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BPO Grooming Forum => Discussions & Information on Grooming => : Winslow 151 June 08, 2006, 01:43:29 PM
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Hi,
Winslow is developing Leg matts, His coat otherwise is fantastic and requires little grooming :D I have never groomed him myself, and I am looking for suggestions on how to manage these leg matts. He is going to the groomer Sunday for the works but I'd like to take care of small matts and stuff with out the groomer expense.
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Do you have one of those combs with the long teeth that have sharp blades? I'm not sure what they are called...de-matters? :P You just slide the teeth of the comb (I think there are about 6 blades....) down the skin of the dog and pull gently through and the blades cut the mat out with virtually no discomfort to the dog at all. I think I got mine at Petco?? I use it on the Newfs about once a week to get mats out and then brush that area well because there's all sorts of loose fur after the mat has been cut.
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Dolly gets bad mats on her legs. I either try to pull them out by hand, brush them out, or cut them out with scissors. But since she has virtually no fur now, I don't have to worry about them anymore!
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I just use our regular undercoat rake, or just a regular wide-toothed comb. When using the rake, it sometimes skips over the matt itself, so I don't use it as much, but with the comb, you want to start at the end of the matt farthest from the skin, and slowly pull the matt apart. If the matts are caused by mud and dirt, as they are on my male, then rinsing off the legs and giving the hair a good brushing while wet and then after becoming dry(as matts form quicker when hair is wet) works really well. Good luck.
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Yeah, what Mari said! Those things are great. Mine is one of the ones that flip over, and on one side is the de-matter, and the other side is the undercoat rake!
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I have one of those matt cutting thingies (technical term ;) ) but my dogs HATE it! I end up using the scissors for anything that is an actual matt or just using the rake or the brush to try to catch them before they matt. I guess that is my trick - to try to brush out trouble spots on a regular basis before they become matted. None of mine are show dogs though so I focus on their comfort rather then keeping beauty in mind. I don't mind them having gaping fur holes when I do end up cutting out matts. Behind the ears I've been known to occasionally trim the fur by hand to make it less likely to matt.