It used to be that I would demat everything.
I thought I had to.
And..
I thought I had to.
And..
I had no backbone when I started grooming.
If a pets owner did not want their dog clipped short, I would spend forever trying to demat it.
Sometimes I would actually stand there crying because I did not know if I could get all of the mats out without clipping.
I found all kinds of ways of dematting, or hiding areas that I did have to clip.
I don't do a lot of dematting anymore.
Believe it or not, I did eventually find a backbone.
It only took about 10 years, but I found it. :)
When I demat now it is usually because I want to save the ears, or the tail, or because I don't want the dogs legs to look like toothpicks.
Then there are those certain customers.
The ones that, for some unknown reason, you keep dematting their dogs even when you shouldn't.
I had two in today.
They are two Scottie's, one cream, one black.
We have been grooming them for years.
They used to come in in fairly good shape, a little matting here and there but no big deal.
Over the years, they started coming in in worse shape with the owners always begging us not to shave them.
The dogs are now older and they have arthritis.
They hate being brushed out.
I know, I know, we should shave them down.
I can't tell you how much my daughter wants to shave them down to teach the owners a lesson.
It would be a lesson lost on these people.
I would bet anything that there would be a major blowout in my lobby too.
Sometimes it is just easier to demat then deal with a clueless owner.
That is the way I feel.
My daughter does not agree.
Oh, to be young again.
I guess some groomers would say that it is cruel of me to demat these dogs.
But remember, I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves from years of dematting.
Tricks that make it easier on the dog and the groomer.
I used a few of them today.
Both of the Scottie's have very thin, fine coats.
I don't know what happened, but they both missed out on the terrier hair.
Their owners like their backs clipped with a #7f blade.
They also like the skirt and legs left very full and very long.
They like the hula skirt look. :(
Today they had to compromise.
They had not been groomed in 4 months because of a missed appointment.
If they wanted us to save the coat, I had to shorten it.
At least they would not be shaved.
Take it or leave it.
They took it.
They where both bathed in Best Shot Shampoo and Cream Rinse.
We loosened the matts with the HV drier as much as we could.
After that we scissored half of the coat off before we did any brushing.
Once half of the coat was gone, the mats brushed out fairly easily.
Large, stubborn mats were scissored out.
The belly, and inside of the front and back legs were clipped with a #5f blade.
Here is a link to the video of me dematting this dog.
If you pull on this dog too much, he will bite, and fuss up a storm.
He did great with this technique of dematting today.
No fussing and biting.
The only thing he did do, was try to get to my husband while he was videoing.
My husband is the one who takes most of the dogs out to their owners.
This guy thought that if he could just get to my husband he would go home.
Here is the after picture of the front legs.
Here is a after picture of the back legs.
This is the finished picture.
Please don't look too long, I am not proud of it.
That is not the way a Scottie should look.
But, the owner was happy the dogs were not shaved, and they still had their hula skirt. :/
Another day, another penny. :)
Happy Grooming, MFF
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