[weez74]

I plucked up the courage on Saturday and started to clip Rosie. I had brushed her and de-matted her for about an hour, but oh my goodness, I cannot believe how many other matts she had! I got her back and one leg clipped, and I cut the hair on her head, face and ears with a pair of scissors, but then I had to call it a day and go back to de-matting! I did some more de-matting yesterday and (after a very muddy walk followed by a leg/belly/butt shampoo this morning!) today and then tried to clip her again this evening. I got another leg done and did some more scissoring on her head.

She does look loads better and generally I am really pleased with how easy it seems to be to do the clipping and the scissoring (thinning scissors are amazing - they hide all my mistakes - and I am generally aiming for an untidy look, which helps!) but I would have been so embarassed to take her to the groomers. She still has matts behind her ears, on her chest, on her tummy and I haven't even got to her legs yet.

Am I the worst cockapoo owner in the world? I didn't even notice she had all these matts!!!

Once I have got on top of it, there is no way she's going back to this state.

 

[JulesB]

Twice Betty has gone to the groomers with me thinking there was no mats and the grooming saying she had loads! So no you aren't a bad owner, the mats just creep up on you!! They get very close to the skin and are hard to get at my groomer said.

Now Betty has 10 to 15 mins of brushing and combing every day to try and prevent this happening again.

The groomer also told me to brush against the hair growth direction as you can get closer to the skin and see the mats that way. So far this seems to be working (fingers crossed anyway).

Good luck with finishing grooming Rosie and you know we'll want pics!!

x

 

[weez74]

Thanks, Jules. I will definitely post pics when i am done as I was so nervous but I think her face, at least, has come out quite well. I think I will have to clip her fairly often as part of the problem was that there was so much hair that I couldn't tell which bit of her was whic let alone see the matts!

I completely understand why they clipped her so short the last time she was groomed. They would have had to keep her there for days otherwise!

 

[weez74]

Actually, here is one, mid-groom, that shows that you can see her eyes now at least (and the reason why she needed a bath before I resumed grooming!). I have gone shorter on her head now, as I think I was too nervous at first. It's not the best post-groom picture ever, granted! I will take more when I finally finish. It feels like painting the Forth bridge at the mo....

 

[Sarette]

Oh bless her!! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result. I'm dreading finding a matt on Max! xx

 

[JulesB]

Rosie looks great, you are doing a good job!

The problem with mats is they just creep up on you!! Since Betty got to about a year old, her coat has got soooooooo thick. I struggle to get to her skin when Frontlining her, so getting a brush through is tough at times.

Like you say Louise, i can see why the groomers have had to cut Betty short too or she would have been there all day!!!!

I do think though that a proper short cut every now and then is good for them as they do seem to like it, once they've got over the shock!!!!!

x

 

[DONNA]

Oh dear my cousins cockapoo had to be clipped short all over because he was so matted so dont worry it happens to everyone.

Do you have an equafleece?? Buddy has the jumper and i really think it helps to keep them clean and stops them getting muddy and stuck up with thistles etc which must help to keep the matts at bay.Its worth a try??

 

[colpa110]

The curse of Cockapoo matts It really is a constant battle isn't it.
I clip Betty myself bUt totally agree with your comments about thinning
scissors they hid a multitude of sins!!! I can never get Betty as neat as I would like as she will not it still for long enough( especially around her legs and paws)
and I'm always finding uneven bits but I prefers that to a potential scalping by a groomer!!

 

[Freddies Mum]

I can sympathise. I recently clipped mine for the first time and it took ages!!! In one day we managed to bath, dry, then brush out and clip Freddie's body and two legs. We were going to carry on into the evening but gave Freddie a break and he just fell so fast asleep we didn't have the heart to wake him up. So had to finish his groom the next day.

I really need to make a New Year Resolution to do daily brushing. The problem is you get them all lovely and matt free so think they can last a few days, but before you know it, it is a week later and they're all matted up again. Still, they look so beautiful it's worth it!

 

[weez74]

Thanks, guys! I do have an equafleece, but it's one of the coats, so it doesn't cover her tummy and legs, so i only use it when it's raining or we're going somewhere with long grass etc. it's not much use in the mud but I was considering buying a jumper version.

Anyway, I got a picture of her today minus the mud. You can see her tail gave me some problems - it was sooooo long, so I took a deep breath and hacked most of it off. Not sure it looks right (and remember I haven't done her back legs yet!) but overall, I'm quite pleased. I'll put a before picture on too!

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[Tressa]

I started giving Teddy a groom in November, then went on holiday for 2 weeks, then gave him some more of a groom when I came back. I have now decided that grooming is going to be an ongoing activity in this house - a little more each day. Saves spending days at a time trying to get him looking tidy at least. I am listening to everybody's experience with the thinning scissors - have never mastered them myself but am going to spend more time on them now since hearing your recommendations . Anyway, grooming is getting longer and longer, Louise There is just so much of that lovely furry coat to deal with! I am glad Ted doesn't really mind if he looks perfects or not though, and he feels lovely anyway!

 

[JoJo]

I know what you mean about matts ... Honey seems to matt more since her first approx 8-9 months of age ...

I must admit I have started checking and combing her out more often .. I have actually made it part of our cuddle time each evening .. she comes to me I check for matts then over to daddy to escape my matt checking nothing too drastic found yet, but it does amaze me how quickly the small matts appear .. daily !!

Happy grooming my cockapoo friends .. we are all the same .. constantly grooming

 

[Bini]

Rosie, looks soooo lovely! You did a really good job there! I am not so brave, I send Cider to the groomers on thursday

 

[Julie Clark]

Rosie looks lovely in both the before and after pictures. I don't even have my cockapoo yet and I'm already worried about the mad matts!

 

[JoJo]

Matts mean more cockapoo cuddling .. think positive lol ...

I am going to check Honey Bunny in 30 mins time ... up on my lap with a comb she will want to be on hubbys lap I bet

 

[Freddies Mum]

You've done a great job, well done!

I've never cut Freddie or Darcey's tails. They are really long and look like little plumes when they carry them high. Does anyone else do that or just me? I might put a separate thread on to see...

 

[caradunne]

I always trim Izzy's tail to keep in balance with the body and also I find the tail gets matted when it is long. we live in the country and she gets covered in mud everywhere that is not protected by her Equafleece, so now I have her clipped to 1 inch every six weeks so that I can manage her. Even then she still gets matts; I cut them out as soon as I notice them. I find that brushing them out only leads to the fur matting again the next day. As the fur is curly the uneven bits never show! Izzy hates being groomed so this regime seems to be the kindest to her although I would love her to have long shaggy hair - the reason I bought a poo in the first place!