If you have a poodle or a doodle you know how hard it can be to keep them matt free......
So, Let me start by saying that I do not do "torture grooming" on any dog (aka: excessive de-matting) just for the sake of the owner's vanity or self expression. What is torture grooming? In groomer speak it is: "Painful and dangerous de-matting, especially in delicate or sensitive areas....." (sensitive areas= ears that are paper thin and consequently will rip and/or bleed easily.....or sanitary and tail areas that also are prone to bleeding if you attempt to de-matt them).
Anything over 15-20 minutes worth of brushing time is considered dangerous, and can even give a dog "brush burn" (their skin starts bleeding and can get infected via hot spots...ect).
There are several reasons that we refuse to do this including:
1. It can be psychologically distressing for the dog, and stress them out which can in turn cause heart attacks and aggravate underlying health conditions (ie seizures, congestive heart failure- ect). This is especially true for puppies and even more so for senior dogs. This can in turn cause the dog's anxiety levels to be so heightened during grooming process that they need sedation for future groomings because they are traumatized from the experience.
2. If the matts are close to the skin it aggravates the skin, and attempted de-matting causes brush burn (bleeding of the skin), which can in turn cause skin to rip, tear, or bleed and create an environment for hot spots and staph/ skin infections to form....resulting in expensive vet bills for the clients who then expect us to pay them for causing them (in other words... it's a liability issue, and however much I stand to make from grooming your dog does not compare to the liability of a possible vet bill in the event that I somehow hurt your animal while attempting to do whatever it is that you want us to do but is possibly unsafe somehow).
3. I often do not have an extra 30 minutes to an hour to work on clients' dogs as we only allow a certain amount of time for each appointment.
4. My hourly rate is $85/ hour, and most people do not want to pay what I am going to charge for excessive de-matting fees anyway because it is so time consuming to do properly.
Rule of thumb is: if you can't get a fine tooth comb thru your dog's coat TO THE SKIN...then your dog will NOT be able to get a fluffy snap comb haircut without de-matting or being taken down short, and we will not be de-matting excessively under any circumstances.
If you have questions regarding whether or not I will most likely have to shave your dog down.... it is best to call ahead and send me pictures of their coat to make sure I have extra time before your appointment.
Overall, the best advice that I can give any new or existing doodle/ poodle owner is to get themselves some regular corn starch (YES you heard us! its magical!) from the grocery store, or regular baby powder with corn starch along with a stiff bristle slicker (poodle) brush for ongoing coat care and maintenance at home (working on the matts when the hair is DRY is very important in this regard).
Whenever the mattting first starts in your dog's coat (from going out in the rain or swimming- ect), work the corn starch into DRY hair, and pat and pull the hair out of the matts with your Stiff bristle slicker brush. Conditioning your dog to brushing is key when trying to keep their coat long and fluffy! This makes a groomer's job easier as well (remember: if they won't let YOU brush their coat, then they probably won't let US do it without fighting either).
Remember the "groomerism":
"You no brushy brushy....we shavey shavey!"
(a doodle had matted ears that had to be shaved with a #10 blade in this picture)