If the matting on your dog is severe, the safest and most humane way to remove the mats would be to clip his hair short. The length of his hair will depend on how tight the mats are. We must be able to get the blade under the mat right against the skin to remove them.
Brushing Your Dog's Matted Fur
It's important for a groomer to comb all the way down to the skin and through the coat. If the fur is pelted, it has to be removed quickly. Severe pelting cannot be brushed out, however; shaving is the best route.
When a groomer suggests shaving your dog, it's often because there's just too much to brush out. I hope I can speak for all groomers when I say, we are not in this business to cause pain or discomfort to your dog. We've seen how painful matting can be and it hurts us to see your dog living with it.
Simply put, matting is painful for your dog. Even mild matting can cause your pet pain, stress and discomfort. And brushing out established matts involves a process of pulling live hair out of the skin as healthy hair has become enveloped by matts and clumps.
Depending on how tight these mats get or how sensitive your dog is, your groomer may try and brush them out. Because these mats are in sensitive areas, most groomers will take electric dog hair clippers with a very safe blade and do what we call a “spot shave” on the affected areas.
Veterinarians recognize chronically matted hair and strangulating hair mats in dogs as a medical finding in animal neglect.
If you notice a mat which cannot be easily brushed out, your pet should visit a groomer or veterinarian. They can safely clip the mats out and provide instant relief.
Don't bathe your dog, as the mats will soak up water and become even tighter. Try using cornstarch to help loosen the fur. Rub it directly into the matted area.
If it's just one or a few mats, you can cut them out. Unless your dog is going to be in a competition, it is ok to simply cut the mat out. Pull the mat away from the skin, so you can see all the way down to the skin and slowly cut the ball of hair away, using the thick part of the scissors—not the tips.
Gently brush the matted area with a soft bristle brush in alternating directions. Place your fingers under the base but above the skin to help keep tugging the skin to a minimum when brushing. Sweep the brush sideways to break up the hair fibers.
Slicker brushes consist of brush heads covered with short, tightly-packed wire pins angled to go through the coat and avoid the skin. Use them on medium-coated, long-coated, wire-coated, and curly-coated dogs to remove mats and prevent mats from forming by removing loose hair.
Your groomer must also deal with clipping seriously matted dogs. These matted dogs require professional grooming skills to remove the coat safely. Removing these coats also require a lot more time than the average grooming. It is only fair that a groomer charge an extra fee for removing this kind of coat.
My favorite technique for removing furry mats from dogs and cats is to apply olive oil to the base of the mat. Then just sit back and wait for the mat to fall off on its own.
Use a slicker brush to break up the mats. Start small–focus on one area at a time and individual mats. For tougher mats, use detangling spray in addition to the slicker brush. Finally, run a comb through your pet's hair to make sure you untangled all of the mats.
DON'T brush damp fur
That's why you should always brush dogs before you bathe them and then just let it all dry naturally afterward. If there's any knotted or matted hair after it's all dry, you can then use a brush to get rid of it all.
Groomers use non-slip surfaces. To help dogs stand still and steady, groomers invest in special non-slip padding for appropriate surfaces such as grooming tables or bathtubs. It helps prevent fatigue which makes for a calm dog.
Everyone's hair naturally produces sebum, but some people are over-productive in this area. If you have a lot of sebum buildup, it can coat your hair strands and make them stick together, causing your hair to get matted. The best way to avoid this is to wash your hair on a regular basis.
There are many ways your dog's fur can get matted. It is easy for the knots and matted texture to get out of control if you do not carefully clean and look at your dog's fur. The most common reasons for knots or matted fur are dirt, weeds, a lack of brushing, bathing, and sticky substances.
Use olive oil on matted hair
Loosen your dog's matted hair by rubbing a little olive oil into the knot.
Your dogs or cats can feel the matted fur, and will likely try to groom themselves, but in most cases, they will not be able to. This can lead to excessive scratching of these areas, sometimes to the point where the skin can tear if their nails get caught on the mats.
De-matting for long hair costs about $7 to $9. For $3 to $10 extra, a groomer will use flea-killing shampoo or skin-soothing colloidal oatmeal shampoo or do a hot oil treatment. For about $10 extra, a groomer will remove skunk odor. For about $10 to 20 extra, a groomer will brush teeth or express the anal glands.