Grooming wellness checkup Part 4.

Mats

To make sure the brushing went well, I highly recommend running a coarse comb through the coat to see whether there are any smaller (or bigger) mats left in. In case the comb runs through the coat smoothly (or with small amount of effort with thicker coated doodles -no signs of discomfort visible on the doodle while doing it AND the pins running right on the skin, all over the doodles body) you are good to go and your doodle is absolutely tangle and mat-free.

It's important to know the characteristics of the mats.

Spots to keep an eye out for:

* Face (muzzle, cheek, chin, ears -inside, outside, behind ears- top of head)
* Feet (hole on the leg, bend, toe mohawks, paw pad boomerangs)
* Fanny (PP, poopy, balls and surroundings)
* Legs (inside, outside, the front side of the leg, the backside of the leg, hock-A-hole, wrist groove)
* Sides (left side, right side)
* Belly-thigh flap (inside, outside)
* Belly
* Back
* Neck (left side, right side, top, bottom)
* Tail (left side, right side, top, bottom, base)
* Armpits
* Butt

Characteristics of the mats

Size of the mats (<1/4" thick vs palm-sized bunches)
* Number of mats (few here and there or all over the body)
* Location on the dog's body (groin, armpits, back, etc.)
Location of the mat on the hair length (by the skin, closer to the tip of the hair)
* How tight the mat is (slight lack of brushing or chewed up matted hair bunches, mats after cone, bath without brush out, etc.)

These are critical pinpoints of picking a care plan making sure our doodle is comfortable and we use a tool according to the stage of mats.

Eg. Loose mats can be opened up with a brush fairly easily regardless of where they are on the body and on the hair length. However, when we meet with the tiniest but tight mats around the privates, the only humane way to go about it is to trim those out.

Samples of mats

One of the tricky spots. Belly-thigh flap. These mats are fairly thin, so I call them matted hair tornadoes. LOL They are tightly matted -sensing due to chewing- and there is zero chance it can be opened up. So when I meet with mats like these, I cut them out with my yellow-handle shears.

This is how mats look like when wet. When doodles get a soak with bunches like this, the rinse part cannot be done 100% perfect, so there will be some shampoo left in, resulting in an itchy dog. So I highly recommend removing all tangles and mats before the bath so we can avoid the itchy part and just enjoy the zoomies afterward.

This is what happens when we focus on the easily accessible areas, like the back and some of the sides. (She got her coat evened out to a full short trim after taking the image.)

Crazy mats, you can't even see the skin. Areas of this condition need to be trimmed out. (most likely the full body) Depending on how deep the mats are, it can be super short or as long as the distance between the mat and the skin.

Same here, just with a more curly coat.

Bunch of mat by the shoulder blades.

Trimmed out a bunch. Notice the half-length of the hair is matted. The other half is perfectly brushed. Often happens when we do not put the brush and the comb right to the skin and miss a lower layer.

Trimmed out, skin side view.

Trimmed out bunch of hair. Notice the half-length of the hair is matted. The other half is perfectly brushed. Often happens when we do not put the brush and the comb right to the skin and miss a lower layer.

The perfectly brushed out coat. Several inches absolutely tangle and mat-free. All groomers' dream. And doodle's. I was super proud of Bear's mom for doing such a detailed job on her baby's winter coat! She was ready to go down to summer length due to Bear's active doggy lifestyle. And I could not resist taking this image mid-groom. It is a beautiful proof of a doodle mom's care and love.