.... And so, the Mats Begin

[Stella]

Chase is now seven months old and just in the last week has suddenly begin to mat. We usually brush him once or twice a week. But, he was only brushed two days ago and this morning it took me over an hour to brush and comb him out. I am thinking that maybe his coat is begining to change from puppy to adult and this is why the sudden matting. I think we need to get a better brush and begin brushing every day. At the moment we have been using a slicker and comb, but it doesn't seem to get deep enough. This is all very new to us as Hartley is so easy to take care of - brush once a week, and it ony takes 15 minutes to do a good job!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Besides the Cowboy Magic and LesPouchs brush and steel comb, I got a rake with the rotating tines. I LOVED the rake -it combined brush and comb, it got out lots of what I thought of as old fur. Ned cried when I used it and I found out that I was actually pulling out his fur - not a good thing. So I don't use the rake any more. My groomer says they can have puppy coat until about 2 - bummer. Ned mats but not as much as he used to. We brush and comb him every other day and we keep his fur fairly short. The groomer thins his fur and we have decided to get him groomed about once a month as well as brushing him every other day. So far it is working, but I am afraid to let him get too dirty and wash him myself as this seems to dry out his fur and make more mats!!! I want him to be a wash and wear guy but I haven't found the secret for him. I hope you do.

[Stella]

So, we went out today and bought two Chris Christenesen brushes - a pretty expensive trip!! I hope they are worth it. We tried them out tonight and they seem to go through his coat easier than the slicker did. Were hoping that we can brudh him every day with those and then use the comb every couple of days. We'll see!!

[Karen Gaffney]

This happened with Cirrus too! He was fine until about 10 months and then these horrible mats would start and no matter how much brushing it would snowball. He is 15 months and it still happening in fact he will need to be shaved any day now. His back is fine but, his neck, chest, jawline and even his ears are matted. He did swim quite a bit. I have les pooches and cowboy magic and tons of different combs and brushes and rakes. Oh well, we have to remember that it is not about how they look but who they are! Nimbus is wooly and curly, but never gets these major mats like this.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

15 MONTHS! Oh no. We were hoping to grow some hair soon.
I posted a question in the Grooming Group asking how long does this last and does this continue through adulthood. No definitive answers. So sad news

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

MATS is a very bad word. Shave is too--but that is what it happened here.
I was late on a few bills when I decided I was NOT going to let the mats happen here. I already had the Les Pooch Brush, but I bought the rake, the very expensive Cowboy Magic, Mane and Tail. trimmers and anything else to fight the mats. I brushed so much I pulled off skin. HE smelled from so much leave-in conditioner that bees were chasing him. Two weeks into the puppy blown coat and 25 hours later--MATS I hope it ends soon. Good Luck to us all. My doodle is now a shaved poodle.

[Sandy]

Stella - I went into Global Ryan Pet Foods and talked to Kim, the woman who works there. It is Safari brand, and I think it only cost about $12. It worked like a charm for us. I don't use it too much anymore because it does brush deeply, and bothers Toby's skin now that I'm not working through extra thick hair.

[Stella]

He is definitely worse after he has got wet. He had been running around at the dog park the day before and got soaking wet. He takes so long to dry that I left it to the next day to brush him - maybe not the wisest decision!!
Sandy, what kind of rake did you use??

[Chris & Boys]

Absolutely it is the swimming, and I bet it is worse behind the ears? Fozzy (8 mos) mats terribly if I don't comb out after he dries off from each swim! No need to cut. Just work out from the end, and work your way to the skin just like you would on a child. I bought a great rake for horses.....$5 at the farm and feed, the pins rotate and it is great. Looks really cheap, but it works great.
I am not sure if this is correlated to blowing out puppy coat or not, probably not.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I figured it was just camping! Lakewater? Uggh! Abby too; horrid mats that look like they need to be cut off because they are so close to the skin. She is 6 months 3 weeks. Does this mean they are blowing the puppy coat??;

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

What kind of rake do you use?