Does your doodle's hair mat?

[Anneeb]

My labradoodle's hair mats around his legs. We do brush him often but it doesn't seem to be enough. Is this normal? How should we prevent this? It can't be comfortable for him. For now we've been cutting them out when we find them. Thanks for your advice!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Post a picture to me when you guys get the cuts. I would like to see what you end up with. Peri too!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri is really short....it is weird. I didn't have time to upload photos yet - will do that tomorrow. DH said "I miss her doodle beard"....it is still there though and at least they didn't shave her...

[Melissa, Samson & Shelby]

Exactly! I grow them out over the fall, winter and spring until I get tired of the grooming!! The mat zapper looks just like the other Les Poochs brushes. I have the purple firm brush and then I added the mat zapper, it's red and looks exactly like the other brushes. I was skeptical that it would do anything different from the brush, that went right over the matts. Boy was I wrong! The matt breaker, does break the hairs and damage the area - you get big clumps of matts that are broken free.

The matt zapper brushes them out! I don't know how it works, but it brushes them out! I don't get clumps of hair or even hardly any hair that comes out in the matt zapper. I know that it is really working because I always recheck all areas with a steel comb. Any area that had a matt gets checked several times.

Oh well, I had better get breakfast and then groom them before work!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

So do you just use the mat zapper instead of the purple slicker? I just bought the purple one and have used it only once. It definitely is firmer than the green one I have been using. I use the comb also - sometimes I just comb - how many steps do I want to do?

[Julie, Izzie & Max]

Both of my doodles do mat. I am having a terrible time with Izzie's hair matting now. She is one year old tomorrow and must be going through the change to the adult coat. I have bought detangling sprays, combs, brushes and dematting rakes and can't keep ahead of the matting. She may need a serious hair cut. I hope this is a temporary situation with the terrible matting. I having gotten enough hair out of her to make a new dog.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Of course knot! Knot much! Roo has very curly wool and Tigger has curly fleece. Roo is nothing but knots when he is due for cut down, Tigger looks less knotty, but is actually worse as his hair super duper thick and dense. Soooo.... I just cut them down to about 1/2 inch every few months.

[Debra Ference-Luongo]

Edgar has a very thick, woolly fleece and matting is a terrible problem. He goes to daycare and after playing all day with the other dogs is one big mat especially if he has gotten wet. I brush and comb and cut all the mats out only to find them back the next day. Even though we prefer his coat long, I am beginning to think it is time for a short cut. It's so much easier!

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Simon is my 8-month old spiral fleece multigen ALD. I comb him every other day and the other days I brush/comb him. When I brush him, I part his hair and brush working up from the bottom a layer at a time. When I finish that all over, then I comb him. He is losing quite a bit of baby hair, but haven't had any matting problems.
Connor is my 2 1/2 yr old F1goldendoodle. He sheds a little, but no big deal. His coat is much finer than Simon's but is still pretty much a loose spiral fleece. I comb him every day with only an occassional mat from playing. His coat didn't stabilize until he was almost 2 yrs old, though.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

They both have beautiful coats. I love the loose curls and the wonderful red tail!