Puppy has Matts everywhere! Please Help!!
 

Hi everyone-

I got Emmie when she was a little over 13 weeks old. She is now 18 weeks. Her hair is starting to get pretty long now, the only problem is that she has huge matts everywhere. She had them when I got her. I know that these are impossible to get out without putting her through horrible pain. I really want to take her to the groomers put she won't have all her shots until July 19th. I'm not sure what I should do. Should I have the groomers shave her? And start completely over? I'm wondering if this is the only way even though I really don't want to completely shave her. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

Have you been brushing her everyday?....You can try Johnson & Johnson's No more tangles and try to go through the mats with a comb...I use this in between Maximus' brushing 2x a day (morning and night)..I also use Chris Christensen's Ice on Ice leave in after his bath when I am brushing and drying him...don't try to take out the knots in wet hair it is worse...

I dunno..its easier for me when the hair is wet. The ice on ice does help a LOT though.

Prince gets matted easily so that stuff saved my life lol

Is it???..Maximus hasn't had any mats yet...I am just thinking back to when I was young and I used to have hair down to my butt and we had a lifetime supply of No More Tangles..and it hurt so much more when the hair was wet..rather then when it was dry...My hair used to get blowdried at night and was tangled already by morning..then again when I got home from school...lol...

DONT wet the matt only tightens it up....

if your baby has a true silk coat (will take time) take each matt and seperate it hairs at a time with your fingers. Once you loosen it up you can comb it out, she wont like it much but its what should be done.

Try to loosen them first and comb out, if it is too daunting of a task for she and you shave her. Shaving her in the summer isnt a bad idea but she may look a bit funny for awhile.

I agree and I had that problem with Cheri's puppy coat- it matted under her arms really easily - once I got the matts out - we started spraying on Ice on Ice EVERY day and she has never had a tangle since getting her adult coat - I think puppy vs adult coat clash together - once she loses that "Puppy" coat it may be easier -

If the matts are really bad - Cut or shave her down because it will stress you BOTH out trying to get to them all - if you don't want to do this - start working on those matts ASAP - they will NOT go away till you make them...somethimes they get so close to the skin it's very hard to get them out.

A REALLY great shampoo and conditioner help alot with this problem - plus a daily spray on ...GOOD LUCK !!

I know I really really really do not want to shave her, but I'm wondering if it is the only option. I mean these knots are huge. I purchased the Chris Christensen Ice on Ice. I sprayed it on her when she was dry and tried to work the knots out with my fingers, but nothing. Emmie just keeps nipping at me when I was trying to do it. When I tried to brush her she really goes crazy. Not sure what to do. God, I really do not want to shave her though. She is going to look really funny. She is super tiny. Only about 1lb 13 oz at 18 weeks. She has soooooooo much thick hair. I'm not sure if her coat is going to be silky though. From reading other posts about the eye color thing I think she may be silky if this is true. Her eyes are green when I take pictures of her. Thanks for all your help so far. Any other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks! Here is a picture of her with her green eyes. You can also see how much hair she has.

Have you been brushing her everyday???...if not that could be your problem...maybe you should shave her and start all over brushing her everyday (the hair really does grow back quickly)...but you have to show her who's boss and you have to brush her for her good and your sanity (those knots can drive you insane)..lol..Maximus too has thick hair all along his back...and he doesn't really LOVE being brushed..but I bought for him to chew and one for me to brush with..actually many for him to chew but you get the idea..lol

If you don't want to shave her, then have a groomer shave her half-way instead of shaving her to the bone.

DOes her shirt say drama queen and have a little rhinestone tiara on it? It looks like the same shirt angel has. We got it at target (great stuff there) and that's what her's says.

It actually has a number 1 on it with rhinestones. Soo cute! I saw the drama queen one though,very cute, but they did not have it in her size. I bought Emmie an xs and it is huge on her. So I only put it on her for the pictures. Target does have some really cute stuff for dogs!! :)

Emmie is just adorable!! I know what you mean about the mats. I spent about 45 minutes last night brushing Bo. And still didn't get them out. What works for me is a wire brush and just work on each mat a tiny bit at a time. It does take forever. Thankfully he doesn't protest too terribly much. He had all these mats before I even noticed it. Now I will have to keep him brushed every day. I'm gonna go brush the rest of those mats right now.

I for one would be intrested in what products you use to protect against matts. Where do you get the Ice on Ice?

Hi i was told sort of separating the hair and brushing up the wrong way on their legs stops knots behind elbows etc. it seems to be working no knots so far and buddys really fluffy/hairy aswell.
If the knots arent too bad and you cant comb them out could you just cut the knot out, the other hair might cover up the gap?

OMG is she ever CUTE !!! She has a TON of hair - and very pretty hair - it's going to knot -

My oldest Chanal had hair like that and it needs to be brushed really good every day - if the knots are that bad - it's going to hurt her getting them off - you may have to bring her way down if those matts are against her skin....

Then ...so she's not naked - get her some Kick-Butt Cute Clothes and let her run around dressed... till her hair starts coming back - but brush her every day - nipping or not - she has to get used to a brush.....She is REALLY REALLY CUTE !

As a groomer I would suggest shaving her down to about a 1/4 inch. Trying to take out all those matts is going to stress that poor pup out really bad. And asking a groomer to just shave off part of the hair isn't going to work either. If you were to come to me with a pup matted like this I would seriously tell you to take it all down and start over.

She has to be brushed Everyday. If you cant brush her everyday then I would suggest keeping her hair some what short so this doesn't continue to happen. The matts must be taken care of asap though because they only get worse with time.

Here you go - Chris Christensen Systems http://www.chrissystems.com

My groomer said to cut into the mats and work with your fingers then use a metal comb. She doesn't have to cut out all the mats that way. She just cuts into them.

Thank you so much everyone for your help. I know she has a ton of hair and it is sooooo beautiful. I really hate to shave it all off, but she just has an unbelievable amount of matts that I really think it is the only option. They are all down pretty much to her skin too. When I got her she had already had all these matts. I have another yorkie who is 71/2 years old and weighs 13 lbs. She is also pretty tall, long and bigger boned. Yes she is a bit of a chunker, but we are trying to get her to lose some weight. Ever since we got her when she was a puppy we brushed her hair either everyday or every other day. She to this day has never had one matt. When this little one Emmie came she had already had all these matts and I would had to brush her and put her through all that pain. I'm so mad because I would have totally kept her coat beautiful if she had come with no matts. I will attach a picture of Lexi. She is such a doll. Very spoiled and a total Daddy's girl. She is our family dog. My boyfriend got Emmie for me as my graduation present from college.
It would be easy to put clothes on her to cover up the shaved hair but so far she hates clothes. Any suggestions? Thanks so much. You all have been a great help.
Also by the color of Emmie's eyes green in the previous pictures do you think she will be a silky coat. She is 18 weeks. Is that too soon to tell?
Never mind about the picture of Lexi it is saying the file is too large.

I would invest in a razor comb. That way, you can save most of her hair and just work on the trouble areas.

If the matts arent all the way to the skin a razor comb would work or cutting into the matt would work. But if it is to the skin it is better to shave it off because you are going to do damage to the hair and cause breakage if you try cutting them out. SOme groomers will cut into them or use the razor comb no matter how far the matt has gone.

Good Luck!

I cut Tuckers hair really short for summer and he was 5 mths old. He was very cute with it short. I left the face kindof long and cut the rest shorter. At six months it has really grown. I will let it go long again for winter. I think if you have to cut it she will still be as cute as a button to you. :)