Why Do They Wait?

I have never understood why customers wait to call for an appointment when they notice that their dog is becoming matted.

Call before the mats get so bad that the dog has to be clipped short.

Today I had a Wheaton come in that is only a little over a year old.

The dog had been groomed before.

Actually, it had been shaved before because of matting.

He was very overgrown now.

But, I could tell that the owner had been trying to keep him brushed out.

That was the sad part.

He wasn't matted solid.

The problem was, that where he was matted, was bad.

All four legs had mats.

Some could be easily brushed out.

Others were very large and tight.

The cheeks were solid mats.

The beard was a solid mat.

His mustache was matted, but easily brushed out.

 I clipped his beard off with a #5F blade, leaving a goatee on the front of his chin so that it looked like he still had a beard.

His neck, chest, between his front legs, and all of the way down his belly had to be shaved out with a #4F blade.

There were also large, tight mats here and there on his body.

It killed me to have to clip this dog short.

Even with all of these matted areas, I could tell that the owner had been trying to keep him brushed out.

The hair most likely got too long and got out of control.

As soon as the owner started seeing mats he should have made an appointment.

Even though the mats were large and tight in some places, they had a nice airspace between the mat and the skin.

I was hoping that I could get a clip comb through him.

Nothing like trying to use a clip comb on a matted dog.

Chop, chop, chop.

It's a good thing that I like to scissor.

I was able to get a 3/4 clip comb through most of his coat.

He had a few choppy areas where the mats were tight to the skin.

I blended those areas the best I could.

The little triangles show where all of the tight mats were.

After I took the picture above, I went over the choppy areas with thinning shears to smooth out the choppy areas.

I forgot to take another picture. :(

I blended the sides of the neck with the front of the neck where I clipped with the #4F blade.

I clipped the mats out of his cheeks with the #4F blade.

His ears covered up the shaved out areas.

I de-matted his mustache, and shaped it up.

The goatee on his chin helped made him still look like he still had a beard.

 After all of the hair he had on him when he came in, I am sure that the owner feels like he was shaved.

I wanted to talk to the owner about putting him on a schedule so that he would not get so overgrown and get out of control again, but the Nanny picked up the dog.

Sooooo, I not only didn't get to talk to the owner, but I have know idea if the cut was okay.  :/

Hopefully, the owner will call and get him groomed sooner the next time. :)

Happy Grooming, MFF