Bowie has very matted hair! HELP!
 

:)Bowie just turned 4 months on wednesday, I have bathed him myself a couple of times buthave not taken him to a groomer yet, all the horror stories freak me out! He has very matted hair, even though i brush him everyday he plays so hard that it matts right up. My questionis, does anyonehave any advice on what product i can use for a morkies hair? I want to make his experiance at the groomer as painless as possible. :confused:
Thank you everyone!

Cowboy Magic is a good dematter and you need to get a slicker brush and a comb. When Cali got really matted after getting her spayed I called around to a few groomers and found one who said she could get the mats out without shaving her. She did a great job and it was worth the money. Now I try and groom mine myself but still have matting problems here and there.

Thank you pattie, where woud i get cowboy magic?

I use cowboy magic on Lillie all the time...she has floor length hair that is soft and silky so she can get very matted very quickly. As Patti said you will need a slicker brush (I don't use a comb, I find it pulls to much) You can buy cowboy magic at store that sells horse supplies. It's very oily so you don't need much..If he is badly matted I would put a little bit of the CB magic right on the matt and work from the end of the hair up to the body...You will have a harder time getting it out if you brush from body out. Lillie's coat(under her body where she won't let me brush) was so matted at one point I thought I was going to have to shave her. It took me 2 hours with the CB magic and slicker brush to get the matts out. I used A LOT of CB magic...she looked like a little grease ball when I was done with her! LOL...I will occasionally do this right before I give her her bath. If you bathe him without getting the matts out first they will just tighten and be harder to brush out. Good Luck! He will look beautiful when he is done...you will have to post some pics!

Some Petsmart have it:thumbup: (detangler)

When I brought Bogey home from the shelter, I stopped at Petco to see if they could trim his nails. The groomer told me to use a cheap conditioner like Suave directly on the mats and to comb him. It actually work! His coat was so bad I applied Suave conditioner right to his coat in a big glob right on top of the mat and combed out several matts. He still needed to be shaved because he was a mess but it really helped with all the matts the poor guy had.

I learned my lesson when I first had Pebbles. She was getting a weekly bath and I was brushing her but using a people brush and comb. I didn't realize that she was matted all around her neck until I took her to the groomer and she needed to be shaved because of her matts. The groomer told me that each time I was bathing her and not brushing/combing properly she was getting more and more matted~like dreadlocks! Since I purchased the proper grooming tools, she no longer is matted and her hair is growing out nicely. I haven't had any problems with Doodlebug since I learned my lesson the hard way. He did have one little matt on his leg and used the conditioner on combed right through it~no problems.

Make sure after you use the brush to also comb close the skin. Here are a few links of the type of comb and brush that I use:

Finishing Touch Coarse Tooth Comb for Dogs at PETCOhttp://www.petco.com/product/15411/F... Dogs at PETCO

Then I finish with a very fine tooth comb which they didn't have a picture of to show you, but it looks just like the other but very fine teeth. You can purchase them anywhere Walmart, Petco, Petsmart. I just used the links for a good picture.:)

Hope this was helpful!

Jodi

Cowboy Magic Detangler works great. You might find it locally at any equestrian type store. Petsmarts that have a horse section often carry it. Otherwise you can order online. A little goes a very long way. You can also mix it 1/2 CM with 1/2 water in a spray bottle, shake very well and use it as a grooming spray. It's like oil and water so you need to shake it very well. Here is a link to the CM website: Cowboy Magic - Detangle Your Hair

Us groomers like to say that 'Brushes lie and combs tell the truth'....many times a rush will go right over matts andmiss them but a comb will pick them up very quickly.

I love for demat sprays Stazco (works great but smells funky), Isle of Dogs (lovely smell, work great but $$$$) and Eqyss Survior Gel for the extreme cases.

I find too many yorkie pups get bathed often (which is good!) but when they are dried...well too mnay people let them air dry and then the knots start. I always dry my guys head to toe and make sure they are bone dry and I rarely every demat of brush their coats when they are bone dry. I like a little spritz of detangler/conditioner, less hair breakage.

Worst case scenario?? Start calling around for groomers...do your research.

Cowboy Magic!!!! The miracle of all miracles, lol

My Yorkie matted alot when she was a puppy, this saved me. Also, I kept her in a puppy cut until she was 11 months old, then started growing out her hair. It doesn't matt any more :):)

I've used cornstarch to work matting out before and it works like a charm. I can usually work the mat out with my fingers using the cornstarch....and it doesn't take very much at all.

Thank you all so much for all the great advice!!