Have you ever been told by a groomer that he has to shave down your dog because it has matted fur?
Let me explain why a “shave down” is suggested instead of a *dematting session.
*Refers to the action of removing the matts on the dog using certain tools to “cut” up the tangles before combing them out. Mat is defined as “A densely woven or thickly tangled mass: a mat of hair.”
1. We do not want your dog to endure any pain and discomfort.
Even with the gentlest of hands, the dog undergoing dematting session feels a certain level of pain and discomfort. During dematting sessions, we slide the cutting tools between the skin and the matts and “saw” the matts up into smaller pieces before using a comb to remove them. For some dogs(esp. the smaller breeds, puppies, elderly dogs), their pain tolerance is unimaginably low and a little tug on their skin causes them to scream/struggle/bite.
2. We do not want your dogs to undergo grooming for a prolonged period.
Dematting takes up alot of time depending on the severity of the matts.
3. We want you to save $.
There are charges applicable for dematting services and for Bubbly Petz, it starts from $20 onwards.
Conclusion:
For me, i will firstly examine the severity of the matts on the dog before making a recommendation. Depending on the different areas where the matts are more severe i might recommend different styles of groom for the doggie. At the same time we make sure we inform our clients on the reasons above of shaving down in times of need.
We will never recommend our clients to leave the matts on the dogs as moisture and dirt gets trapped easily inside, becoming an ideal bacteria breeding ground. Over time the bacteria breaks through the skin, leading to skin infections.
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I’ve dematted plenty of dogs and never touched one of those tools you pictured. They are dangerous and with a live animal on the table there is too much risk involved. There are awesome products out now that aid in dematting, some available to the average consumer and others specifically made for groomers. I only ever use a comb and a pin brush, sometimes a slicker, and sometimes, but rarely, my thinners to break up the matt. I even have one little girl that falls asleep on my table while I dematt her…but you are definitely right, this process comes at a premium and different dogs have different levels of tolerance. I always make sure to explain to the owner that I can dematt anything, it all depends on how patient the dog on the end of the hair is! It takes a very patient and capable groomer as well as some deep pockets. I also tell my customers I’ll do it once…and we always make their appointments more frequent after that.
There are of course cases where shaving is the only humane option, but even then the dog doesn’t necessarily have to be skinned! Using a technique called wet clipping, where you shave the dog while wet (no, you won’t get electrocuted if done correctly!) you can usually get at least one to two blade lengths longer through the coat than you might have when dirty and dry. The most important part of course is education, making sure the client understands what has to be done and why to ensure it doesn’t happen again!
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Thank you chocolatedog for taking your time to comment.
My thinking is aligned to yours in a way whereby after the dogs get fully dematted we advice the client to take up regular grooming for their dogs.
Thanks for yor information on the wet clipping, i understand that its a relatively good and effective way to remove the matts as well as leave 1 to 2 blade size longer fur for the dogs. Its just that in my country, wet clipping is underused.
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