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Matting – A Dog And A Groomers Nightmare

Dog fur often becomes tangled and knotted around itself without frequent brushing, which is called matting. Mats occur frequently in many dog breeds with curly, fine, or double coats. In extreme cases, the dog’s coat will become what groomers call “pelted” — when matting is very tight to the skin, preventing proper airflow.

Matting and pelting prevent proper temperature regulation, cause skin irritation, hide parasites like fleas or other nasties, and cause extreme discomfort and pain for the dog. And can be a risky task for the groomer as we are unsure of skin tags, lumps and bumps we could accidentally cut into and also the worry of Hematomas. The ears are especially dangerous because the ear can become encased in mats.

With severe matting on the ears, an ear hematoma can develop – the swelling of the dogs ear flaps due to filling up with blood.  Mats restrict blood flow to the area of the body that it covers. The lack of blood flow weakens the skin causing it to be thinner and more likely to tear or bleed. After removing mats from the ears, a quick rush of blood fills the ears at the tips and can cause “bleeding out”. It doesn’t always happen right away. After being groomed, sometimes the ears feel different to the dog which makes them feel the need to shake their head excessively. Shaking a dog’s head just one time can cause injury. To prevent this, groomers use a sock like product called a “Happy Hoodie” on the dogs ears just tight enough to prevent the ears from flapping but loose enough for a dog to move around comfortably.

Mats form when dog fur becomes tangled and wraps around itself, forming tightly wound clumps of the loose dead fur and live fur. If not brushed out, they continue to trap more fur, becoming closer and closer to the dog’s skin. Mats tend to frequently form in areas where there is lots of friction — think around the neck area where the collar sits, behind the ears (where we lovingly scratch them), under their chin, their armpits, under where their harness usually sits, their feet, and on the back of their rear legs.

Brushing or Cutting Out Mats — Do or Don’t?

You can try to pick at the mat with a comb or slicker brush, but this can be very painful for your dog. If you’ve ever had someone try to brush out a knot of hair on your head, you know what I’m talking about! Unless the mat is very small and loose, brushing isn’t your best option. Not only can it be very uncomfortable and painful for your pup, but it can create a negative brushing experience that will sour any future attempts at brushing.

• If brushing out a mat, spray on a small amount of detangling conditioning spray and try to loosen it a bit with your fingers.
• Once you’ve isolated the mat by hand from the surrounding fur, grab a slicker brush or grooming comb.
• Hold the base of the mat firmly with one hand to prevent the brushing from pulling painfully on your dog’s skin.
• Start working on the mat at the furthest point from the skin rather than trying to brush from your dog’s skin outwards.
• Use very small strokes with the brush, take frequent breaks, and give your dog some yummy treats!

Pro Tip: For brushing sessions with your pup, use a licking mat smeared with peanut butter (xylitol free) or wet dog food that they can work on while being brushed out. Not only will this help with the extra wiggly dogs, but it also helps build a positive association with brushing time. If you’re thinking about cutting out the mat with scissors at home — put the scissors down! Do not use scissors to cut out mats unless you are properly trained, have the proper grooming scissors, feel comfortable doing so, and have a good blood clotting powder handy.

Using scissors instead of clippers to trim out any matting often results in injury to your dog. You never want to pull the mat up from the skin and then cut underneath, as their extended skin can get snipped off as well. If that happens you’ll need to go to the veterinarian for treatment and medication to prevent infection (which can be costly), plus your dog will be much less willing to be handled the next time.

What is line brushing a dog?

Most dog owners are unaware of the line brushing technique. Line brushing is a grooming technique that can be used on all dogs apart from short haired single coat breeds. Line brushing is different than just running a dog brush on the top of your dog’s coat which does nothing for the undercoat. It is a time consuming gentle way of untangling their fur whilst brushing out loose hairs from their undercoats.

To line brush, start at the lowest point of the dog i.e. leg or thigh and work upwards and forwards lifting a portion of the hair to expose the part to brush. Brush the fur underneath the portion you’re holding up, and brush the fur in the direction of growth. I am always happy to show my clients how to do it, so it shouldn’t be a problem if you ask your groomer to show you too!

I can’t speak for all groomers, but in my experience we care so much about the comfortability and happiness of your dog. We take lots of factors into consideration, like the extent of the mats and how they tolerate brushing. A little matting here and there may not be so bad for some dogs to tolerate some gentle teasing out with the brush than others. However, sometimes the only option is to perform a shave down on a dog’s coat, it is definitely not the easiest route to choose for the groomer but is the most humane option for the dog. We will always do what we can to save a coat, but most of the time we have no option than thinking about the welfare of the dog, over the preferred look of the dog’s coat, meaning we have to clipper the dogs coat to remove the matts.

I hope this information helps in some way? If you have any questions or want to chat, feel free to leave a comment. You may have missed our last blog that discusses what to consider when getting a new pet.

As always, thanks for reading.

Louisa on behalf of GOOCHI POOCHI