(Update: Added pre and post grooming pics)Need some help wih explaining what I want to the groomer

[Heather & Brinkley]

Update:  I added the pre and post grooming pics at the end of the discussion as a "reply."

_____________________

Hi!

It has been a bit since I've been on here...we've just been busy. Brinkley has gotten rather shaggy and now that we made our visit to the vet for the annual shot updates, he can visit the groomer tomorrow. I now the groomer is going to suggest we shave Brinkley. I have doing a fantastic job maintaining his shaggy fur until yesterday. Yesterday was the demise of all my hard work. Brinkley and I Went for a boat trip with friends yesterday, and between, his fur blowing in the wind, romps on the sandy beach, catch and fetch in the water and then a wet windy ride back to shore, he is matted. I tried to work on it last night and again just now, but I'm getting nowhere. With that said, I know he will have to be cut short but I don't want him shaved. I'm worried about sunburn bc he has light skin. I know very little about grooming. Is it possible to scissor cut a dog with mats or is shaving the only option? I'm not sure how to explain what I want to the groomer. I still want him to appear round even if he's not fully shaggy/fluffy. I've tried to attached my favorite pic of Brinkley post grooming but i cant figure it out on my iPad... And the groomer we are going to didn't do this... And I'm not sure if this would be considered "short".

Any help would be appreciated!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I think your best bet is to take a picture of him or another doodle with the cut that you want Brinkley to have to the groomer. Take one that you can leave with the groomer as she is working on him so she can refresh her memory as she goes.  It helps them to have a visual because one person's "short" may be another person's "shaved".

Also, some groomers won't take the time to remove mats and if they find them will do a shave down and then explain to you when you pick up your doodle that now looks like a complete stranger that they had no choice.  I would have her evaluate his coat when you arrive and have her tell you right then what she can or is willing to do with it.  Tell her you don't like surprises! Give her your phone number and ask for a call if she runs into something unexpected so you can be in on the decision making process. Good luck! I know how stressful it can be...

[Heather & Brinkley]

Thanks... I'm still tring to decide if I like this groomer. She works at the daycare that i take Brnkley to, and I love the daycare and it comes with the added bonus that Brinkley is never in a crate...he's in daycare until it's his grooming time. But I feel like she may be one of those, "if I find a mat, he's getting shaved" groomers. I feel like groomers look at you like you are a bad owner if your dog has a few mats... And I hate that feeling bc Brinkley is very well taken care if. He is just soooo active! I don't want to be made to feel guilty... I want to know that I'm paying them to avoid shaving. Ugh. It's just hair, why does this stress me!! Haha.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara's groomer was the same way about mats! She would look Tara over and then look at me and say something like "she has a MAT!" And I'm thinking "yeah, so?" This was during her puppy grow out faze and I just could not keep up with it and spent what seemed like every waking hour grooming her to no avail and still reaped the groomer's contempt for lack of care of my doodle!

You could call first, tell her he has mats and offer to pay her extra to demat him before grooming. Some groomer's will do it but it can take a while so they probably charge extra.Also, you never know how gentle they are with your dog. Dematting can be painful if not done with care.

If he is real active, which it sounds like he is, perhaps you should consider having his coat cut fairly short for the summer (not shaved). How long is the cut that you want him to have?

I think most people feel stressed if they haven't found a really good groomer or they have ended up like myself doing their own grooming-it helps take the stress and guess work out of it! Maybe you should just pull out a pair of scissors and go at it! :)

[Heather & Brinkley]

Yes, he is very active. I'm going to try to figure how to attach a current pic vs. my favorite "groomed pic" of him. I am going to see if she's willing to cut him instead I'd shave him. Heck, if a mat is cut it tends to loosen anyway! He's mainly matted by his neck where he had his collar when he was swimming. I almost took it off but then knew I couldn't catch him if I had to.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, the collar area can be a problem. Some people keep that area shorter than the rest of the coat because of that and because it really doesn't show anyhow.

Well, good luck tomorrow. Let us know how it goes. Glad you got the mats out-now she has NO excuse! LOL!

[Lynda Kamrath]

If you do decided to get out the scissors and go at it, I would recommend that you get a good mat cutter (we have two different ones) and be real careful with it.  It can easily cut your dog's skin or your fingers.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Yes, I didn't realize that my mom had a mat cutter so I took hers and now he is virtually mat free.

[Ginny Nightingale]

OK--gotta add my two cents--I groom doodles and lots of them come with many mats--I do one doodle at a time in my home and do not rely on it for a living, so if it takes me three hours to get the mats out and clip/scissor, so be it. That said, I still have to shave parts sometimes. That is mostly because the dog got wet and the mats turned to cement--cutting them out is possible, but the hair would still be so short that it will look shaved anyway. It is very painful for the dog to have mats pulled out and believe me, they don't like it. The clippers will NOT go through the mats and even scissors have a hard time--often it is hard to tell where the skin ends and the mat begins and the dog gets cut!

So, ask yourself this: Do I want the shaggy look so much that I am willing to let Brinkley suffer while the mats are pulled out? Or am I willing to let his hair be short so that he can be more comfortable? --after all, it grows back fast!

There is another way--you can have the tough spots, like around the ears cut very short and then blend those areas into the areas where Brinkley does not have so many mats--that way, he won't look shaved--then in a month or so, have it all evened out again. OR ask your groomer if they have a 5/8 inch blade that goes onto the clipper--not a comb, but an actual blade that cuts the hair 5/8 inch long--still short, but not shaved. That blade will go through matted hair when a comb on the clipper won't. For me it is a very useful tool. Here is a haircut that I did with a 5/8 inch blade. This guy had a lot of mats when I started.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Well instead of figuring out how to upload pics , I just spent the last hour working on Brinkley and he is now virtually mat free. He has a few knots in places but the mats have either been cut or combed out. I wasn't able to do this before with the brush I had but my mom found a tool she used on her long haired dogs (when they were still alive)... So now if she tells me she has to shave him, I will know it is time to change groomers.

And if course I don't want him to be in pain... But also don't want him so short he gets a sunburn. I have found with many groomers that they don't communicate. I just show up and "surprise" we had to shave him. One groomer did this, and i had to keep Brinkley inside because he was shaved to skin. I just haven't found one yet that I am happy with. I feel like I'm talking a different language and I haven't found a wa to tell them what I want. Wish you lived closer Ginny! Thanks for the tips.

[Ginny Nightingale]

So glad you got them out! Good luck with the grooming--I have some wide tooth steel combs that work well and if you just put the end of the comb into the mat (one tooth in the mat) and pull gently, that is another way to work it out--you have to repeat that a few times to loosen it up--Good for you for taking the time to work on his coat and I hope the groomer does what you want.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Also you can virtually pour detangler on him where the mats are so that she can get out any that might remain before she washes.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am lucky to have a great groomer. I am a terrible groomer and she never says anything :) My dogs are so much more comfortable with shorter hair. For Vern, I tell her to cut him short, but do not shave. Here he is at about his shortest cut.

Fudge mats a lot more than Vern and a short cut on her, just makes everyone's life easier. This is slightly grown out and my favorite length on Fudge.