Ocean and sand and mats...oh my!
We took our sweet Barney to Florida for our family Thanksgiving trip. His hair is not super long but definitely longer than a puppy cut. I completely brushed him before coming to the beach. I knew that I would be facing heavy matting, and boy, was I right! We return home tomorrow, and I am anticipating hours of "beauty duty." It was totally worth it! He had a ball! His legs and where his harness lays are the heavily matted areas. Big, huge mats with sand stuck in them. Does anyone have any advice or tricks to getting these mats out other than the usual regimen? Any products that would help break them up when gently working a comb or rake through them? Thank you! Barney's mom |
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 Scissors?   |
| Yes, scissors are the last option. I'll try everything before that to try to save his beautiful coat! |
| If they're really bad.... like full felt... oy. Can you split them by hand by pulling them apart with your fingers? If you can, it will be tedious but gentle for all and make the brushing less intolerable |
| I'll sure five it a try! I'm only going to focus on one body part a day for all of our sake's. |
What a wonderful sight, a Sheepdog enjoying the beach. Charm loves it too. We spent a good bit of time with a wide toothed comb, stripper, and cowboy magic to detangle the matts. Hate to admit this, but the felted ones...I cut into vertically, maybe two-three cuts and then combed out. Anything to decrease the stress she felt..  |
| I've never been game to try salt water, sand and a sheepie in full coat so no advice on getting sand and salt water matts out. You've got some good advice here so good luck!! |
| I managed to in-mat Sprox hair by gently pulling apart the mats. took time but we did a bit a day and he was a very good boy.x |
| I just recently tried working a handful of corn starch into a mat before using a slicker brush to pick it apart.. I don't think it was my imagination but it came apart easier.... this mat was hiding up between her front legs and was felt-like it had gotten so bad bad Leslie! Anyway, I've taken Fred to the beach a few times and the matting on her chest from being damp, then using a car harness.... I know what you are going through. I wish I had known about cornstarch then. |
| Thank you, everyone! After 5 days and 5 gentle and short grooming sessions, I got them out! This is what I found that worked for me with a 3 inch length coat: I used a generous amount of Cowboy Magic on the really nasty mats and massaged through them gently. I was able to use a mat splitter to get them looser, worked them out with my fingers and a wide-toothed comb, and then followed up with a slicker. For the ones that wouldn't budge, scissors. I'll definitely try cornstarch in the future. His coat on his legs looks a little uneven, but I'm glad I cut out the really bad mats out instead of putting him through the pain of working out them out. What lesson has been learned? Barney LOVES the ocean, swimming, romping, and digging in the sand, and I will not deny him that pleasure...but...in the future, I will make sure his coat is (at most) 2 inches long before going to the beach again. Thanks for the advice! Barney's Mom |
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