Frustrated - I'm clueless on grooming
The groomer of course mentioned Hendrix's matts. His matts are on the inside of his hips, paws, under his ears, his snout, and on his elbows (if that's what you call them!). I'm just so frustrated with brushing him and still getting matts. The groomer showed me a better way of grooming him. Now the groomer tells me they can spot shave him, but seeing the areas he needs to be shaved he'll look ridiculous! Or they can just puppy shave him so we can start over. We LOVE the look of a sheepdog and want to avoid the shave. Does anyone think I should go with the spot shave? Will it ever even out? Is it best to get the puppy cut? Should I invest in some clippers to maintain the matts? Is it so bad to keep that matts or is it unhealthy for him? I love my furball and want to keep him that way! HELP! |
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| Are they really so bad now that you couldn't, with time & patience, get them out? Can they be pulled apart with your fingers & then gently combed through with a wide tooth comb? I don't know your groomer but a lot of them just don't want to take the time to get them out. |
| I think it is worth trying gently to get the mats out but if you can't, those areas all sound like areas that could be spot shaved without being so obvious. I had Chummie's hips shaved due to hotspots last fall and you can tell the difference, but it doesn't bother me. And I mean the outside of her hips, not the inside where Hendrix has them. I find that using some detangler/conditioning spray when I brush them helps (and smells good too).
It is bad to let mats go unaddressed because they get bigger and tighter, pull at the skin and prevent healthy airflow. So you do need to take care of them. Good luck. . . |
| It is unhealthy to keep the matts. They can cause many different skin problems, tears due to pulling, dry and infected skin under the matts and critters can even get under the matts and make a nice little home. Ewwww
Either you or the groomer could cut the matt at the base and then work from there. He may look a little goofy with long and short spots but the long areas would give you areas to practice on while you monitor the problem areas. You can have the stomach, groin junction, elbows and armpit areas shaved. In those areas, the longer hair falls over the shaved or short areas and you wouldn't be able to tell. Those areas cause tons of problems and are hard to groom, if you have them cut short you can watch them and maintain them more easily. |
Maxmm wrote: critters can even get under the matts and make a nice little home. Ewwww
ewwww! |
| Shaving him down isn't the end of the world, as his coat grows back you can brush him so he stays matt free. If the matts are that bad that may be your only option. |
| When I got Maggie, she was very badly matted. I worked for 3 months patiently working on the mats, spitting up some, cutting out others; but made little progress. I finally took her to a groomer who spent 4 hours with a rake and comb one day and 2 more hours with her under sedation. Untimately she did not give a puppy cut, but shaved the insides of her legs and belly, and raked most of the rest of the area. The hair on her ears were so badly matted around the edges you couldn't even find the skin. Since then I have been able to comb them both twice a week. Maggie has a thick undercoat and it takes 1½ - 2 hours and Barney about 1 hour. Then the Groomer bathes and brushes them out once a month. It took about 6 months for Maggies shaved areas to grow out to the point where they blend in with the rest of her, and she looks pretty good.
To sum up, try it yourself; but if you can't do it in a month or two, be kind to your dog and get rid of the mats. Whatever it takes, the hair will grow back in no time. |
| Now that he's been to the groomer, is he relatively mat-free? If so, since you mentioned that the groomer showed you a better way to groom him, I would say give it a little while before having him shaved to a puppy cut. If you are really against the shaving, I would say spend some time trying to get the mats out... |
| If you want to keep the look of the long coat, but really take most of the work out, just remove a lot of the undercoat. That's what we do with Clyde-- he's got almost 12 inches of topcoat and very fluffy and shaggy.He just doesn't look as wide as he would if had all the bulk underneath, which is probably good since he barely fits through the dog door! I use a Mars rake around once a week and just thin him out a bit. He's had one smalll (easily removable matt) since last month. Otherwise, with regular brushing (maybe 10 minutes a couple of times a week) he stays matt free. |
| You can try purchasing a matt breaker and try to work through the mats. If you're not familiar, it looks like a claw with 4 razor blades. You just start raking through the matt as gently as possible (you will really need to hold the matt while you do this so his hair doesn't get pulled too much) and it usually cuts it into manageable pieces. You will still lose some hair but it won't look as bad as shaving the areas.
As for making Hendrix's coat more manageable. You can still keep the length but thin it out so it's quicker to brush and work through. You can take the same matt breaker to do this by lifting up his hair and and stripping out his undercoat. It should come off in big handfuls and it will be really soft. Hope his ear feels better soon! ~VerveUp |
| Oops sorry Butterscotch's mom already suggested the same thing that I did. Hear is a photo of what the matt breaker that I'm talking about looks like http://www.cherrybrook.com/store/Produc ... ctID=52427 . You can purchase them at any Petsmart or other pet place.
~Verve |
| That thing looks dangerous! Are those razor blades?? |
Val they are a great matt breaker, they look like razor blades but not sharp like that. The slightly sharp part is towards the hook at the top and very hard to cut a dog with, with the way they are designed. Great for getting into those matts that have felted in difficult spots. It does take a bit of hair out but better then shaving a matt off and leaving a big bare hole in that area. I have one and though seldom use it, have for the occassional difficult tight matt. They are safe and great  |
| I use an extra pair of bandage scissors to break up the mats. You can get a set at a uniform shop. The longer bottom blade has a blunted end to protect the skin.
I start as close as possible to the skin, pointing the blade toward the end of the hair. There is minimal hair loss and the dogs don't mind. |
| I take my dog Gus to the groomer every 3 weeks, it keeps the mats under control and the groomer gives us a discount for going so often. That seems to be the only way to keep the long hair, unless you have at least an hour every day to brush, etc |
| Ouch!
Careful with the Matbreaker... I have a bandage on my thumb 
Just glad it was me & not Beebles. It did take the mats out slick as a whistle 
Diane...proper storage of tool is VIP |
| What does a "rake" look like? And how do you use it properly? I think I have one...does it look like a loop of metal with teeth?
I have no idea how to use it...not even sure why I bought it?
I have spent a fortune on grooming supplies...only to realize that I really have no idea what I'm doing and then take the muppets to the groomer anyway! 
They just went on Thursday, Gooch is shaved again  and Murphy is really fluffy...he looked at Gucci like "WHO WAS YOUR HAIRDRESSER!?"  |
| Coll..it looks like a rake...lol...its good for getting extra undercoat out... |
| The Mars one looks like this:
http://hppets.com/pages/catalog/groomin ... ing_rakes/ It's great for stripping while you line groom. The blades are really sharp but I think it's a lot easier to cut yourself than your dog because of the curve! They also make the big ones: http://shop.petsmart.com/product/253437 ... 777731.htm I've used one like this on Lucy but it's useless on Clyde! |
Well...it looks like it would work!!!  I really need to do something...his white fur is especially thick...well...not right now!
Thanks! |
| when we bought our house last year I had no time to brush merlin out everyday and eventually he got so bad that I ended up breaking down and getting him shaved for the first time. I almost cried, it was like losing my own hair, but I'm over it now and Merlin is still cute as ever. I also have a rake and a matt braker comb, they work really well on some of those problem areas, but you have to be careful of course. I now vow to take out the time to brush him so I won't have to get him shaved as often. I go to the groomer's every week now (she doesn't charge me!) She knows we just bought a house and don't have a ton of money to be spending on professional grooming. I just go in there once a week and I do all the work myself, I just use her tools. We also take him in all the time because the first time was a horror, he fought with us and hated being up on that table, he's gotten much better about the whole thing. But if it ever does get too bad shaving is probably the way to go because then you can get a fresh start! |
| gosh i feel your pain... i had the same problem - especially when the matts are hidden behind london's ears and chin... everyone has mentioned about the rake - they sell them for 6 bucks at petco (theyre on sale now.. get it while they last!) |
| i have a adwice for you it helps for my dogs. I take 1 part of balsam (you can use your own) and 10 part of wather and a litle bit of babyoil. Shake it well. Use a spraybox and spray it into the matt, use your fingers so you get it into the hole matt. Let it stay ther for a few ouhers then you take a comb and use at the same time your finger. Pull it out carefully.
i have livd with long-coateddogs in my hole life and I have never cut one of my dog. When they become filty I always get i out whit this recipe. Good luck!  |
| Balsam? |
Willowsprite wrote: Balsam? Sorry Balsam is the norwegian word for CONDITIONER  |
Oh ok  Thank you |
| I'm thinking I need the rake for Max. I looked at the Mars rakes, but what size would be right?
Sharon |
| Get the medium sized, 10 blade one. It's the right size and sharpness for the OES coat. It's the one I have and it works great. In fact, I just stripped almost an entire plastic grocery bag of undercoat off Clyde tonight with it almost effortlessly and you can hardly tell he lost any hair. I never do the whites since the hair is different there.
The sad part is, that was mostly only off his legs and butt-- I hardly touched the midsection. I have a lot more to go! |
| Thanks, I can hardly wait to get started on Max, luckily I have lots of plastic grocery bags in the pantry!!
Sharon |
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