Preventing Matting

[Leslie & Axl Sacks]

Hi. New to this group so I don't know if I'm being redundant in asking if you all have a tried & true way to prevent mats on your doodles. Axl has been groomed once at the beginning of the summer & the groomer did an amazing job & kept his fur rather long, except around his muzzle.  But lately, he's been getting really matted on his paws & "armpits", not matter how often my husband & I brush him.  I am contemplating using my kids detangling spray before I brush him.  At 8 months old, he's getting a bit feisty for me to groom on my own (he likes to bite the brush, me....)

[Julie and Maggie]

Hi Leslie, 

When Maggie turned a year old this summer, her mats started getting bad, and soon they were out of control. She had spent some time at different people's houses while we went on vacations and it just got out of hand. We had to shave her down mid July. She is still quite short but her fluff is returning. 

I have relatives who are able to keep their golden doodle rather long and I asked how they do it. Their strategy is to take him to the groomer every two weeks for a bath and brush out. They only trim him a few times a year. Luckily they found a place that does it for $35, which for where we are is really cheap. They actually go to a different groomer when they want the cut done.

That is what I am starting to do with Maggie. Every two weeks a bath and brush out. And then my own brushing a couple times a week. I'm just not nearly as effective as the groomers. 

I've used Cowboy Magic when the mats started and it mostly worked. But it was really hard and I couldn't keep up. She was probably going through coat changes on top of it, although I have not been able to figure out what that looks like. 

Good luck!

Julie

[Jeanne Rose]

Hi,

For brushing Olive, (17weeks), I brush her when she is eating in the morning. She usually is in a nice

stand position and it works pretty good. If I want to brush her other times, I do it while she plays or eats

out of a KONG toy with a little Peanut Butter, so far so good. Still young and still food lover. I hope to never have

to shave her. 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I'm hoping to never have to shave Kona, and he looks like he has a very similar coat to Olive.  Kona is 6 months old and still has yet to have even one mat, so I'm crossing my fingers that he has a miracle non-matting coat.  (One can always dream!)  I still have to bribe Kona with treats while I comb him.  It hasn't become "relaxing" yet for him, but he tolerates it even better now that I've switched to a Chris Cristensen wood pin brush.  Very mild on his skin, so I think he thinks I'm just petting him.

[Jeanne Rose]

How are Kona's matts? Any yet? Olive is now getting a few but catching them as they come up. Finding bully sticks to be helpful for her to chew on when brushing now. So far just took her twice for bath and small trim around her butt and eyes. I love her hair long.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Well....all bets are off now!  I had been on a waiting list for 2 years to adopt or rescue a doodle.  After about 10 months, I gave up and got Kona from a breeder I trusted in Montana.  That was last fall. Well...last weekend, they wrote that they had a doodle for me to come meet at an adoption event.  I went.  There were dozens of families trying to adopt her, but it was obvious that she and Kona were meant to be together, so she is now a part of the family as of last Thursday.  She has a VERY different coat than Kona.  The wavy hair on her back looks like a Golden Retriever, and the hair on top of her head looks like Anne Burrelle (chef), and the legs look like doodle legs.  But all of the hair is more coarse and wiry and doesn't seem to mat.  BUT....the play so hard and for many hours and she is completely matting up poor Kona!  I can't keep up with combing it and am literally spending HOURS per day trying to cut them out.  They are beyond combing them out.  Ugh!  I really hope this is just a pappy hair stage and his adult hair will be less baby fine and soft.  (I never thought I'd say that, but that is why he mats so badly!) 

His new sister's name is Maggie May.  She is very sweet and learning fast (learned the doggie bell in 1.5 days) and curls up in my lap for hugs.  I just wish their heavy play didn't cause so many mats!

[Lorraine Bromley]

We use a bladed brush it has about four prongs that are very sharp. They bust through the mats really well, then we use the flat pin brush all over then we comb through. I have used the spray silicone to keep the hair coated and slippery. The groomers blow dryer I bought works great as it blows out the coat and you can see the mat so well and it is easy to brush out. I trim his eyes and I have also trimmed his whole body down with the clippers after he is all brushed out and fluffy. I just go over the tops of the coat and take off the whisps so it is all even and trim the sani area down close. And cut around his eyes so he doesn't look like a sheep dog. If we were to brush religiously once a week we would have no problem with mats ever.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Quincy was groomed last week and they left it on the long side-which is what I wanted. He was looking so scraggly. He also matted in his armpits and underside which they said they had to shave. I just sent for a de-matting comb to try to keep up with it myself. I am going to take him in for a bath and blow out more often. He goes to day care at PetSmart but they would not bath him because of the matting-so I took him to the private groomer. Hopefully PetSmart will bathe him now since they are way cheaper.

[Jeanne Rose]

I too am trying to keep Olive brushed, her hairdresser :) told me to use a metal large comb, about 9" long. This comb has really helped with small areas that feel knot like. So far, like you, we fight with the brushing. We find that if I give her a bully stick to chew on or treats in one hand releasing one now and then,as she tries to eat them, does help. She did have a huge ball of a knot under her chin after her Cone ( spayed last month) was removed. We worked on that knot for two weeks. As you can see her hair is pretty wavy but she has kemp (?) on her back that feels like a soft brillo pad r something. Strange different hair all over. I continue to brush her when hungry, seems better and have brushed most of her at her food dish :). Olive is now 8 months and 55 lbs. I hope to keep her hair long but it does take work.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Wow! I have a photo of Kona that looks identical to this photo of Olive!
Kona is now 9 months old and 24 pounds. I think he's done growing so he turned out to be a large mini rather than a small medium. He got his very first mat a month ago at 8 months. Bummer! I'm staying on top of them. But he gets new ones every day. Little ones behind his ears, on his feet, neck, and chin. I have to comb him every day with the butter brush to find them. I hope this passes after his baby coat is all the way out.

I have trimmed him twice now by myself with scissors. The first time I did it last month, i took off the frizzy blonde ends and it looked really good. This time (last week) I literally scissor cut him while he was napping, so it looks pretty bad, but he is soooooo soft! So his 5 inch long hair is now about 2.5 inches long. I will take him in for a good tidy clean up of my bad job in another month or so, but he is still cute! And I will only take him to someone who won't shave him and will only use scissors. And only after I've removed his mats myself. Too many groomers are too impatient and shave them if they have more than 2 little mats.

[Lynette Main]

All three of mine have the armpits and belly hair a lot shorter.almost shaved.and you can't tell unless they are  on their backs belly up. My groomer does a great  job.I had them cut down this summer.Shea's hair was 7inches long .now its 3inches long.I don't like them shaved. They are all three years old.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Kona doesn't seem to mat on his belly at all, so I'll let him keep his wispy hair there.  He is the worst in his paws and chest for some reason.  Maybe because that is where he has the thickest hair.  Did your puppies stop matting after a few months of letting their adult hair push through?  It's quite an interesting phenomenon how the baby hair just clings for dear life onto the new hair, so you can barely tell the difference.  And it happened over night at exactly 8 months.  Bizarre!  I am hoping that it passes and I can get back to every other day coming with the wooden pin brush that he actually likes rather than constantly looking for and removing mats to save him from being shaved.