Oh my! I just realized that Coal has a bizillion mats and I have no idea what to do. I tried to brush a couple of them out with a metal comb but he acted like it hurt so I stopped. What can I do? I feel terrible! Do I need to have him shaved or can I work them out? Also, I am hoping that he is in this condition because at 10 months he is blowing his puppy coat???? Will this be a continuous worry?
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I think everyone has good luck with the le-pooch brush. I couldnt afford it so I use an Oster undercoat rake to cut mats loose then use a slicker brush to catch them. I can't say Tucker loves it but he puts up with it. It does take me a while, I should do it every week but don't always. And I know this sounds crazy but I think because I do Tuckers grooming and walking, he totally thinks I'm the leader of the pack whereas my husband feeds him and picks up the yard but Tucker sometimes doesn't mind him as well....I also started noticing problems with mats at 8-9 months with Tucker. He's 11 months now and we have to keep on top of it.
hi there. i hate to tell you this, but once the mats are all the way to the skin, it could be that the only thing to do is have the dog shaved. we just went through this with our labradoodle yesterday!
she had gotten into some (thousands!) burrs, and we tried combing them out but to no avail. turns out she was also so matted that they couldn't get a comb through and in that case they must get rid of the mats. they had to shave her but honestly she doesnt' look nearly as bad as I thought! I was dreading picking her up from the groomer.
see, if you have mats and the dog's hair gets wet, it tightens the mats and they can actually end up pinching the dog's skin which is painful. also, they won't dry properly and you can then get some skin problems and sores.
believe me, we had our dog slightly groomed this summer (much to my husband's chagrin!) and i thought I was keeping up with brushing her, but her fleecy coat is so thick I wasn't getting all the way down to the skin. she had such bad mats by yesterday that it was more of the reason they had to shave her than the burrs were the reason.
the groomer showed me a metal comb that we need to buy for in a few months when her fur starts getting long enough.
i didn't realize this but our dog is considered a "high maintenance" dog in grooming terms because she has more of the fleecy poodle coat than the wiry lab coat. now I'm jealous of the labradoodle owners who have the wiry coated dogs!! but the groomer also said that we may find we end up preferring a shorter cut to the longer wavy one, and we may decide to keep her cut shorter. i doubt my husband will ever agree to that, but I might!! brushing takes a LONG time, and if you don't get all the way down to the skin, it will mat anyway.
i'm so sorry! Take your dog to a good, reputable groomer, and see if they can comb the mats out. do not bathe the dog!
i think what happened to us is that when we took our dog to the doggy day care/kennel, they bathed her and maybe didn't brush her out before and after. because her mats seemed to pop up after the stay at the kennel.
good luck!!
Christine
she had gotten into some (thousands!) burrs, and we tried combing them out but to no avail. turns out she was also so matted that they couldn't get a comb through and in that case they must get rid of the mats. they had to shave her but honestly she doesnt' look nearly as bad as I thought! I was dreading picking her up from the groomer.
see, if you have mats and the dog's hair gets wet, it tightens the mats and they can actually end up pinching the dog's skin which is painful. also, they won't dry properly and you can then get some skin problems and sores.
believe me, we had our dog slightly groomed this summer (much to my husband's chagrin!) and i thought I was keeping up with brushing her, but her fleecy coat is so thick I wasn't getting all the way down to the skin. she had such bad mats by yesterday that it was more of the reason they had to shave her than the burrs were the reason.
the groomer showed me a metal comb that we need to buy for in a few months when her fur starts getting long enough.
i didn't realize this but our dog is considered a "high maintenance" dog in grooming terms because she has more of the fleecy poodle coat than the wiry lab coat. now I'm jealous of the labradoodle owners who have the wiry coated dogs!! but the groomer also said that we may find we end up preferring a shorter cut to the longer wavy one, and we may decide to keep her cut shorter. i doubt my husband will ever agree to that, but I might!! brushing takes a LONG time, and if you don't get all the way down to the skin, it will mat anyway.
i'm so sorry! Take your dog to a good, reputable groomer, and see if they can comb the mats out. do not bathe the dog!
i think what happened to us is that when we took our dog to the doggy day care/kennel, they bathed her and maybe didn't brush her out before and after. because her mats seemed to pop up after the stay at the kennel.
good luck!!
Christine
Hi there
We too have had a BIG problem with mats this summer. Swimming seems to make them much worse. Some people on this forum recommended the La Pooch brush ( I think that was it) but it was a bit pricey for me, so I bought another one for around $15 from the pet store. It has metal teeth that basically shred the mat. It does pull, so of course Sadie doesn't like it. I ended up just cutting out the worst ones. Gives her kind of a patchy, street urchin kinda look, but it was either that or a full shave.
We too have had a BIG problem with mats this summer. Swimming seems to make them much worse. Some people on this forum recommended the La Pooch brush ( I think that was it) but it was a bit pricey for me, so I bought another one for around $15 from the pet store. It has metal teeth that basically shred the mat. It does pull, so of course Sadie doesn't like it. I ended up just cutting out the worst ones. Gives her kind of a patchy, street urchin kinda look, but it was either that or a full shave.
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