Grooming Question - Please Help
 

Ok, so I am such a bad, bad mommy. I try to give Deegan a good brushing on the weekends when he gets his bath and then a couple shorter times during the week too. But it's so hard, he quirms and bites and growls.

Maybe I should be doing more often or maybe be more firm with him because I found a little mat under his little armpit last night. It's matted pretty good. And I tried to pull it apart as much as I could, then brush it out. But it's not coming out completely. It has loosend up, but it not gone yet.

So my question is what it the best grooming tool to use to get these nasty liitle mats out? A brush, a comb, a slicker brush etc? If you have any other suggestions I would appreciate them also. I feel like a terrible mother, not taking proper care of him. :(

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the same thing happened to me.,the vet told me to shave lexi, so i did.
i had too it was so matted.. i tried to comb it out the right way and all she did was scream... now im starting from the begining again..i learned my lesson.

i would use a detangling spray douse the area well .. let it rest a couple mins.
then with a FLEA comb brush it out .. hold the strands that are tangled by the base so as to prevent from pulling from the root .. then slowly try to comb it out .. it will take a while and u may need to stop for a bit b/c he will get fisty.. it hurts .. if worse comes to worse just clip it off..
let me know how it turns out :)

grooming
 

I will use a detangler- work a little bit- come back apply more detangler work somemore- repeat until out- but start at the bottom of the matt, not near the skin--shaws dressing work get to keep this under control once you get the matts out and conditions their coats.

I don't know if this is even possible on our little guys, but my Australian Shepherd gets TERRIBLE mats, and I use a mat cutter to work them out. This leaves a lot of the hair and doesn't take as long to get through...

After you use the cutter, you brush it out and the mat just kind of disappears.

Said mat cutter:

That's great to know as we have a new Australian Shepherd. She's still a puppy and I haven't noticed any mats yet but I will definitely keep this in mind! Do you use a slicker brush on your Aussie?

Jayde.... Here's a link to a discussion we just had last week on this subject. In addition to the responses you get on your thread, you may want to read these too. I posted my opinion on the other one. Good luck!

I personally would not shave your pup if you don't absolutely have to. I would think that a really good leave in conditioner (I use Infusium 23 - a human one - on top of the Chris systems stuff) applied very liberally should help you get those mats out. And I mean very liberally. You could always bathe him again after you get them all out just to get the excess conditioner off. You can even try shampooing, conditioning and leaving the cream conditioner on just to comb him out and then rinse. Worth a try anyway before you resort to shaving. I'm sure there are dire situations where people have HAD to shave and start over but hopefully this isn't one of them.

Are you using a conditioner at all? I know when Tatum had to take several baths with a special shampoo from the vet (because she had a bug bite that was making her scratch a bare spot), her hair was super nasty until I gave in and used her conditioner after the special shampoo. You just can't manage a Yorkie's coat without a good conditioner. And the Chris systems Ice-on-Ice spray really helps between baths.

Check out this thread...
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11970

Perhaps a grooming table with the loop for his neck would work for you. They are inexpensive and perhaps if he had a place like that you could handle him better. I don't know what to tell you otherwise. The detangler works great. You can spray it on and wait and hold the skin away from the body so that it doesn't pull and then start combing through it from the ends.

I will look into the grooming table - thanks for the suggestion. I hope they are not that expensive though.

Thanks Tatum's mom - I just looked at the previous thread and it did help quite a bit. And I am going to try my hardest not to have to shave him, I think I can manage to get it out. Thanks again!

You could use any folding table, I suppose. You might need to put something non-skid down so his little feet wouldn't keep going out from under him. Then all you'd need would be a clamp-on arm and loop.

Here's an arm:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dog-Pet-Grooming...QQcmdZViewItem

Here's a loop:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dog-Pet-Grooming...QQcmdZViewItem

This has a double loop which will hold up the rear end, too. I have never seen this before. Might be ok if it worked on these little one's. Someone else on here might know about these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dog-Pet-Grooming...QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck... :)

My new favorite comb for getting out mats is the Chris Systems Buttercomb #006. I bought this at a dog show recently and it is a miracle comb. I've tried everything, from the blade matt combs to human eyelash combs and just nothing, nothing would work. This is a great comb because the tines won't bend back or break. It's pricey but totally worth it. I also like to use it in combination with Bo Derek's Bless the Beasts Fur Pomade.. it's greasy but a little bit makes the mat break up a lot easier. You can buy the Bless the Beast stuff for cheap @ QVC.
Chris Systems Website

comb question....
 

I bought one of her brushes and love it~ :D With the combs...what part do you use most...the coarse or fine toothed side?? :rolleyes:

It depends on the size of the mat.. Tuffy gets some huge ones so I usually use the larger toothed side for those to break them up and then the fine toothed side to comb them out.

I should add, the fine toothed side is fantastic for combing their faces too because it's small.

Thanks
 

Thanks Adria...I just learned something about combs... ;)

I have one..and I haven't liked it for some reason :cool: ...its a good one I thought too :rolleyes: ...here is a pick of it..I got it because the pins would rotate and move...

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...=1122577085385

But...it just works o.k...I go back to Chris's brush....
maybe I need a new comb...lol :p

First of all, make sure you are using a good wire brush and are brushing correctly (against the hairline). My breeder told me to just add a little skin so soft to the bath water to keep mattes down. Now that mine are grown up I use J&J detangler because I just don't like the smell of Avon's skin so soft. Another thing that seemed to work for me was to handle my dogs a lot, around the face, feet, tummy rubs, etc. when they were puppies. They get used to it and then do not put up a fight at bath time. Also, put your dog on a counter to brush/groom. When I try to go to their level, on the floor, etc to brush, they would always put up a fuss. If you are above your dog, it isn't as likely to be a battle. Hopefully, these ideas will help.

You have watch what you are doing using this tool! It is sharp and you can cut the dog bad! I don't even use it! lily

It is true that they are extremely sharp.

On Indy, the Aussie it works well as she is used to it and ...much larger dog...She stays still. Her hair sheds so that is different than the hair on a Yorkie that doesn't shed.

Ahhh, we get that question in my groom shop ALL the time. You need a dematter. Or a dematting brush;comb. You can find them at Petsmart, PetCo, etc. They are wonderful tools. But also, be more firm. Give treats when you brush your baby. And make it a daily thing for you to do. Brush your baby 3 or 4 times a day until it just becomes the usual for him and hes used to it. Then you can start brushing him once or twice a day. That will be enough unless you just aren~t brushing him enough. In that case, you might want to try a detangling spray. I hate having to shave down Yorkies when customers come in just because they tell me, he wont let me brush him! Its always the other way around. They let their yorkie win the battle. And that just results in your yorkie training you whereas you should be training him. Good luck!

Good thread. Gucci's hair get so matted when she wears clothes and her harness. I brush her hair with a cone after I spray detangler in her hair.

Thank You
 

Thanks for the support and reminder to keep at it...give treats..etc... ;)

Your right. Its hard to keep doing something that our baby's dispise...lol :rolleyes:

But..the treats..and just doing it many times daily...may help just get them to THAT IS JUST THE WAY IT IS...lol :)

And we should be training them.....
Not the other way....thanks for that too~ ;)

Sometimes its nice to hear what we already know...lol :D

My girls will get matts UNDER their arms from clothes - I learned 2 years ago - Johnsons No More Tangles will get the matts OUT - then spraying Ice on Ice on them BEFORE they wear something will help alot to prevent matts.

IF the matts are the close to the skin kind - and very bad - I would advise trimming them off so you aren't hurting your baby - let that hair grow back and keep up with it every day AND using a light spray on to help prevent new ones from forming -

Even playing will cause friction under their arms and they HATE to be brushed there - I usually use my fingers to make sure there are no knots and a good brush....Good luck - it's an ongoing thing we have to deal with when you have long haired yorkies....

I agree with what everyone is saying here, try some detangling shampoo and stuff like that. The brush we use on Buddy is also a double-sided one... it's really good, because one side is like a thicker brush, for getting out knotted bits, and the other side is more like a comb, for parting and smoothing down the hair, we've found it really useful and it makes him look great after being brushed. I'll try an find a picky of the brush we have, hold a minute...
Jade

Double-sided brush
 

Ah ha! I don't think these are the excact brushes that Buddy has, but they look almost the same, they're very similar. Here they are, I just found these piccies on the web... they work wonders on a tangled, messy or just plain scruffy pup!

Does Deegan have a silk or cotton coat ?? The silk coat will not mat nearly as
much. A silk coat is cool to the touch and the cotton is not.
Joan and Crystal

I looked at that one too last night when I was at PetSmart, but I wasn't impressed with it either. The teeth just seem to move around to easily, both back and forth and spin around. There just isn't much quality there at all. I am going to order the one from Chris Systems.

From what I can tell, he seems to be a cottony coat.

What do you mean by "cone"? Or do you mean comb? I'm confused.