Matted Dog

frogstar

Hi

Have a bernese/ collie cross that gets brushed every second day or every day

Issue is matting around the bum area. She licks herself a lot and is in the sea everyday which isn't helping. I've tried to cut some of the matts out but they are quite thick and near the skin so I'm a bit cautious

Going to get her groomed in the next few weeks and get them removed. Any tips on preventing matting in that area? She is brushed but it's hard to get under properly. anyone have a similar problem? Her coat is similar to retriever so lots of hair around the tail/bum

Edited to mention the area is underneath her back legs rather than on the visible outside

mymo

I have a small dog here who gets matted in the armpit area and the inside of the back legs like yours. My solution is to keep the areas clipped quite short and brush regularly.
Use a metal comb to get under the matting and sharp scissors to pick the knots out. Hopefully she'll let you do this, works best when you have a tired and full dog, work gently, bit at a time. It can take a week or more of 15-20 min sessions.
Once the matting is gone its easier keep detangled.

Tip:first time get someone to hold a kong filled with her favourite food in front of her, so she can lick away while you work.

frogstar

Thanks. She's not too bad at letting me in to clip them but does get a bit bored and restless after a short while. I suppose it will take a good bit of time in short bursts to get it done.

A couple are extremely close to the skin so I think I'll get groomer to shave that part (she's quite good)

Don't know why it's only started happening recently enough. She would get some matts that I could manage with brushing and a light trim but it's underneath now which wouldn't have appeared before

tk123

I find that regular brushing with a slicker and undercoat rake and also making sure the fur is not left wet/damp does the trick for my retriever. I have a blaster for drying him which does the job in no time! He has a habit of shaking when he's wet and wrecking the place so easiest to dry him to minimise the mess! . She's probably getting them because the weather has been so crappy for the last while - my guy's tummy and legs get quite wet and mucky from walking on a wet footpath - I'd assume she's be the same.

maggiepip

Same as mymo says - keep the bum area clipped short yourself - I need to do this for one of my dogs and it stops any matting.

Ms Tootsie

Ditto, we have a wheaten terrier and we keep that area short and clipped ourselves as well as the area right underneath his tail as a few times we found, em, shall we say, bits sticking to it, when it was longer hair.

We bought a pair of standard hair clippers and dont use any of the attachments. The first few times he wiggled a bit so it was a two person job but now he just lies there and lets me work away I tend to do that area every few weeks so the groomer very rarely has to do anything to those parts when we leave him in. It just stops the matting and is much more comfortable for him.