A few times I took the dogs to my groomer, they DID have matts. They combed them out and did as much as possible to save their coats. They work a "tag team", and one of them spent 2 hours just combing Bella out so they could save her coat. That was when my husband was dying; unfortunately, I had other things to do besides comb her out. But they understood: she had never come in like that before (or since!).
They charged me for the time (only fair!), but they didn't butcher her hair.
A good groomer is hard to find ... |