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Is there a safe way to remove close mats from a dog's fur at home?
I've got a little dog, Maltese to be precise, and she has really fine hair which mats up really bad really easily, through something as simple as petting her often. I know I'm supposed to brush her, and I do. Most of her mats are on her head. Ears, neck and face, since I can easily cut and brush the ones on her body out. Brush her head is incredibly difficult for me, as she jerks and flails when I try to keep her head in place. I don't want to exert too much pressure on keeping her head in place, as I'm really skittish about accidentally injuring her due to a tragedy with another dog months ago.
I've been looking into taking her to a professional groomer, but before that, I just want to know if there's a safe way to remove her mats at home, without injuring her ears and skin.
3 Answers
- MarianneLv 77 years agoFavorite Answer
As a professional groomer, the Maltese is the one breed that I insist the owner stay and watch so I can explain what has to be done at home to keep this dog in good shape. Special brushes, special ways of brushing along with a specific type of comb are needed in order to keep the hair on this breed from matting. Behind the ears, under the legs where they attach to the body, front and back, under the tail and around the lips are areas that sometimes need twice a day combing. This is why so many Maltese owners insist the hair be cut short as they don't want to deal with this.
Find a good groomer, and ask them to show you the right kind of equipment to get for your Maltese and exactly how to use it in between professional groomings. If you don't do this it will be almost impossible to find a groomer that will do anything more than simply cut the dogs hair very short, which ruins the real look of the Maltese breed.
Source(s): Groomer - 7 years ago
If she jerks,you could easily cut her. If a dog will hold still,you can slide a comb under the mat so that the comb is flat against the skin,and cut the mat on TOP of the comb - this way you can't cut the skin. But if you're afraid of hurting her,take her to a professional groomer, preferably one recommended by your vet.You can even have your vet groom her.That way,if she gets really frantic,they can give her a mild tranquilizer. After she has been groomed,comb her twice a day every day,and she won't get matted.
- ?Lv 77 years ago
If she is matted clear to the skin you aren't brushing her nearly often enough. The only humane way to get those mats out is to cut them out carefully with scissors. To try to comb those out would be too cruel to your dog.
Also know that if she's matted when you take her to the grooming parlor you will get charged a big de-matting charge, and rightly so. You can't blame the groomer for that.
Good luck at getting everything out.
