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Matting

by Dorothy Ritenour
(Dundee, MI)

I thought I was diligent about brushing my beautiful Aussie... I discovered large matts under her fur on her hind end on both sides - you know the area. Should I try to brush out the matts (yikes!) or should I cut them out?

Comments for Matting

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Re: Matting
by:

I brush my mini Aussie every day... but never... you know... "there" I'll be interested to hear input from others.

Mini Aussie
by: Kathy

I have a 1 year old Mini Aussie (he's beautiful). They tell me that if you cut the hair of the Aussie it never grows back the same... I've never tried it but I will take their word for it. You could take the dog to "the beauty parlor"...

I Cut Them Out
by: Kathy

Those mats are sneaky - I was surprised how many we hiding deep in my girl's fur. I just snip them out - with the amount of fur these dogs have, particularly in the 'pants' area, it's not noticeable.

Trying to brush them out would be painful IMO.

Cheers,

Kathy

Re: Matting
by: kym

I brush my aussies on a pretty regular basis but sometimes, it just happens. I use 2 different products that work EXTREMLY well. The first is called Showsheen. It is a product (spray) for horses and it can be picked up at most feed stores, tack stores or of course ordered online. It works fabulous for not only getting mats out but preventing them from happening in the first place. It also helps keep the coat clean. YAY! The second product that is even better is called Cowboy Magic. It too is an AMAZING product (in a gel form) that will get ANY matt out of ANY coat. I swear by it. It too can be purchased at any feed, tack store or online. I can almost guarantee you won't have to pull out another matt again! And they are both completely safe for dogs!

Matting
by: Nonnie

Your baby is beautiful!!!

We have two Aussies. My daughter is a groomer and she takes very good care of them and of our teacup poodle and our Maltese.

I am sure you know about the Aussies double-coat. We use an undercoat rake about every 2-3 months to get the dead undercoat out. Sometimes we use the Furminator. They get brushed every week. She trims the "skirt" area in the back because otherwise, it gets icky. We try to check for mats behind their ears every few days. We use a metal comb for that area.

I am anxious to try the products Kym listed in her post.

Good luck!!

cut the matts
by: Aussielovr

Even if you brush regularly, it's easy to miss some small matts. I would definitely cut them out so you won't hurt your dog trying to untangle them, especially if they are large. It is not true that the fur grows in differently once it is cut! I regularly trim the fur on my dog's back legs and it continually grows back the same way.

I comb my Mini Aussie every day.
by: KB Enquist

I walk my Aussi every day at the park. The area we live in is really bad as far as deer tick. I personally caught Lyme disease just from working in the yard. I use a regular finetooth comb that I purchased at Kmart. I worry sometimes about the fact that she seems to lose some undercoat every day. I'm hoping that isn't bad for her. But she has a beautiful coat. And we never have matting behind the ears or the backside. Nor do we have any tics when I'm done with her. I found this thread looking to see if it was possible if I am combing her too much. I am hoping that's not the case. Because I would suggest to anyone to make sure they comb their dog after being out in any deer populated area. But that is just my take on it. That is one beautiful baby you have there.

Could it be the collar?
by: Dave Weise

Our mini Aussie has matts behind her ears too, and she has a flat 1.25 inch wide collar, is that the best for this breed?

Matted Butt Fluffs
by: Auriya

My mini aussie Nym has been growing mats in her butt fluff. I just ordered the Cowboy Magic and the Showsheen as suggested above. I try to groom through them but they get SO thick. Poor baby girl pulls bits of fur out and snarfles her hind area so hard she gets upset. I can not wait for the two day shipping for these products!!!!!! I am super excited to get to give her some relief. I am going to pick up some Mane and Tail conditioner today so that I can bathe her and give her a deep conditioning before we do the de tangling.
Thank you all for the posts on this topic. I have been struggling with these mats for ages. ?
I also want to say that you can shave an Aussie and the hair grows back JUST FINE. we had a heat wave last summer and Nym was getting sick from the heat so we shaved her down, a full on puppy cut. She looked adorable. Her hair grew back identical, cow licks and all. She is just as ragamuffiny as ever!

Cowboy Magic works!
by: Toronto Aussie

Not sure when this was originally posted, but found it yesterday (Oct 2016). Our Aussie has had horrible matting in his private area "down there". He's quite good at letting me groom him on his back, behind the ears and chest area but wouldn't for underneath areas.

Yesterday looking back at puppy photos, I was reminded at what our Aussie looked like when rolled over on his back without matts which prompted another google search that landed me on this page.

Desperate to find a solution (other than shaving) after years of the problem worsening and worsening, I saw the comment about Cowboy Magic. I went to their website to see if I could get it in Canada and found a local store that sold it.

Although it's called detangler, our Aussie didn't have tangles but large dreads/matts :-(

I had tried detanglers, conditioners, various combs, brushes, tools and googled for tips before with some success for smaller matts but these seemed hopeless.

Last night, within a couple of hours (on and off of adding Cowboy Magic gel and combing - and taking breaks), when our Aussie rolled over he wasn't showing us huge matts but fluffy fur. I couldn't believe it.

Thank you to Kym for mentioning the two products. I was so worried about the matting hurting our Aussie and am happy he will no longer have matts as we will continue to use the product to help make grooming easier on him and us.

Matting
by: Cowgirl

My little cowboy gets matts behind his ears and on his Aussie butt! I have tried leave in conditioner, constant checking and combing and he absolutely hates having them combed out with ANY brush. I just ordered the Cowboy Magic shampoo, conditioner and detangler so thank you in advance if this is my saving grace! (He is sitting right underneath me and he just farted! Horrible!) I love my Wyatt but this matting is a constant worry. I am a vet tech, not a groomer! When I do medical grooms for ulcerous matts it's not meant to be pretty! Thank you for this site. I'll be back with an update after using the product.
Tracy and Wyatt

Very matted Aussie
by: Ariana

I have a 14-year-old Aussie/Golden mix, he’s pretty much almost full Aussie. He will not let us brush him at all and he’s gotten very matted. It’s summer and I need to get him groomed. Should I opt for a shave or what should I do?! I talked to the vet about it and she said in an older dog they sometimes won’t let you brush them. I need suggestions. It’s super hot here and he’s suffering. We used to get him groomed regularly but we had a bad experience with our groomers and stopped.

Guilty as charged.
by: Kate

So I’ve got myself the most wonderful Miniature Australian Shepherd, who is my best friend. He is such a loyal companion. I’ve had other dogs but none that were this devoted and loving. Anyways! I feel terrible because I’ve been so busy with work and life that I’ve just finally gotten the opportunity to give him a bath and brush out. I’ve never had any issues with his coat but I feel just awful because tonight, I gave him his bath and brushed after he was almost dry I started to brush him. I found five matted spots: behind both ears (you know the spot), bout two inches above his nub, and the butt floof (not sure what else to call it but the long hair near his butt). I feel terrible because not once with all his petting between me and my boyfriend did we notice it. My thought is that the hair is too long to feel the undercoat well enough to tell. Anyways... I feel awful for having to let him go this long without a bath and brush. I won’t be doing THAT again. Anywaysss... because the matted area was so thick and I was having trouble getting through it without him looking at me like, "please... stop." I decided to try my detangler. It did great but it wasn’t cutting it so I tried nourishing oil serum. And wow! I put it on the base of the matted area and instead of rubbing it I gently squished it to distribute it throughout the area. I let it sit for a minute or two then used the pointy end of my rat tail comb to break it up. When it was broken up I gently pulled the attached hair out of the matted hair. It worked wonders for me. And after a total of an hour and a half. He is completely done! I hope this helps anyone that is struggling to overcome matted coats. I’m grateful he is so patient and trusting because I think my other dogs would give me a guilt trip for days.

Matted pup
by: Anonymous

I am a groomers bathing assistant. Today we had a farmers working Aussie that they have groomed once a year. A true nightmare. Totally one big mat. We had to shave him and he was filled with slivers under his mats that had worked their way into the skin. He had abscesses from them. His under arms were so matted how he walked was a mystery. Please groom your pups!!!

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