Today my Makeover is on a pet Bichon face.
The owner of this dog tries so hard to keep the coat mat free.
She does a pretty good job with the body.
The problem is the head.
This little man hates, hates, hates any kind of brushing done on his face.
The smallest tug on the hair to remove even the tiniest bit of matting will really upset this guy.
Because of that, the owner is not able to keep her dogs head and face brushed out.
So, he comes in with food in the hairs around his mouth.
The sides of his mouth have small mats, and his cheeks are matted.
Most of the time I am able to wash the food out of the hair from around the mouth.
This food and dirt is matted into the hair.
When I bathe a dog with mats like this around the mouth, I take a pair of scissors with me and scissor some of the larger food mats out while the hair is still soaped up.
I didn't bathe him this time, so I removed the mats after.
The mats were still scrubbed as clean as my bather could get them.
I pull up each individual little mat and use the very tip of my scissors to remove them one at a time.
I remove each mat one at a time, because I am trying to save as much hair around the mouth as I can.
I also try to just cut the top part of the mat off, leaving most of the length behind.
I have removed the mats from the left side of the mouth, but have not brushed it out yet.
I also use the tips of my scissors to cut some of the larger mats on the side of the mouth into smaller mats that will brush out more easily.
This guy sits really still for this, so I felt comfortable using my scissors.
Don't split mats this way if the dog is too unpredictable.
You can also cut mats in half with a mat splitter, or thinning shears.
After gentle brushing and picking the mats out, the face is all brushed out and ready to scissor.
I scissor my pet Bichon faces on the tighter side.
So many pet owners want that round Bichon head, but they either can't, or don't keep the head and face brushed out between groomings.
I still try to make the face as nice and round as I can get it, I just scissor it shorter and tighter in hopes that the head and face will not be as matted the next time.
Well, I can hope can't I?
✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂
EmoticonEmoticon