All About The Dog
Mobile Dog Salon
All About The Dog, LLC
Mobile Dog Grooming
Matted Dogs
What is matting?    Matting is when a dogs coat gets so
bad that it can not be brushed out like a knot or tangle.  
There are many ways a dog can get matted.

Not getting groomed on a regular basis.  Dogs with longer
coats (shih tzu, maltese, yorkie, etc) should be groomed every
4 – 8 weeks, depending on their coats.
Not being brushed on a regular basis.  Dogs with longer coats
should be brushed daily, first with a slicker brush, then gone
over with a comb to make sure no knots are missed and also to
make sure the hair is brushed to the skin, not just the top of
the coat.
Not brushing a dog before and after a bath at home.  If you
bathe your dog in between grooms and do not brush before
and/or after the bath their hair will get tangled each time,
worse and worse.  Unlike human hair, when you wash a matted
or severely knotted dog the water will only set the mats and
make them tighter and harder to get out.  Its very important
to make sure your dog is knot-free before and after baths at
home.  
What can be done about matting?  When a dog is matted
to the point that it can not be safely brushed out, the only
option is shaving.  Trying to brush out mats can cause
damage to the skin and also hurt the dog.  It would feel like
someone pulling on your hair for a long period of time.
Mats can not be cut out with scissors.  Doing this is very  
dangerous. Depending on how tight and close to the skin the
mats are, there would be a great risk of cutting your dogs
skin.  
Clipper blades can not cut through the mats.  Blades on the
clippers can only cut under the mats, where there is a gap
between the skin and the mat itself.  
After your dog has been shaved.  Some times after a
dog has been matted for a long period of time there can be
irritation to the skin.  
The skin can be red and raw looking.  This is from the hair
pulling on the dogs skin for so long.
There can be scratches.  This is from the dog scratching at
the mats because they were irritating him.
If your dog has been matted for a long period of time there
can be sores and other unexpected problems with the skin.  
This could be caused by the skin not being able to breath and
moisture being trapped under the matted hair.
If the ears are severely matted and need to be shaved,
sometimes the dog can get a hematoma.  This happens when a
dogs ear is very matted and has lost feeling in their ear
(almost like when your leg falls asleep).  Then when the
matting is removed they repeatedly shake their head because
the feeling is coming back to their ear.  Sometimes when the
mat is very tight, the ear will start to bleed.  This happens
because the dog is shaking their head because it feels funny to
them and the feeling is starting to come back as well as the
blood flow.  The force of the dogs ears shaking can push blood
to the tips of the dogs ears making them bleed.  
Brushing your dog and getting them groomed on a
regular basis is very important to their general health
and happiness.  It's suggested that your dog be
groomed every 4 – 6 weeks depending on their coat
type.  
We will not attempt to demat a severely matted dog.  
It's not safe and we will never do anything that may
cause harm to your dog.  We want every grooming
session to be a positive experience.  
Each grooming appointment is expected to take
approximately one hour (depending on the breed).  If
your appointment takes longer due to the matting
there will be an extra fee incurred for the longer
appointment.  
"A dog wags its tail with its
heart."
- Martin Buxbaum