Blog Preventing Mats in Your Dog’s Coat
Mats are mainly common in dogs with a heavy coat but can happen to any dog with a reasonable amount of hair that isn’t groomed or properly brushed on a regular basis. Believe it or not, hair matting isn’t just about your dog’s cosmetics. Matted hair depending on its location can be very painful and even dangerous for your dog.
Most Common Places for Hair Matting – Preventing Mats in Your Dog’s Coat
- Behind the ears
- Between back legs
- Along the dog’s backside
- Groin area
- Underneath front legs
- Under the collar
- The lower legs
How to Preventing Mats in Your Dog’s Coat Hair
Grooming! Grooming! Grooming! Regular baths, brush outs and trimming is the best way to prevent mats. In addition, if your dog is a longer coated breed you must thoroughly brush him/her before and after the bath. Do not bath your dog without brushing. Always dry your dog thoroughly down to the skin after a bath. A wet coat tightens the fur, which is why it’s important to dry your dog as thoroughly as possible to prevent matting. Maintain a regular brushing and combing schedule, preferably a few times a week that works for you so you do not miss the brushing. When brushing your dog make sure to use a stainless steel metal comb. Use the comb to brush down to the skin to catch any buried mats they may start to occur. It’s always the ones near the skin that can’t be seen.
Removing Hair Mats
- Brush around the mats to loosen up the coat. Which also gets rid of any dead hair that may be present.
- Cornstarch is a great de-matting aid. Rubbing two drops onto the mat should help do the trick.
- Comb the matted area(s) with a stainless steel metal comb in one direction, repeat as necessary until the mat has returned to strands of hair.
- In some cases, it may be less painful for your dog to simply trim or cut the mat out.
Dangers of Matted Hair
Matted hair is not just uncomfortable, and unsightly it is also dangerous. Matted hair is an entanglement for fleas, ticks, dirt, bacteria, and much more. All of these living entrapments can cause harm to your dog.
If you are uncomfortable de-matting your dog, or you would like to get your dog’s coat into a condition where it can be cared for properly consider allowing one of our experienced VIP groomers de-matt your dog for you.