The dog featured in the video below is Skippy, a Golden Doodle that was referred to me by another client of mine. Normally, I do not groom very large dogs now but, I do make exceptions especially, if the referral comes from a long time client. Skippy just turned one year old at the end of November and was trained specifically for therapy needs. He arrived at his new home at the beginning of September and was only groomed once during the last three months. When I saw him his coat was probably at least 4 inches long.

He had been going with a dog walker to the beach daily and romping in the lovely San Francisco Bay and getting soaked with water and sand. After that, he was rinsed off to get rid of all the sand and allowed to just dry. So, over time his coat became completely matted.

So, what’s a groomer to do?? He is absolutely adorable and so well mannered due to his training and I debated with myself could I rescue this coat. His coat was one solid mass of felt at 4″long! The owner ask me not to shave him if at all possible so, after spending some time with him to determine if his disposition would be commensurate with the dematting process, I agreed to proceed. Thankfully, I had access to an extra bathroom in which to work and go into Zen dematting mode. I gave Skippy the command to lie down and he obeyed beautifully. I gently rolled him on one side on my large breed grooming table and he basically went to sleep as I methodically scissored every 1/4″ of his coat and then picked apart the felted matted coat with my slicker brush. The first session took over 4.5 hours. I accomplished his entire body except his neck the first day. On the second day, I proceeded to complete dematting his neck (video below) which took 2.5 hours. This was extremely tricky and dangerous. It takes great concentration and patience. Not a mark was left on him after I was finished.

After completing his neck. I thought it best though to stop and allow Skippy to rest and also allow me to re-group after such a labor intensive session. So, bright and early the next morning at 9AM, I arrived to complete his grooming another 3 hour session. I could completely get a groomers comb through every inch of him prior to the bath. In between his toes, the backs of his feet, inside his thighs, the base of his tail, his entire ears and neck, every inch of him. It was truly an accomplishment considering that only two days prior his fur was so, so matted. I bathed him, dried him and hand scissored his entire body to even out his coat.

Hopefully, the small demonstration of my method of dematting in the video below will show that even in what would be considered a case to shave a dog, that the coat can be saved with time, patience, determination and kindness and love.

Golden Doodles have very special grooming needs if one keeps the hair any longer than an inch. In my opinion, the glory of this dog/breed is their beautiful, unusual coat that is best presented when the coat is at least 3-4 inches long. Like a big teddy bear! It does require maintenance between professional groomings i.e.: brushing and combing thoroughly (100%) prior to any bathing, drying thoroughly and brushing  and combing (with a slicker brush and groomers comb) after the bath. And of course, brushing and combing at least 2 times a week to keep the coat mat free. This breed does require work but, it’s worth it. When a Golden Doodle is groomed religiously, the results are spectacular!

I am hopeful that in two months Skippy’s coat will have grown in and he will be magnificent!

ps. Since I have published this post on dematting I have received many emails thanking me for showing my dematting technique. I have even received emails from other groomers who never thought to demat in this way! I never use a dematting knife or dematting rake; those tools pull on the dog a lot and make the process quite stressful. (Believe it or not,  one of newest clients, a Havanese was dematted with an Exacto Knife by another groomer which caused an injury that required 20 stitches). I learned my technique from my mentor, Edith Hoeltz in New York when I apprenticed at Canine Styles in 1989. Of course, there are times when the coat or an area ie: genital area or behind the ears are so matted that I must use a clipper with a very close blade to gently and gingerly remove the mat but,  if I can use scissors and gently brush and comb the area, I will do that first. I try to save the coat not only for aesthestic reasons but, also because I believe dogs prefer to have their fur and be in a natural state and not be embarrassed with being shaved.