About Me:

I am a professional Pet Groomer. I have been grooming for 28 years. This Blog is a kind of diary of my work. I wish I had started years ago, writing some of the experiences I have had while grooming. Most days are fun, some can be sad, some can be just down right crazy. If you are a pet owner and come across this blog, I hope it helps you understand how your pet is groomed. If you are a Pet Groomer, I hope you can relate to some of the stories. Maybe even learn a grooming tip or can leave a friendly grooming tip for me. There is always something to learn, no matter how long you have been grooming.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Mats, Mats, and More Mats

For the last few weeks we have had a record numbers of matted dogs walking through the door.
Even regular customer dogs are coming in matted when they have never been matted before.
This winter and all of the snow that we have been getting has caused many dogs to mat up more than usual.
We have had to clip dogs short that normally get fuller cuts.

Thankfully, (so far) the owners have been understanding about their dogs shorter cuts.

A few we have been able to demat and save the coat.







Her mats were not too bad.

Some Best Shot and Conditioner and she brushed out pretty easily.












I was able to hand scissor her to the length her owner wanted.









 I find that most matted Yorkies are fairly easy to demat.









Most of the time the mats really loosen up in the tub and with the HV dryer.






This guy normally gets a long hand scissor cut all over.

Unfortunately he missed his last two appointments.





 Thankfully his owner walked in telling me that I would have to shave him because of the mats.

I was able to get a #4F under the mats.

Forgot to take an after shot.  :(










This little guy was matted all over, but thankfully the legs were not too bad.









So, I clipped the body short and was able to quickly brush out the legs and scissor them.




This little one was also matted all over.

Again I wanted to try to save the legs so that he would not look like he was standing on toothpicks.

Only the bottom half of his legs were fairly mat free.








I was able to get a #4F under the matting.

I had to clip part of the way down each leg, but still managed to keep the lower half of the legs a little fuller so that his legs did not look like toothpicks.









It was the same for this puppies first cut.










She was such a good girl for her first groom.





This one....what can I say....the once a year shave.

Sadly, I could have dematted this dog.

I hate shaving double coated breeds.

Unfortunately, there is a language barrier with this owner.

Although I have a feeling that even if I was able to explain the damage shaving a double coat could do, this owner would still want the dog very short.










I owner was very happy with the cut, even though I was not.  :/

I have to admit.....he is adorable.

How about that smile?






 Next week I have a small Maltese scheduled.
The dog is most likely very matted because we have not seen her all winter, and she is usually a little matted when she come in regularly.
The elderly owner would like to keep her dog on the short side, but her children and grandchildren hate the dog short.
I told the owner that her children and grandchildren should brush the dog if they want her coat to stay long.

When scheduling the dog, the owner said that the dog was not matted and she did not want it cut short, but if we did find mats she only wanted us to bathe the dog and send it back home with mats.
We told her we would not do that.
Then she said that if we told her the dog was matted at drop off, she would just take the dog back home.
We told her that we could not give her an appointment if there was a chance that she was going to stiff us on it at the last second.
She decided that the dog needed grooming one way or another so she made an appointment.
I have a feeling the appointment will be blog worthy.

Happy grooming those winter matted messes.











5 comments:

  1. love the pics after pics so cute! awesome grooming! i havent been on in a while i have to catch up. computer problems...im so glad you still here. :) intergroom coming again april 5th :)
    any tips on tartar on dogs teeth?

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  2. do you do a rough cut on your dogs before bathing? it sounds like you sometimes bathe some before any clipping/trimming is done. I was taught to remove all mats before bath... what are your thoughts on this?

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    Replies
    1. Hi,
      Just about every dog that I groom goes straight into the tub whether they are matted or not. Look for a post that I did on Bathing and clipping matted dogs. March 20, 2011.
      Lisa, MFF

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  3. Hey Furry Friends! I just found your blog and I love it! I've been grooming dogs for about a year and a half so I'm still very new. I love learning new techniques and new styles. Unfortunately I currently work for a corporation that doesn't care about the quality, only the quantity of dogs I groom. I am like you in the way that I HATE shave downs (anything #7 and under). I like leaving the dog's hair as long as possible even though I was taught to do the quickest thing possible. I love your technique of bathing and using the dryer to push the matts away. I also love doing that. I also love that if you can you leave the legs longer and blend them in with the body. It is for sure something I am going to start trying. What do you do if the legs are severely matted but the body is fine? I would love to spend time with someone like you and just watch and learn! There is no more learning where I work after a certain point :-(

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