Grooming/Shearing a dog with hair that mats

[pcooley]

My daughter's dog, Charlie, is a very large mutt with hair that not just mats, it felts. We try to brush him occasionally, but the brush just catches on his hair. I bought some pet clippers (electric) and try to clip his hair that way sometimes, but the clippers overheat and seize up.

Mostly we ignore his dreadlocks. However, occasionally, the matting obstructs some of his, um, biological functioning, and cleaning up *that* mess is horrible, and I'm sure it's a horrible experience for Charlie as well. (This email is prompted by our coming home from vacation to find him in terrible shape. I don't know if our housesitter didn't notice the smell, or he just didn't want to deal with it. I had thought about trimming him before we left, but I didn't think his hair had grown too long back there, and I've been so busy, I had not made the time to take a close look at him, so it's partly my fault. Our housesitter was supposed to be staying at the house for the animals, but we get the sense he was not sleeping here.)

While the dogs are not supposed to be my responsibility, I seem to be the one who steps in to take care of them when something - like hair matting over a delicate area - goes wrong. (I love and enjoy our cats. I love and feel guilty around the dogs).

I'd really like to stay ahead of his hair matting. I would take him to a groomer, but he's a very big dog, and while I haven't priced grooming, I'm worried it would be $50 - $60 to shave a big dog, and that's just ridiculous in my book and in my budget.

On the other hand, with my electronic clippers burning out, what I end up doing is spending three hours, every four months or so, trying to carefully cut the felted fur away from his body with haircutting scissors. I usually can only get through part of him in that amount of time, so he's always a very lopsided looking dog.

Are there specific grooming tools for dogs with hair that mats like that? His quarterly haircut is a real chore. I'd love to be able to keep his hair short enough that it didn't felt together, but I don't have hours a month to try to brush him. I feel so bad for him, in spite of my insistence that I would have nothing to do with any dogs adopted into this family until I felt I was ready to give a dog the attention they deserve.

I'm attaching a photo I took of him *after* his last three hour haircut. It doesn't look like I accomplished anything at all. I'd happily spend $20-30 for a grooming tool that would allow me to spend ten minutes a day getting the dreadlocks out. Every other dog I've had has had short hair, and it's just been a matter of giving them a bath every year or so. I've never had such a high maintenance animal in my life. I literally do not know what to do to get his hair short and then keep it that way with a reasonable expenditure of money and time. I think it's frustrating to both him and me. I try to brush out the felted fur, but all the brush does is pull the hair out, and he yelps, so I stop. I try to cut it with scissors, and unless I'm moving at a glacial place, I invariably cut his skin, and I feel terrible about that. The electric clippers seem useless, (at least the $30 Walmart clippers. I can't see spending the prices at Petco for their shears). We've had years and years of an endless, losing, struggle with his hair.

Charlie by onequietbreath, on Flickr

[Float On]

First off...what a cool dog! With that kind of hair you just have to pony up and make the commitment. I'd go ahead and spend the big bucks to get him properly shaved then you and your daughter have to make a daily commitment to brush and a weekly commitment to trim him. I had to trim the hair on the hindquarters of my golden weekly or he'd have the same matting issues. Future maintenance will be easier if you get a routine now. Waiting 2-4 months is really not healthy for any of you (physically for him and mentally for you).

[rodeosweetheart]

First off...what a cool dog! With that kind of hair you just have to pony up and make the commitment. I'd go ahead and spend the big bucks to get him properly shaved then you and your daughter have to make a daily commitment to brush and a weekly commitment to trim him. I had to trim the hair on the hindquarters of my golden weekly or he'd have the same matting issues. Future maintenance will be easier if you get a routine now. Waiting 2-4 months is really not healthy for any of you (physically for him and mentally for you).

+2

Definitely pay to have that initial groomer appointment, and then keep trimming. He looks very sweet. And I would pay to do the groomer, then turn over maintainance to your daughter, and let her research the best way to keep up with coat care for his breed/mix, which may have something that naturally dreads like a Puli. And go ahead and buy her better clippers if need be.

[fidgiegirl]

I groom Gus at home (except last time he went to the groomer, I was too preggo to handle him). I consulted with the groomer at PetSmart who was more than kind to tell me all kinds of info knowing she was giving away business, and she recommended a pair of clippers that was about $150. They have been worth it. Gus is a shih tzu and his hair is not even as challenging as Charlie's looks to be and this is what it took to get clippers that would handle his hair. They are corded Andi's clippers and we got them online through PetEdge. You also have to oil clippers and keep them cool.

I would second the recommendations of the others to have it professionally done off the bat, and then try to keep up. Poor Charlie boy. There are also a number of videos on YouTube that might be helpful. I learned some tips on how to pull the skin tight while trimming, etc. that way.

I know cdttmm grooms her dogs, hopefully she'll see this and chime in.

[new2oregon]

My Daughter is a groomer and this tool works great http://www.furminator.com/furminator...l-reviews.aspx . They are not cheap. It works great on dogs and cats and are great for removing mats.

[boss mare]

This is going to be pet care 101 here. The type of clipper you bought is garbage the lower models are either battery operated and pretty small if it was a plug in then it was magnetic driven. Also crap and a waste of time and money The better clippers are gear driven brands are like the Oster Golden 2 speed... They run about 100 to 160... The blades are called A-2 and are interchange able with some of the better gear driven and cable driven brands The kit comes with a 10 blade. You can buy different blades for different uses the bigger the blade number, the closer it to the skin is cuts 40 being a surgical The 10 blade should be very suitable for you needs.The Cadillac of clippers is the Double K it is a cable drive and is very quiet as the motor is not near the the head of the clippers That is what I use since I have horses and dogs, and I have a lot of horses that are shown There is the Oster Clip Master but I don't thing you nee something that large
If I were you I would pony up what ever the cost is to have the dog professionally groomed the first time to get is all done at once...then up keep it your self . Make sure you ask for a "sanitary cut", have the nails trimmed and have his anal glands expressed This is a health problem as maggots can be in the warm, dark smelly areas and fleas, and ticks can be in burrowed deep along with a host of other skins problems

I am going to be very stern here... If you cannot or do not want to spend the time / and/or the money to care for the dog, reguardless of "whose" dog it is then maybe you need to reconsider your commitment to this dog PLease make you dog a happy welcome member of the family

[Teacher Terry]

WE have 3 Maltese that get professionally groomed and in between cuts I cut their poop shoots so there is no mess when they do their business. After you get a professional cut you should be able to trim this area in between times. WE bought a expensive clippers but still it took us so long to do the job and the dog was frustrated. Plus we were not able to do the nail trim & anal gland expression so still had to pay for that. Now we get them groomed every 3 months and get them cut extremely short. Then I bathe & cut the delicate area as needed until it is time for the groomer again.

[boss mare]

WE have 3 Maltese that get professionally groomed and in between cuts I cut their poop shoots so there is no mess when they do their business. After you get a professional cut you should be able to trim this area in between times. WE bought a expensive clippers but still it took us so long to do the job and the dog was frustrated. Plus we were not able to do the nail trim & anal gland expression so still had to pay for that. Now we get them groomed every 3 months and get them cut extremely short. Then I bathe & cut the delicate area as needed until it is time for the groomer again.

+1

[cdttmm]

Fellow dog owner here and we do all our own grooming. We've got two Aussies and a cattle dog so lots of experience with the long hair, potential for lots of mats factor.

First and foremost, bathing him regularly will help. Not every week, but once every 4-8 weeks should be sufficient. This will help remove some of the loose hair that's exacerbating the general matting problem. Use a mild shampoo and make sure he is rinsed thoroughly. Dry him with a couple of old towels and really use the drying action to remove even more loose hair. I'm pretty sure your kids are old enough to do this task, although you might want to supervise the first few times to make sure they aren't getting his face/eyes/ears full of water and/or suds.

Second, brush him every day! Even if it's just 10 minutes a day it will make a huge difference. Do this and it will minimize the time spent and the overall agony of the big grooming days. Again, your kids are old enough to do this.

Clipping a dog is not a hard task, but it takes practice and patience. Invest in a quality clipper. We bought a heavy duty Oster and it works great. It's a little on the heavy side so your kids might initially find it hard to use, but with practice they will quickly become pretty comfortable with it. I started grooming and clipping show cattle at 8 years old and was clipping my dogs by age 10. Sometimes they got interesting haircuts, but they got better with practice!

Clean hair will clip much more easily than dirty hair. Hence the regular baths. Dry hair will clip more easily than wet hair. So you might find it best to bathe him one day and clip him the next so that he is totally dry when you clip him. Practice using the clippers on a less delicate area first, like his stomach. He probably won't care if his stomach has been sheared so it's a good practice area. Then do the more delicate areas working slowly. Speed and clippers do not go together. My dogs won't always stand still long enough for me to clip everything in one shot because I have to do their legs as well, which is tricky. I just do what I can then I let them run around the yard for a few minutes and then bring them back for round two. Repeat as necessary.

I do toenails after or on a separate day. One of my dogs is a dream for cutting toenails. She stands still and has clear nails, super easy. One stands still, but has all black nails. I've only nicked him once. He's stoic so he didn't even yelp. The third dog is a nightmare. Hates having her feet touched and screeches with every toenail that is cut despite the fact that she's never been nicked. She's just a drama queen.

Hope all of this helps both you and your kids get a better handle on grooming Charlie! Feel free to post questions if you have any. Also, check out YouTube videos for grooming videos. Good luck!!!

[pcooley]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll save up for a better pair of clippers.

I have to say that years ago, I did get angry that the family members who said they were going to take care of the dogs were not doing so, and we tried to give them away. One person adopted Rosie, but they brought her back after a week. My wife was nervous that the person looking at Charlie wanted to use him for fighting. They're both very old now. I think Charlie is around 9 and Rosie is around 8. When they were young, they scrambled around on the top of some antique furniture I had that had deep emotional value. I was not a happy camper.

When I was growing up, I don't think we had a dog for more than two or three years at a time, but those were the days of putting the dog out the front door in the morning, and we lived in a land of heartworms and rattlesnakes.

I've never heard of cutting a dog's toenails. I cut my parrot's and cockatiel's nails, but I thought dog's kept their nails worn down by walking around. I have to admit I don't look closely at the dogs; they're not on my personal radar until something goes wrong with them. (Do other families have this problem - the pets belong to one person or another in the family? We don't really have any family pets. The Senegal parrot is mine. One of our newly adopted cats, Dixie, is mine. I now clean the litter box twice a day rather than blow up at the kids because I notice no one has cleaned it for days. Our other adopted cat, Bruce, is my wife's. The two cockatiels belong to my son, and he actually takes good care of them. Charlie is my daughter's. Rosie belongs to my son, (and again, he takes pretty good care of her in terms of playing with her and keeping her in his room at night. My daughter, after clamoring for Charlie, has never particularly liked him. I pay more attention to Charlie than anyone else. We don't really have any pets that we are responsible for *as a family* and none of the pets are really family members the way some pets are in some homes. My wife hates my parrot because he lunges at her. I don't like owning the dogs - though I like the dogs themselves more than I own up to - because I made it clear years ago that I didn't have the time or emotional resources I felt a dog needed. (And I think the best way to ruin a walk is to leash yourself to a dog.) The cats are the closest to being family members. We all love and play with the cats.) I think that's also the way it was when I was growing up. There was no family decision to adopt an animal. One or the other of us would drag a stray home, and then we were responsible for it. My parents made it clear that we were responsible, and if the animal died, we were to blame because they were not going to have anything to do with it. We always took care of our animals because we knew the threat was not an idle one. I cannot sit by and watch an animal suffer, so all my threats are idle.

I spent this morning trimming the hair off one of Charlie's legs. I'm planning to do some more tomorrow. I'm still not sure about finding a groomer. (I have to say that I just buzz my own hair down to the quarter inch mark on the clippers. Hair is not something that seems justifiable to spend time or money on, either with humans or pets. I have better things to do with the little time and money that I have. His hair is just so darn difficult to tend to.) I think, from now on, if we adopt other dogs, they will have short hair.