I'm sure this has been asked a million times
 

But I would appreciate any advice here. Maggie is almost 16 weeks old and the puppy hair is just so difficult! It gets matted up so easily. She gets bathed once a week and gets brushed twice a day. But every time I go to brush her, it is just matted up on her legs and chest. the rest of her brushes very easily. I've heard about this 'cowboy magic' but can't seem to find it anywhere locally. is there any other advice? :confused:

I appreciate your help. Sorry if you have answered this a million times in the past :(

Here is a Store Locator for Cowboy Magic if you want to buy it locally: http://www.cowboymagic.com/store-locator.html But it is also sold in many online stores. It is the Cowboy Magic Detangler and Shine that you want to try. Here is one at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Magic-D...230949-7394023 but I think one of our members here sells it in their online store too.

One reason the puppy hair mats so easily is that it is falling out and so very fine. It will get better -- promise! Ben is about done losing his puppy hair (5 months) and brushing is so much easier now. I do still use a dime size amount of the CM Detangler after his final rinse at bathtime. It helps keep him shiny as well as making comb out painless.

thank you so much. i look forward to that adult hair :) maggie is 4 months this week, so hopefully she will start losing some of that puppy hair soon. seems like most of it is still there. her body is still jet black and I don't see any signs of it changing colors. the colors on her head are changing...but that is it. anyway, thanks again for the help!!

if I can find someone else that sells it, that would be great. looks like it will be hard to find in my area and amazon.com wants to charge almost as much for shipping as it costs to buy the stuff. they are selling it for 7.99 and charging almost 7.00 to ship it. that's just crazy to me. so if I can find someone on here that can beat that, I wil go that route. otherwise, I will keep trying to find it locally.

Pepper was the same way... As a puppy, he'd matt terribly, esp on the legs and chest. I ended up having him cut pretty short at not even 4 months as I couldn't catch up. He's getting close to being 8 months now and it's so much easier, sometimes I let him 'slide' one day withoud combing, but I find maybe 2 small matts at a time - it does get easier. Have you tried Johnson'N'Johnson detangler (for human hair). I'd order CM online and use the detangler in the meantime, it worked great for me...

Until you are able to get the detangler, use hair conditioner, watered down, in a spray bottle. Any hair conditioner you are using now will work. I've used watered down Pantene.

I have bought the most expensive conditioner that superpetz had and it doesn't seem to make a dent. I will try a detaingler and see if that helps. I'm ready for this puppy hair to be GONE hehe.

well, i have tried about 4 times to brush her today using detangler. this is even after bathing her last night and using a lot of conditioner. I have been able to get the matts out of her chest but the legs are just not working out. even after getting them out of her chest, they are back in there after a few hours. it's getting very frustrating. I am going to have to find this cowboy magic stuff. I'm at the end of my rope with it.

Another good thing too do is to brush the hair through when you have the conditioner on during the bath. Then let the conditioner set on the hair about 5 minutes before you rinse. Then brush through again with a detangler

I buy cowboy magic at our local feed & ranch store for $9.99. Works great!

thanks...i will look at some places like that around here. being Nashville, TN, we should have some kind of store like that :)

I will try this too

I didn't see anything listed for Nashville, but there are listings for all of these TN cities http://www.cowboymagic.com/store-locator.html:
BON AQUA CARTHAGE
CLARKSVILLE COLLIERVILLE
COOKEVILLE CROSSVILLE
DYERSBURG EAGLEVILLE
FAYETTEVILLE FRANKLIN
GOODLETTSVILLE GRAY
GREENEVILLE GREENFIELD
GREENVILLE HENDERSONVILLE
HUNTINGDON JACKSON
JOHNSON CITY KNOXVILLE
LEWISBURG LOUDON
MARYVILLE MASCOT
MEMPHIS MURFREESBORO
PINEY FLATS SELMER
SEYMOUR SHELBYVILLE
SOMERVILLE SOUTH FULTON
SPRING CITY STRAW PLAINS
TALBOTT TN WOODBURY

www.PURECANINE.com does have the Cowboy Magic -- the owner is a member here. She also has the Petsilk products which are also supposed to be very good for detangling.

Check with a farm supply store. Look in the horse grooming section. I bought my Cowboy Magic at the TSC store -- Tractor Supply Company.

I noticed on three of my babies that the 'puppy' fur was coarser than the adult fur. So it was matting really bad. A friend of mine suggested getting them cut short to remove the puppy fur. It worked!!!! And it didn't take long for the adult fur to grow on out! (The puppy fur does not fall out... if you look closely, the puppy fur just starts getting silkier at the roots. So where the coarse ended and the silky started, the matts were really bad.) So getting an inch or two cut off can help the problem a lot. Matts will still occur though, so you still need to brush every day, and with the great products that everyone has mentioned and the haircut, you should be relatively matt free! :D

matting
 

I'm a groomer and have 3 Yorkies. I have found if you will have the puppy hair trimmed off fairly short (tell the groomer #7 blade style)...when the new adult hair comes in...you'll be amazed at how easily kept the coat will be.

Just thought I'd pass along the info.

So is it just the puppy hair that gets mats cause Wyatt will be 8 months on the 16th..and his hair still gets mats...especially around his legs and face...i brush him everyday and baths once a week....it cost too much for petsmart groomers and they dont do a good job to me (my opinion) but im going to try that cowboy magic...will it help for a better coat also??

Let me know before i buy it...thanks in advance!

grooming
 

Hi:

The puppy hair is the problem right now....tough to keep tangle free, especially since puppies liked to play so much. When his hair regrows after say a #7 trim - depending on his genetics - his coat should be so much more manageable. I have found a metal (greyhound comb as they call them) works so much better than brushes. When your baby is laying in your lap, just grab the comb and go over him. He'll love it. Make sure you go down to the skin level (gently)and comb outward...so many only surface comb and thats where a big problem develops as far as matting goes. I strictly use the metal combs...no brushes. Brushes will break the coat off.

Something that works well for matts too is baby powder. Just a dab a little on the matt and work it through. Matts will generally comb out easily. I have to say though, trimming off that puppy coat works wonders.

Send me an email to linkay12003@yahoo.com and I'll be glad to help you through the grooming process for your baby. Very easy to do.

Thanks!!

Linda

what about a coat that is really cottony and doesn't seem to grow? Should that be cut down? My puppy is 10 months old and his hair on his head is growing but his body is one big fluffy mess.

cottony coats
 

If the coat is thin and baby fine - I would use a #5 trim down blade or a #4. It will leave your babies hair a little bit longer than the 7. #5's are typically used for what they call a puppy cut. You don't want the skin to show through the hair when its trimmed off. A good groomer could also scissor cut only (might charge more) but would be worth it. This 'could' stimulate the hair to come back thicker. Not always true, depending on the genetics of your pup but I've seen it happen. Omega 3 supplements would be great for the coat too.

With a coat that is so fine like you describe, keeping the coat trimmed short would be easier for you to maintain and your baby would be alot happier when it comes time to comb. Many still believe in the brushing -- after grooming for many years and trying so many different tools - the metal comb is the best for Yorkies.

Yorkies need combed at least every other day.

Taking off the puppy coat early on helps with the transition to the adult coat. Typically, the coat is changing from 6 months to 1 year. What they call "blowing" their coat.

You can always keep your little one in a sweater when necessary in cooler weather.


If you have any other questions, just let me know.

Thanks,
Groomer in Texas
Linda