I can't believe it.
I just can't.
I have never had one of my dogs become so matted that I had to take him down short.
I mean, my dogs do tend to get over grown, because lets face it, grooming my own dogs at the end of a long grooming day, or week just isn't very appealing sometimes, so I do tend to let them become pretty long before I finally stay after work and groom them.
BUT, I must say, that most of them do get brushed and bathed every week, or every other week.
The longer the coat, the more often I brush them out, either before I start my day, or before I go home.
I tend to brush my red Standard Poodle the most.
Out of all of my dogs, his hair tends to knot up the fastest, so he needs to be brushed out at least every other day.
I brush my white Standard 3 or 4 times a week.
Even though her hair is pretty long right now, she does not tend to mat much.
My black Standard has the best hair, and I can actually go a couple of weeks without brushing her and she doesn't mat.
So anyway, I did not get a chance to groom, all of my dogs before going on vacation, but they were all brushed out.
I wanted to brush my red Standard the night before we left, but I was too busy and never got around to it, but I was sure that he would be okay.
I knew that he would have some matting when I got home, but I could easily brush, or HV that out when I got home.
Or so I thought.
I was shocked by how matted he was when I got home.
Seven days of no brushing couldn't possibly cause him to become that matted.
If a customer had come in and told me that their dog became matted while they were away on vacation (and they have) I wouldn't believe them for a minute....until now.
I really think that I have to give a little more benefit of the doubt when a customer tells me that their dog matted up so quickly.
Of course I know that a dog that hasn't been groomed in 4 to 6 months is not going to just suddenly became a pelted mat over night. (have had plenty of pet owners try to tell me that one)
But, I would have never have believed that a dog could get as matted as my dog did in just 7 days.
Seven days!
His hair is long, but not that long.
When I say he was matted, I mean MATTED.
All over...to the skin matted.
The only thing that was not matted were his ears.
There was no way I was going to be brushing all of that mat out.
He had not been swimming.
He had not been left out in the rain.
He is a totally indoor, spoiled dog.
I just could not believe that he had matted this badly in such a short amount of time.
So I bathed him and HV dried him in hopes that most of the matting would blow out of his coat.
No such luck.
The mats moved father away from the skin, but they did not blow out of the coat like I was hoping. (even though I knew it wouldn't)
Even though he looks nice and brushed out in this picture, he is still pretty matted closer to the skin.
So, Friday after work I stayed and groomed two of my Standards.
My black Standard had also not been brushed in 7 days, but she only had a few knots in her coat, and they brushed out very easily.
I did not have to take my red Standard as short as I thought that I would have to, but it is still a lot shorter than I like to keep him.
He is such a skinny, boney Poodle that he looks much better with more coat on him.
My black Standard is very solid in the body and looks good with the shorter clip, although the shaggy look really fits her personality.
What I learned from this experience?
That maybe...just maybe.....sometimes a customer is actually telling the truth, and their dog did really mat up in a very short amount of time.
Oh, and I also learned to give my dog a haircut before I go on vacation!!!
✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂
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