Dogs Matting Hair

Dogs with long silky hair like yorkies and shih tzu s can develop mats and tangles.

Dogs matting hair.

Grooming and maintaining your dog s coat in top condition is therefore essential to the dog s health and well being. Some dogs are more prone to mats such as the poodle bichon frise cocker spaniel and any dog with a long coat or who is a heavy shedder verplank says. The long haired dog sheds its hair into the coat causing small mats to form. Mats are more prevalent in long haired dogs and cats especially during shedding season.

Matting is dense or tangled clumps of hair in a pet s coat. This shedding process is not like those breeds that leave hair all over your house. Small matted dog hair can occur daily because your long haired dog is continually shedding dead hairs. As new hairs grown in mats can occur very close to the skin.

The extra fur needs to be adequately extracted via a brush or else matting will occur. Dog fur often becomes tangled and knotted around itself without frequent brushing which is called matting. And dogs that have double coats with a thick undercoat like golden retrievers and cocker spaniels can mat easily. The more barbs in the hair shaft the more likely to mat says verplank.

You might think matted hair is no big deal. While the effect of mild hair mats is usually minimal matting can lead to pain and skin infections similar to hot spots. Mats can also result from dogs scratching themselves and getting their fur wet in rain or snow. A dog s hair shafts are barbed much like a briar bush with some more barbed than others.

Why matted hair is unhealthy for your dog. Severe matting can cause discomfort or even damage to the underlying skin or joints depending on the location. Dogs with hair that is soft curly or wavy like poodles golden doodles and bichons are vulnerable to matting. Mats occur frequently in many dog breeds with curly fine or double coats.