Doodle brushing! Help!

Yeti hates to be brushed. I feel so bad because he is getting matted a lot but every time we bring the brush out he tries to hide. We bought a grooming arm because it takes at least 2 if not 3 people
to brush him (1 to brush him and 2 to hold him down). We are finishing up a table for the arm and was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks for distracting him from being brushed. I'm thinking a frozen kong held by my boyfriend while I brush but I was hoping for other ideas! I wish I could afford to send him to the groomer every month so she could take care of his mats but it's expensive!

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Permalink Reply by Bonnie and Kona on March 28, 2017 at 7:46pm

oh NED! Be sweet to your mom!

Permalink Reply by Haley, Yeti, and Phin on March 29, 2017 at 7:28am

Yeti and Ned sound very similar haha :p I always worry im hurting him which is why he hates the brush so much. I will look up cowboy magic and horse mane n' tail!! Thank you so much for the suggestions!!! Are these safe if he tries to lick it out? Yeti is very good for trying to lick/bite things out of his coat haha. Also what do you use to slice through mats? Usually when i find a decent sized mat i just cut it out. He is fluffy enough that it doesn't look goofy.

Permalink Reply by Haley, Yeti, and Phin on March 29, 2017 at 7:33am

Thank you everyone for the amazing replies!!

I have a green les pooch brush but we haven't really taken well to that. I, like a lot of others, have found that the comb works much better. We bought just a cheapo one at a store here in janesville but i would love to upgrade to a better quality one. Any suggestions on a better comb?

Also, how do people feel about rakes? Is it worth the money? I'm not even really sure what a rake does but i see a lot of people use them. Is a mat blaster worth the money? I am trying to stock up on good grooming supplies incase somethings work better for him than others.

Permalink Reply by Haley, Yeti, and Phin on March 29, 2017 at 7:43am

Another question! What shampoos and conditioners do you all use on your doodle? We hardly bathe Yeti because he hates to be blow dried and will stay wet for HOURS. I do want a high quality shampoo/conditioner for him when we do have to bathe him.

Permalink Reply by Frank & TeddyToyDoodle on April 13, 2017 at 6:26pm

Uggh......Teddy got his 1st full grooming this week and he went from one extreme -- The Chewbacca Look -- to a shaved doodle with a huge tail and huge ears relative to the size of his body and his hair length. Others like the look (or so they say) -- but I hate it. I went from a fluffy doodle to an emaciated poodle. LOL

The groomer said that Teddy had big matts. They didn't even look like hair, looked like part of his flesh/skin on his underbelly. So she had to cut him low to get it even. I would have been happy with a trim, but as I understand it, she couldn't do that and leave the matts there (why not ?).

Well, he's getting fixed soon and it's getting warmer so it's not the worst timing for a doggie crew cut. I figure in about 5-7 weeks his hair will be at the optimum length and look that I want....the question for me is, how do I keep his hair from matting or getting tangled so that the next time he goes to the groomer she just has to trim him rather than cut him down to nothing ?

BTW, I have a comb, wire hair brush, and other hair brush. But Teddy hates getting combed, but I'll make an extra effort to do it. Right now, he has the curly-tight hair he had as a 2 and 3 month old puppy, not the wavy hair he had all through the winter to keep him warm.

Permalink Reply by Haley, Yeti, and Phin on April 13, 2017 at 6:40pm

Yeti hates being combed as well. He loves his brushes/combs and will play with them and carry them around in his mouth but the second i try to comb him he starts to get super fussy. We ended up buying a grooming arm to keep him in place. It has helped alot. I know your Teddy is just a little guy so you might not need to go to that extreme. Perhaps you could get a detangling spray (i just recently bought mane n' tail DETANGLING spray) so when you go to brush him it doesn't hurt him as much. We are still playing around with what tool works best for Yeti. We bought one of those super expensive les pooch brushes for Yeti and he does not like it and I don't know how well it works for me either. Personally I believe Yeti's coat does best with a really good combing with a metal comb.

We have a lot of problems with mating. We have been taking him to the groomers for a very expensive de-mating session every 4 weeks. I have decided to take it into my own hands and thanks to DK, I found cowboy magic. You rub a small amount on a mat, let is sit for a couple minutes, and brush it out. It seriously worked like a dream.

Everyone says lots and lots and lots of treats at brushing time. When Yeti sees that he is about to be brushed he won't even take a bully stick (his most favorite things in the whole wide world).

If you search grooming discussions you will find SOOOO MANY opinions on brushes. I tried to pick one that multiple people recommended, but it was almost overwhelming so I just picked a couple different ones to start out with.

I ended up with this one. It is supposed to help "de-mat."

https://www.chewy.com/safari-shedding-comb-long-haired/dp/110947

Permalink Reply by Frank & TeddyToyDoodle on April 13, 2017 at 7:24pm

Thanks Haley....I'll include pics when I'm less upset/angry. LOL

Permalink Reply by Frank & TeddyToyDoodle on April 14, 2017 at 10:07am

Here are some before and after pics: