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HELP! Tangled fur!

KingstonsMom

KingstonsMom

Well-known member
Kingston has a HUGE ball of matted fur behind his ear. I don't know how this happened. I brush him constantly! I think it must have started forming while we were at the dog park. He played really hard and got all wet. Anyways, I think it's going to be impossible to brush out. It's tangled all the way down to the scalp. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions? I'll cry if I have to cut out a huge chunk of his hair. :cry*ing:
 
When Toby plays with his playmate, the playmate loves to grab Toby by his ears. And somehow this results in Toby having mats behind his ears just as the ones you describe.

I have no choice but to cut them out, as I have tried everything else, no matter how much I try to start at the top of the mat and gently work down, it doesn't work.

The good news is this, brush around the mat as much as you can to release as much fur as you can, then you will probably have to cut out the rest. I have done this several times and there is never a bald spot.

This certainly does not apply to show dogs, BTW, you would have to have some expert advice on that.
 
Have you tried a slicker brush? A couple of weeks ago Sonny got a huge knot right near his testicles (the mind boggles) that I was sure I was going to have to cut out. Just before reaching for the scissors I decided to have a go with the slicker and I was totally amazed that it came out. I just sort of dabbed at the knot very gently with the slicker (no pulling) and I thought "hey it feels like it is loosening" and it did.... came entirely out. It probably took about 15 minutes of work, and we had a couple of breaks during the procedure.
 
This is what they look like (or at least one variation of)

gs_catslicker.jpg


Gripsoft Soft Slicker Brush is designed to suit pets with sensitive skin or fine silky coats. Regular brushing helps prevent matting.

Grooming tip... First, brush your pet's coat lightly against the direction of hair growth. Then smooth the coat by brushing with hair growth. To look their well groomed best, pets should be combed and brushed regularly. Prior to bathing, the entire coat should be brushed. To reduce hairball formation, brush short-haired cats every few days. Brush long haired cats daily, especially when shedding. You can use this brush on cats and kittens and also on dogs with delicate coats
Click to expand...

I use a cat one because it is small. Basically it is made up of very fine, bent pins. The sites I have are Australian, but if you search the internet you'll find a site that suits you, or simply go to the pet store to buy one.
 
I went through this with Mia a couple of weeks ago--two huge mats behind her ears. I got a mat brush from Petco. It helps get the mats out without cutting a huge chunk of fur off. It took a while and she actually fell asleep a few times while I was working on her...

Good luck!
 
Chester doesn't get huge tangles but he's gotten a few doozies behind his ears and I used a combination of his metal greyhound comb and my fingers to get the knots out. I start at the bottom/edge of the knot and just work at the knot bit by bit with just the very end tooth of the comb and slowly separate the mess. I usually end up pulling out little bits of the tangle with my fingers. It takes some time but the loss of hair is minimal and I can be very gentle and not hurt my sensitive boy.

Just take your time and start at the bottom/edges of the knot and it will work out.
 
I've tried a lot of the speciality dog brushes, but I still go back to the simple little black comb for both Cedar and Willow. It seems to do better at getting out the loose fur, and it works fine with those annoying magic matts that appear overnight. Of course, the magic matts require time and patience if you don't want to cut out the matt, but I suspect the time and patience is needed despite the type of comb.
 
used a combination of his metal greyhound comb and my fingers to get the knots out
Click to expand...

This is what always works for me. Shelby has such fine hair behind her ears. Luckily she enjoys being groomed and will lay on my lap and let me gently work out the mats.
 
Try using a glob of human hair conditioner on the matt and then try to use the comb/brush/fingers. If it gets too bad-- I cut through the matt (not across to cut it out). It is like making two smaller knots instead of one huge one. This sometimes helps make the knot easier to work out without losing ALL the hair.
 
I thought they all got those matts behind their ears .........

I usually use a matt comb and/or scissors. With the scissors I do as Sandy said and cut into the matt instead of just cutting it out. (I learned this from a groomer.) Sometimes I will then hold the scissors open and pull them down through the matt. You'll pull/cut out some of the hair but not hearly as much as if you just chopped the whole thing off.
 
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