Matting on Your Dog
What is a mat?
You know how when you brush your hair and you have a knot, you're trying to get it out but it hurts, and on top of it hurting it is also causing breakage and damaging your hair? Well have you ever had a knot that was so big and so tight that was up against your scalp? Imagine if your entire head of hair was like this, knotted all the way to your scalp. Could you imagine how painful that would be to try and brush it out? This is exactly how your dog feels when they get matted. Matting can occur in any long haired dog, whether they are double coated or not.
It is VERY important that you know that you are not supposed to give your dog a bath whenever they are matted. When you bathe a dog that has mats, the water only makes these mats get tighter. This is why it is very important to let your groomer know about matting in your dog’s coat, so that they know the proper course to take when caring for them and how much time they will need for their appointment. In some cases, if the mats are not too tight then the groomer will bath first and use dematting tools, detangle spray, and comb/brushes to try and get them out. This is very time consuming and painful for the dog but this method is mostly used for double coated dogs because we try every possible thing to not have to shave their coat.
You may wonder why groomers charge extra for matting? This is because when removing matting it takes way longer than a normal grooming appointment. Even if we are just shaving out the mats it still takes a while. IT also causes severe wear down on the blades and tools used.
Why are mats bad?
Mats can be very painful for dogs and in some cases they can turn dangerous. When a dog’s mats are super tight and close to the skin they actually cut off the circulation to these areas. You know how it feels when your foot or hand falls asleep? When it’s way past the point of the tingly phase and you can't feel your foot at all? This is exactly what your dog is feeling underneath those mats. The longer it is left there, the longer the blood flow is cut off to this area. Depending on how tight the mats are, they can sometimes have bruising underneath them from them pulling on the skin so hard.
These mats can also trap moisture and bacteria close to the skin. ESPECIALLY in the sanitary area, where poop and pee get trapped. Now having this trapped on your body for an unlimited amount of time, infection is bound to occur. The moisture can cause the skin to become really raw, then add the bacteria from the bodily waste and your dog essentially has an infected open wound. Now your dog is probably acting fine and that’s why you wouldn’t think that anything is wrong, but like I said above your dog cannot feel this area because of the loss of blood flow.
The most common places for matting to occur on your pup is their ears, under their legs (in their armpits), in their sanitary area, their tail, feet, around their neck(where their collar is), and basically anywhere that friction may occur. But in some cases the dogs ENTIRE body could become matted.
Ears
Dogs will get matted in their ears quite often. This is because some dogs tend to have greasy ears and softer hair on their ears. I have 3 goldendoodles and I have to make sure that I brush their ears regularly, because they will start to get mats overnight. I know on my dogs that the mats will start to form by their ear flap.This can sometimes be hard to notice because the ear flaps are underneath the ear and can be easily hidden, especially if the hair on your dog’s ears are thick.
Under their legs
This area is pretty common for matting because whenever your dog walks the legs rub the body in their armpits. With this constant rubbing it causes the hair to wrap together and start to mat. This can be very painful for your dog, especially if they get really bad. Imagine how bad it would hurt if your armpit hair was attached to your arm hair and it would pull every single time you tried to move.
Sanitary area
Matting in this area is caused by any poop or pee that might get caught in the fur, causing the hairs to tangle together. Not only are mats in this area very painful but they can cause serious infections.
What’s under the mats?
When removing these mats, it should absolutely be done by a professional groomer, and in some cases when the mats are really bad, at the vet’s office. Removing the mats can be super dangerous because you never know what is going to be under them. Groomers have to be extra careful when removing them because we never know if there are going to be skin tags, sores/open wounds, or even something stuck inside the mats. It once took me 7 HOURS to safely remove mats from a dog. These mats should be shaved out and NEVER cut out with scissors!! Depending on how close to the skin they are, you could take a huge chunk of skin out with the mat if you attempt to use scissors.
Once the mats are safely removed, all of the blood then rushes back to these areas causing redness, bruising, and in some cases hematomas. The dog can now feel these parts of their body after going so long without. This is the equivalent of when you start to get feeling back in your feet and it's all tingly and feels funny. This will cause the dog to want to excessively lick and nip at the area causing even more redness and swelling, especially around the sanitary area.
THE EARS CAN BE THE MOST DANGEROUS WHEN REMOVING MATS!! When removing the mats from a dog’s ears, the groomer has to be very careful and remove them a little bit at a time. This is so the blood can go back a little at a time and not rush back all at once, although sometimes it is inevitable no matter how slowly we remove the mats. The ears are very sensitive because they are so thin. When the blood flow is restored to them, they tend to have redness/ bruising. The dog will then begin to shake their head, because they are starting to feel their ears for the first time in forever. When the dog shakes their head the ends of their ears will slap against them and this could cause hematomas. This is when the tips of the ears bust, from the combination of the dog shaking their head and the blood flow being restored. As a groomer I take every precaution necessary to try and prevent this, from using a happy hoodie to keep the dog from shaking their head to putting cornstarch on the tips of their ear. Yes, you read that right, cornstarch is used on the tips of their ears to keep them from busting open!
How to prevent mats
Regularly brushing your dog is a sure way of keeping them mat free. Like I have said in my other blog, How to Maintain your Dog’s Coat, I HIGHLY recommend a metal comb for brushing your dog. I think that everyone who owns a dog should also own at least one metal comb. Slicker brushes do not keep the mats away because they do not get all the way down to the skin and through the knots, they only brush over the top of them. Daily brushing with the metal comb, using a detangle spray, and regular grooming appointments are definitely the way to prevent mats. The detangle spray that I have found works the best is The Stuff for dogs. This spray helps get the knots out and it also helps to prevent them from coming back!
The Stuff:
Metal Comb:
