Ok the adult sheepie hair is here YIKES!!

Hi Everyone it has been a long time since I last posted and I just want to say Holly is well and BIG! Her hair has changed and I am having a hard time keeping up with her. She loves to roll and get dirty ( she definatly is NOT a girly girl ) and then she gets mats! Mostly under her neck and feet any tricks of the trade to help prevent this ? I try and brush her every other day. I also take her to the groomers for a bath and brush once a month.

Any suggestions I would love to hear from all you experience sheepie owners!!
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I'd like to know that too! My big problem area though is under and around the ears. It just matts so easily and I am having the hardest time keeping it matt free.
How old is Holly? I'm wondering if adult hair should be that difficult, maybe she's still in transition? You can look up thinning the chest in this section, I groom my boy every few days too but he is only 22 months, still changing coat :)
Holly is 14 mo old . I am just assuming that this is her adult coat is it not?
I am really having a tough time and I do not want to shave her b/c I love the big sheepie look!! :D and what is this thinning that you talk of?? 8O
Sorry, my reply was somewhat brief! Your sheepie is changing coat to the adult one, but this takes a while, some are faster than others, but (I think) generally speaking this stage should be over by the time she's 2 and a half-ish. At the rate Rufus is going, I don't think he will ever get his adult coat :lol:

I've heard this stage is the worst, with the fluffy puppy coat matting really easily and adult coming through seems to make things worse. I'm brushing Ru every couple of days, if I leave it 3 or more it's a major grooming session lasting a good 3 hours.

There is a thread about thinning the chest here which might help you, when thinning is done regularly, it should cut down on grooming time as the hair is thinner. I thin the chest, shoulders and neck. On the shoulders and neck you leave the 'top coat' which is the more wire like hair on top.

If you are having lots of problems, you could just get a puppy cut and maybe this will be easier during transition time.

Feel free to browse the 'grooming' section for more hints and tips, I spend ages here and it's helped me LOADS :D
ravenbrook wrote:
Holly is 14 mo old . I am just assuming that this is her adult coat is it not?
I am really having a tough time and I do not want to shave her b/c I love the big sheepie look!! :D and what is this thinning that you talk of?? 8O


Depends on the lines to some degree, but both of mine went through coat changes right up to a year ago (2.5 yo then) sorry you may have an issue for a while :D SOmetimes a greooming spray will help mats from forming, buit puppy cut is usually a preferred option :)
I really dont want a puppy cut :cry: I like the full coat and I have tried the ice on ice and that does not work :cry: Well no one said owning a sheepie would be easy!
Admittedly at about 12 months Tiggy had 8 weeks of totally horrible coat.
It didnt seem to matter how often I brushed her she would be covered in heaps of huge matts.
I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong in the grooming.
Turns out it was just a big coat transition because all of a sudden it seemed to just get better and now I spend about 4 hours once a week to thoroughly groom her and there's just a few small matts here and there.
A bath and I cheated and used a coat conditioner helped too but I really think its a coat phase and you have to just hang in there or thin the undercoat or clip.
ravenbrook wrote:
I really dont want a puppy cut :cry: I like the full coat and I have tried the ice on ice and that does not work :cry: Well no one said owning a sheepie would be easy!


I have read that getting a cut can help to ease the transition; that the hair will grow in more manageable. I spent the last 12 months dematting Tonks and Luna, and their coats were so ragged looking that I wanted to start fresh. We got our Puppy Cuts last Friday, and while I miss my shaggy girls, I know that their coats will grow in more evenly now, and hopefully a little more easy to maintain.
Well I am glad I am not the only one and that it will get better! This morning I woke up and I had just brushed Holly 2 nights ago and her head just had matts all over it when I patted her!! YIKES!! So tonight when I get home from work I guess I'll have my torture session with her!! She is like a little kid that doesn't want to take time out to get her hair brushed . She actually sulks!! It is kinda funny !!
Asterisk doesn't like to be brushed either. She will run to the basement and hang her head while I brush her. I can get a few minutes in before she books it up the stairs. She just turned 1 year old.

I plan on getting a grooming table soon. I think having her elevated will make it easier.
ravenbrook wrote:
So tonight when I get home from work I guess I'll have my torture session with her!! She is like a little kid that doesn't want to take time out to get her hair brushed . She actually sulks!! It is kinda funny !!


Tiggy after I bathed her face and then put her up to groom her. BIG sulk. :(

Image
Boy that face looks familiar!! They are just so comical! I did a little last night and she was so sad I had to giggle. I am waiting for some detangler I ordered and if it works like I am hoping it will I will share it with all of you. It is an old product just not sure how well it will work on my sheep... but if it does do what I'm hoping I will be jumping for joy! :D
Our groomer suggested that we don't leave a collar on the dog all day-it creates running and mats. She also would shave the areas prone to matting. She would shave small patches behind the ears, in the "armpits," her butt and her whole belly. Since she isn't a show dog, we were fine with it. I found that as much as I love her coat long, I have much more time to spend playing with her then brushing her now that she is shaved!
wendycz23 wrote:
Our groomer suggested that we don't leave a collar on the dog all day-it creates running and mats. She also would shave the areas prone to matting. She would shave small patches behind the ears, in the "armpits," her butt and her whole belly. Since she isn't a show dog, we were fine with it. I found that as much as I love her coat long, I have much more time to spend playing with her then brushing her now that she is shaved!


As previouslly posted - show doogs are selectively shaved often to reduce matts in areas prone to matting and not visible.
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