of a matted area, get it all worked out before you stop if at all possible. Otherwise, the remnants you leave in will mat up in the surrounding hair faster than the other non-matted areas, causing you more time and wasted effort. I swear, they grow while we sleep (or are at work)... Thank you! I have been doing that, mostly because the thought of actually starting to work on anything again is not appealing, lol. Doing one side, then the other works well. Hopefully this stage goes fast! |
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