Facial Mats... Please help!

[lithandriel]

So, my CC grooming products finally came in yesterday and I was so excited, because I knew my foster, Jack, was in dire need of some serious grooming.

So far he'd only been given a bath, and I didn't have any of the other stuff you need to groom a yorkie - only stuff for Baby (as caring for Jack was very unexpected). I had no brush that would work on him (only a bristle one for Baby's short hair), and no conditioner. Not even a comb. But the bath at least got the fecal matter out of the hair around his bum, and I THOUGHT it would help with the matting around the face (I thought it was probably mostly dried food, and not matted hair).

So, last night, I whipped out my new CC combs, slicker brush, Ice on Ice and Madan pin brush, and went to work.

Jack was a real champ!

But I just CANNOT get the mats on his face. It was so much worse than I thought it was! Ice on Ice did next to nothing to help, and that was even on the tiny ones that weren't matted all the way to the roots. By the time I got through most of the mats on the back of his head, up by his ears, and worked around to the front, I wanted to CRY! The mats in his mustache hair are bigger and thicker, and matted to the roots! And I KNOW the skin here has to be SO much more sensitive than other areas.

He hasn't been bathed in about two weeks. I didn't want to bath him again without getting the mats out, because I thought that was the order you're supposed to do it in. And it hadn't helped with the face matting the first time. I was using the CC #006 comb on hair that I had saturated with Ice on Ice, trying to pull strands apart with my fingers, and working from the ends with the comb. After an hour, I'd only made slight progress. He really didn't want to hold his head still...

He's the first yorkie I've spent any amount of time with, and so I don't know for sure, but I think he has a cottony coat.

I just don't know what to do. I can tell it bothers him - he is constantly rubbing his face along carpets...

But I'm kind of stuck. If I can't get them out myself, I don't really have any other options. I don't know of any good groomers around Tucson, and even if I found one, I don't have his vaccination records, which are required. And his owner is going to take him back from me sometime within the next month (nothing I can do - see my other threads). I'm so tempted to shave him down...

I'm SO angry at his owner. He never gave me any groomer information, vet information, vaccination records, no grooming tools (probably because he doesn't HAVE ANY) - I would have kept Jack up if he'd come to me groomed and with tools. But I am pretty sure Jack arrived this way - there's a tuft of matted hair in his mustache that's been sticking at the same odd angle since he arrived. I just never inspected TOO closely, because I didn't want to know how bad he was until I could DO something about it, and I THOUGHT that the Ice on Ice would make getting the tangles out a breeze...

Does anyone have ANY ideas for dematting badly matted facial hair? Or is my only option to shave him?

[YorkichonBella]

awww....hoping someone will have the answer! Good Luck!

[chachi]

Get a dematting comb. They have blades on them that will cut through the matt. Here is a link to the one I have.Dematting Comb - Dog Grooming Combs at Arcata Pet Supplies

[labrown]

Tbone gets mats under his chin, and usually I just cut them out. Surprisingly he doesn't look too bad with some hair missing. I'd rather do that than try to pull them out, just because he hates having his head brushed. Best of luck!

[Yorkiedaze]

I think the most sanitary thing you could do at this point is to just cut them off and wash his face really well. There may be some unwanted critters lurking in those large matts.

[labrown]

Originally Posted by Yorkiedaze

I think the most sanitary thing you could do at this point is to just cut them off and wash his face really well. There may be some unwanted critters lurking in those large matts.

This is a very good point. For his comfort level too, I'm sure he would love to have them gone. My dog LOVES to be in a puppy cut, so maybe a nice healthy trim would make the both of you much happier.

[k2p1e]

Be careful with a dematter!! Cannot tell you how many time I have run those through my fingers (I place my finger behind the rake so I will always hit ME and never the dog...)

Run out and get some thinning shears!!! This little babies look like a pair of scissor with teether, either on both or one blade. the tips of the shears are usually blunt.
Soak those matts in some havy conditioner and while wet take the thinnign shears...make sure you are cutting HAIR not skin and start cutting in th MIDDLE or thickest part of the mat, then use a slicker brush (once again make sure you are brushing hair and NOT against the skin to avoid any irratation or brush burn) and brush the matt...worst case scenario you will end up losing lal the hair if the matts are really bad, but you can thin out some of the not so bad ones...

My yorkie has a cottony coat, if I look at hime cross eyed I swear he matts, I use thinning shears on his matts...