My dog has some knots. So what?

Knots and matting occur when strands of hair tangle with each other and become solid. This can be anywhere from a mild problem to a severe problem.

If you can pull the hair apart with your fingers without your dog complaining – it might be minor and be able to be brushed out! If you cannot easily find skin by pulling hair apart – the matting might be severe and causing your dog pain.

But it’s just hair – how does it cause pain?

When lots of hair over a large area gets tangled, its starts to pull on the skin when your dog moves around. In severe cases, it can cause bruising on your dog from the constant pulling. Think about what happens when your hair gets stuck in a zipper – it can’t move freely and hurts to pull out.

OK but can you still leave it fluffy? My dog looks silly with short hair!

Unfortunately, the only way to safely and humanely remove knotted or matted hair is to shave under it with a short blade. If we try to leave the hair long and fluffy the tools won’t go through the coat, and will pull on the hair – hurting your dog.

Dog hair grows about 1cm a month, so your pooch with be fluffy again in no time at all!

Is it safe for me to just cut the knots out at home when I see them?

We don’t recommend trying to cut knots out at home – scissors are sharp and dogs are wiggly! Tight matting can pull skin into places you don’t expect, and it’s very easy to cut skin when you think you’re only going to cut hair. Our groomers are highly trained and take every precaution to keep your dog safe when removing knots, but sometimes injury is unavoidable.

Injury? Are you going to hurt my dog?! Our highly skilled groomers are very good at removing knotted hair safely, but sometimes there are injuries present underneath knots we can’t see until the hair is gone. Some of these include:

Hotspots: skin infections that leave a raw, weepy patch on your dogs skin. Can be caused by trapped moisture under knotted hair, or from knots pulling on the skin.

Bruising: in severe cases, your dog may have bruising on their body from extremely tight matting. Once the matting has been removed the bruising will usually fade over a couple of days.

Aural Hematomas: if your dog has tight knots on their ears, it’s a bit like you wearing shoes that are too small. When we shave the knots off all the blood rushes into the ears and can cause bruising and feel similar to pins and needles. If your dog shakes its head a lot because their ears feel funny – the blood rushing back to the ends of the ears can start oozing out of the pores. A cool compress can be quite soothing in these situations.

Rashes: if the tight knots have irritated the skin from pulling, or if your dog has been chewing on the knots to try and relieve discomfort, often we find rashes and irritation on the skin.

Grazes and cuts: even with all safety precautions taken, sometimes we have to use very short blades to remove tight matting, and this can unfortunately lead to grazes. Tight matting can also pull skin into the knots and lead to small cuts in the skin.

Once the knots are gone my dog will be OK, right?

Sometimes it takes dogs a couple of days to get used to a new haircut – they have just gone from wearing a big fur coat to being naked! If it Is cold you may want to make sure you have a light jumper for them to wear.

If your dog starts licking sensitive parts of their body after having matting removed, they may need to see their vet or wear a cone.

SPECIFIC AFTERCARE ADVICE

Things to look out for:

Freshly clipped nails are sharp and may break skin. Try to discourage and distract your dog from excessive scratching

If your dog is excessively shaking his head this may lead to a pooling of fluid in the ears, called a haematoma. Seek medical advice.

Spring brings pollens and without the coat to protect the skin dogs may be itchy - see point 1 again.

Very short coats can also allow sunburn. Protect your dogs from the sun as much as you can (go for walks in the evening or early morning. Walk shady streets where possible)

You may be asked to sign off on these conditions prior to us admitting your dog:

I _______, owner of __________ (name) the ____________(breed), give permission for ‘Doggy Dooz’ to groom my dog. I understand that due to the condition of the coat (knots & matting) my dog will be shaved as short as necessary to make them comfortable. I understand that there may be an extra charge associated with this groom due to the time taken to safely remove knots from my dog. I understand that any injury that occurs in the course of removing knots from my dog is not the responsibility of Doggy Dooz and indemnify them from responsibility of any vet bills that may come from the grooming process.

PLEASE CONTACT US IN ADVANCE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS - 03 9687 0299. Your dog’s wellbeing is our main priority.