Best Grooming Tools?

[Chris & Boys]

My 8 month old GD has recently started to mat. His coat is increasingly difficult to bush and combing he no longer tolerates. He has a silky coat, that before I cut was shaggy, but now looks like it is growing in curly and it is roughly 2" long. I cannot imagine trying to groom him if I let him get shaggy again since it is getting so difficult to get a brush through him, even though I love that look.
When I try to brush him with a pin brush, the backing that the pins are in alway comes apart from the brush handle, and renders itself useless. I have gotten cheap brushes, and mid range brushes and am afraid to get the CC brushes and find that they will do the same thing. And it is not in my budget to get a Les Pooches brush right now. My slicker brush does not get down to his skin. His coat is so thick it is extremely hard to get a comb through it and use the combs mainly for the de-matting.

My questions are:
Do the CC brushes come apart when brushing through very thick coats?
Can you use a slicker on very thick coats or do they just get through the surface?
Is it worth the money to get the staggered tooth CC comb? Or is it just as hard to use?
Does anyone know of a good spray-on detangler?

Thanks!

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

Hi Chris! Well, it sounds like Fozzy Bear has done the same thing our Abby did. I cut her mostly straight hair and it curled right up! I have both the CC and the LesPooch - neither one really works well for getting to the mats. They do work well for keeping her mat free if I brush her at least every othe day. Abby's coat all of a sudden is matting too and I'm finding that wide toothed metal comb works the best. The skip tooth grabs too hard and pulls. I gave Abby a bully stick to chew on the last time I worked on her mats and it helped keep her occupied, tho I try not to pull too hard and take a short scissor and cut into the mat. That sometimes help to break it apart so it can be combed out. I have Cowboy Magic but I haven't used it yet. Abby needs a good brushing out after being at the last for a week - and after I get her all combed out, she is getting a short haircut for summer! Good luck with FozzyBear!

[Chris & Boys]

Hi Denise, I was looking at the CC comb that has the staggered teeth, have you tried that one? When I saw I could get the pin brush and the staggered comb both cheaper than one les pooches, I wondered if the Les Pooch was necessary, since I am taking her to a groomer for her cuts?

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Cowboy Magic really works. I use a small amount and put it on one mat at a time and work through the mat with a comb or a brush and the mat comes out. Mitzi has really thick, curly hair that mats fast. At almost two years of age I have given up on her ever not having mats. I also find
it easiest to brush out small amounts of hair at a time. The larger amounts just don't comb/brush through. I haven't tried to dilute Cowboy Magic
yet but I am planning on trying it as a spray. Hope it works as well.

[Leslie and Halas]

Do you have any trouble with Cowboy Magic leaving kind of a residue? I'm not sure if that's the right word or not, but I'll explain what happens. I've used CM on Halas, and it has worked great. I rub it into the mat, give it a minute or 2, and then brush and/or comb through it. And it definitely helps me get through mats that I was having trouble with. My problem occurs a little bit later. Let's say I get through a mat early on during the brushing. By the time I'm done brushing the rest of him, I'll go back to that first area, and it will be all matted and gunked up again. Obviously the CM stays on the hair as you brush through it, but it does dry within a few minutes. But on Halas, it seems like in those few minutes it has caused his hair to re-mat because it's all just stuck together again. I try to keep up with the brushing well enough that I don't have to use anything. But a few weeks ago, I missed several days, so I used the CM to help me brush him. He went to the groomer a couple of days after that for a brush out, and she said he was more matted than she's ever seen him. And she's seen him a lot, and been through a lot of bad matting stages with us. Anyway, sorry to be so long winded. I just wondered if someone that's had success with it has noticed any re-matting from the residue. I'm not really knocking CM, because it really did work on the mats to brush though them. But I have not been using it lately because of the after-effect we seem to be having.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

I haven't noticed any residue, however I only use a tiny bit of the Detangler product which is very slippery in feel. Also, my dog ends up in the pool soon after grooming so I imagine it would just wash off. Sorry I really can't answer that question. Maybe someone else can. I really hope you get answers to your questions soon.

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas thinks this is a great reason for us to get a house with a pool.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Mitzi really loves it! But having an "always wet" dog is not always fun. She acts like she is part fish. Guess we have a "Goldfish Doodle"!

[Chris & Boys]

Leslie, what kind of brush and comb do you use?

[Leslie and Halas]

I have a les pooches brush, a CC brush with wooden pins (round brush, not T brush), and a comb with teeth that spin.

[Sharon, Boo & Cricket]

I've heard that Cowboy Magic can be greasy, because it has a lot of silicones in it, so maybe that's what's causing the residue? You could try using a different product that has a smaller amount of silicone in it, maybe Chris Christensen's Ice on Ice or the Best Shot revitalizing spray? They may not work as quickly as the Cowboy Magic, but they're supposed to be "lighter" than CW and will still help with detangling. (I'm not sure about the Ice on Ice, but with Best Shot- make sure you let the product dry before brushing- it won't work wet.)

Chris Christensen also sells a clarifying shampoo called "Clean Start" that is supposed to help with residue build up in the coat. I haven't tried it though.

Hope that helps! :)

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I used Mane 'n Tail spray detangler on Gracie and it seemed to make the combing go really nicely. She doesn't have any actual mats at the present for me to try it out. We went out of town and took her to a doggie ranch out in the country for 7 days. She had a ball but was filthy and matted when we picked her up. We knew she would be since there is a pond that they love to go in and dirt all around. I elected to not have the people bathe her before we picked her up since I would rather do it. Plus, I knew they would never go through her with a "fine toothed comb" so to speak. I look like a monkey searching for nits when I am grooming her. Nothing gets left unturned. But, Gracie has wavy soft hair and it isn't that thick or wooly. When she is wet you can see her skin. She still manages to get mats and that is usually when I let her hair get past 1 1/2 inches. She is very curly in the chest and under the ears and those are places where mats collect as well as the groin and arm pits. Oh...back to the ranch...when we picked her up she had mats everywhere. I spent 3 hours washing and attempting to get the mats free without cutting. Finally I had to cut and she looked like a moth had lived in her hair for the 7 days! I then took her to the groomer totally mat free and had her clipped so she wouldn't look so moth eaten. I didn't have my Mane 'n Tail at the time but I do now! She is going to the ranch again in two weeks for 6 days but she is getting a hair cut first...really short summer cut...not my favorite but it must be done under the circumstances. If she comes home with any mats, I'll be ready for them! Oh, one thing my husband and I did notice was that everywhere that Gracie laid the floor would be slippery afterward. Even the carpet. She didn't have a bit of residue on her that you could see or feel. She felt wonderful and not greasy or sticky. Still, we had to really watch ourselves walking on hard wood floors and tile.

[Chris & Boys]

What kind of brushes and combs do you use?????