star

I would check with another groomer, a 10 blade seems very excessive. I have had dogs come in severely matted and I can usually get by with a #7f blade. You have gotton some great advice. Always brush then use a comb to check your work. Oh yes use a good quality conditioner after you shampoo :-)

Wet shaving is good but with a cordless clipper, you don't want to zap yourself. The blades stay cooler, just dry and oil them when done.

mom24doggies

If the op has been bathing his/her dog without brushing her out correctly and then not blow drying afterwards, yeah 4 months is plenty of time for that to happen IMO. I've seen it first hand. Poodles grow so quickly! However I do agree that wet shaving might save a bit of coat...but like you said few groomers use or even know about it. I know about it, but I don't use it mainly because the people I work for are a bit old fashioned and they wouldn't like it. Love them to death though!

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"Love is the emotion that a woman feels always for a poodle dog and sometimes for a man." ~George Jean Nathan

3dogs

I personally haven't seen a poodle that was previosly shaved down to grow so fast & get so solid that a groomer needs to use a 10 blade on it, in just 4 months. I am sure some effort to just lift the mats off the skin & a wet shave will save coat. Then there are some groomers that automatically shave a dog that has any tpe of matting. To the OP please take a picture of the matted neck & body.

mom24doggies

The op was bathing the dog, accelerating the matting process. Plus I am sure the dog wears a collar, or maybe even a harness/ sweater. It can happen. I have seen it. Although you are probably right it may not require a #10....a 7 or 5 might suffice. And with wet shaving, even more coat could be saved.

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"Love is the emotion that a woman feels always for a poodle dog and sometimes for a man." ~George Jean Nathan

lindasdoggrooming

I agree with Mom24, a dog that is bathed and not blown out then not brushed correctly is probably matted to the skin. I see them all the time in my shop. A 10 is extreme but best case is a wet shave to save as much hair as possible and easier on the dog. A comb is your best friend when you own a poodle.

BigRedDog

First of all I do sympathize with you. It's tricky to learn how to brush these dogs correctly but I can explain step-by-step and you won't have any more problems.
I would not try to de-mat your dog, it's very time consuming and hard on both of you, go ahead and start from scratch again. When the hair starts growing back, even before it's long, get into the habit of brushing every (2) days. That's as long as you can go.
Start at the back of the dog with her body against you, lift the fur until you can see the skin,(this is very important). You can brush and brush the surface and never get to the skin which I think is the problem here.
hold the hair down and brush a section at a time until you have no resistance to the slicker brush ( slicker not pin brush) then take your comb and comb that section. If you hold the hair down, it will not pull and hurt. It should not bother the dog at all.When it is brushed correctly, there should be no resistance, the comb should go through like your own hair. IF it doesn't...brush the section more.. Do this all over the dog...head to toe. Finish by running the comb over the entire dog.
You will need a good Universal slicker brush. A good metal comb with long teeth(greyhound is good). If you take excellent care of the coat, you could switch to a pin brush which is very nice and will keep the coat beautiful. You will always need to check with the comb and make sure the coat is combed...all the way to the skin.

BigRedDog

First of all I do sympathize with you. It's tricky to learn how to brush these dogs correctly but I can explain step-by-step and you won't have any more problems.
I would not try to de-mat your dog, it's very time consuming and hard on both of you, go ahead and start from scratch again. When the hair starts growing back, even before it's long, get into the habit of brushing every (2) days. That's as long as you can go.
Start at the back of the dog with her body against you, lift the fur until you can see the skin,(this is very important). You can brush and brush the surface and never get to the skin which I think is the problem here.
hold the hair down and brush a section at a time until you have no resistance to the slicker brush ( slicker not pin brush) then take your comb and comb that section. If you hold the hair down, it will not pull and hurt. It should not bother the dog at all.When it is brushed correctly, there should be no resistance, the comb should go through like your own hair. IF it doesn't...brush the section more.. Do this all over the dog...head to toe. Finish by running the comb over the entire dog.
You will need a good Universal slicker brush. A good metal comb with long teeth(greyhound is good). If you take excellent care of the coat, you could switch to a pin brush which is very nice and will keep the coat beautiful. You will always need to check with the comb and make sure the coat is combed...all the way to the skin.

3dogs

The following pictures are of a Doodle dog BUT to show that with the right dog, coat, shampoo, conditioner, detangler, & brushes & combs a groomer can remove mats without hurting the dog. It has been 7 wks since he was last in. Many a groomer would have taken 1 look at this dog & grabbed for their 7 blade. Pictures show a freshly bathed dog. Now time to dry & remove mats at the same time. I enclosed 2 pictures that show my HV dryer on the coat separating the coat to the skin & no mats, also NO Whip knots going on at all on this long coat.

Attached Thumbnails

         

Fluffyspoos

Amazing work, 3dog! I hope you charged accordingly!

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liljaker

I ws going to suggest slicker, too. Whenever I ask my groomer if a pin brush is better, she wrinkles her nose and says to us the slicker. So, that's what I do.

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