# Help? Frustrated



## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

I brush Lloyd daily. He looks bad though. He gets like this . . . ugly looking fur. And he gets little mats daily. Any tips/help?

Ears:

















Back Leg:


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Body. 

































Do I need to just take him to a professional groomer? I've taken him to petco or petsmarts grooming before and it didn't change the ugly looking stuff.


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

All that light brown stuff is 'dead coat', that needs to be stripped out. 

You CAN do this yourself, but it takes time. Getting rid of the dead coat will most likely help with matt reduction too, as it will allow for the new coat to grow in properly, without getting tangled in the 'old stuff'. 

For the stripping part, you can simply use your fingers and pluck that brown stuff out in small increments (a few hairs at a time). I use ear powder to keep my fingers 'grippable', which aids in gripping and pulling the hair out.

You can also bring him to a 'real' groomer and ask that they strip out that dead coat. Nothing against petsmart and petco, but I am not so sure they are taught stripping techniques...especially considering their program for teaching a new groomer is so short. Call around, and ask groomers whether they know how to hand strip, and settle for one who does...they should know what you want stripped out, once you show them.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Love's_Sophie said:


> All that light brown stuff is 'dead coat', that needs to be stripped out.
> 
> You CAN do this yourself, but it takes time. Getting rid of the dead coat will most likely help with matt reduction too, as it will allow for the new coat to grow in properly, without getting tangled in the 'old stuff'.
> 
> ...



Very well said. You can also use a stripping stone to get some of it out as well at home if you go that route. They are great at getting the fuzzy flyaways out..


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Thank you Love's_Sophie and Graco. I think I will call around for a groomer to do it this time and then I can keep up on it myself.

So, does his coat just need to have this done? Or is there a way to brush him to keep the brown fuzzy stuff from happening? 

Thanks.

Oh, and would a groomer do all if it at one appointment? Or would it be better for Lloyd to have a little done at a time?


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

melgrj7 said:


> Thank you Love's_Sophie and Graco. I think I will call around for a groomer to do it this time and then I can keep up on it myself.
> 
> So, does his coat just need to have this done? Or is there a way to brush him to keep the brown fuzzy stuff from happening?
> 
> ...


It's normal for coat to die, and need stipping; some dogs it just brushes out, and others need to have it pulled out.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

I have been working on Lloyd's coat. I have been pulling out the brown hair (little bits at a time) I do it daily for about 15 minutes, longer than that and Lloyd starts to get ansty. I feel like I haven't made a dent though. :::sigh:::


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

melgrj7 said:


> I have been working on Lloyd's coat. I have been pulling out the brown hair (little bits at a time) I do it daily for about 15 minutes, longer than that and Lloyd starts to get ansty. I feel like I haven't made a dent though. :::sigh:::



What I do is start on one area...say, an ear, and just work that area...of course, as a groomer I still have to complete the dog in a couple hour's time, but working on one area until it is up to satisfaction, helps me alot more than doing a bunch of different areas at the same time. 

Perhaps if you were to just work on one small area each groom session, you would eventually get it looking the way you want  And doing one small section will keep your dog from getting too antsy about it too, because you're just going to focus on one section, and then be done for that session...you can even do a few small sessions a day, and still accomplish more, than trying to work the whole dog at one time...


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Thanks for the encouragement I think I'm going to buy a stripping stone too, it might help it go faster.


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## WalkerDog (Jan 19, 2009)

You could also try the FURminator. It's a great tool for getting out that dead undercoat stuff. Check it out here.


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

WalkerDog said:


> You could also try the FURminator. It's a great tool for getting out that dead undercoat stuff. Check it out here.


However, what her dog needs stripped IS NOT undercoat... It's top coat that has 'sloughed off' and needs to be pulled out; the Furminator will not get rid of that; it will only get rid of any undercoat he does have, and could leave him patchy in many areas... 

Personally, I don't like the Furminator for this kind of dog; I think it should mainly be used on dogs like Labs and Shepards.


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## WalkerDog (Jan 19, 2009)

Thanks for the info. It seems to work nicely, but apparently not good for this type of grooming problem!

The fur on this dog seems similar to Aussie Shephard fur? Or are you referring to German Shephard? Is it better for short-haired dogs, then?


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Lloyd doesn't have much of an undercoat. 

Looking at the pictures again makes me feel better, I have made some progress!


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

melgrj7 said:


> Lloyd doesn't have much of an undercoat.
> 
> Looking at the pictures again makes me feel better, I have made some progress!




You are making progress! That was great advice from Sophie, to just clear one area at a time, rather than getting overwhelmed with his whole body. He does have a funky coat, with all that dead like that..similar to alot of goldens and border collies I see. There is a thread about grooming/brushing goldens that was recent, where I linked to a video on youtube I put up about carding. If you haven't been trying to get some out by carding, rather than only pulling, it might be worth trying to. It will go faster in some areas. Some is still going to need to be pulled, but it may speed it up if some of it will card out, especially on his back and sides of body. The leg and shoulder stuff is tough to card out. The best knife I have found for carding is the long tooth knive by Master Grooming tools, at Petedge. Keep up the good work.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Graco22 said:


> You are making progress! That was great advice from Sophie, to just clear one area at a time, rather than getting overwhelmed with his whole body. He does have a funky coat, with all that dead like that..similar to alot of goldens and border collies I see. There is a thread about grooming/brushing goldens that was recent, where I linked to a video on youtube I put up about carding. If you haven't been trying to get some out by carding, rather than only pulling, it might be worth trying to. It will go faster in some areas. Some is still going to need to be pulled, but it may speed it up if some of it will card out, especially on his back and sides of body. The leg and shoulder stuff is tough to card out. The best knife I have found for carding is the long tooth knive by Master Grooming tools, at Petedge. Keep up the good work.


Thanks Graco, I actually just read that thread the other day. I did order a stripping knife to try carding with, and a stripping stone as well. I feel bad Lloyd's coat has gotten so bad, I just didn't know what to do. I was brushing him daily and didn't know why the heck he looked so bad! Glad I finally put up pictures and asked! I'm looking forward to when I get his coat in good order and just have to maintain it rather than make up for all this time, I'm sure he is looking forward to that too!


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Carding and using the stripping stone is making this go much faster and easier. I will take some pics soon, he looks so much better Can anyone recommend some fairly inexpensive but good thinning shears I can use for around his ears and the backs of his legs and trimming his feet? We have ones made for people but I don't know if they are suitable to use on a dog.


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

melgrj7 said:


> Carding and using the stripping stone is making this go much faster and easier. I will take some pics soon, he looks so much better Can anyone recommend some fairly inexpensive but good thinning shears I can use for around his ears and the backs of his legs and trimming his feet? We have ones made for people but I don't know if they are suitable to use on a dog.


You could try using the human thinners on him, although they may dull quicker. I don't know where you ordered your other equipment from, but petedge.com has a lot of good stuff...I like Gator (by geib) shears and thinners. They are nicely priced too. But there are alot of other brands out there too. You could get a curved or straight shear as well, to help keep his feet and hocks trimmed...thinners make it look more natural, but a shear can help you shape it quicker, then you can take the thinners after it to finish it up. 

Can't wait for those pics either...maybe you could enter some of the before and afters of him into the "before and afters" thread here, too


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Petedge carries 44/20 thinners too, and they are VERY nice. I would go with at least 40 teeth or more in whatever thinners you choose for what you want to do. Less teeth than that is going to debulk only, and look choppy if you do more than debulking. I have not found the Master Grooming Tool lines to be very good shears..dull fast, and don't cut super, so I would stay away from those. Aussie Paw Shear are one of my favorites, and very nicely priced. You can google them for their website.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Love's_Sophie said:


> You could try using the human thinners on him, although they may dull quicker.
> 
> Can't wait for those pics either...maybe you could enter some of the before and afters of him into the "before and afters" thread here, too


I used the human thinners, definitely not the right thing to use on him but will have to work for now. I have used up my extra spending $$ for this month so buying thinning shears will be in another couple of months. I have both of his ears done, although they look a bit . . . holey. I found some little matts close to the skin I was missing. Now that I have a _comb_ its easier to get to the skin. Anyway, I just cut them out rather than putting him through trying to comb them out. That is a sensitive spot. They look pretty good otherwise though I think. Got all the dead stuff off. I also have one of his shoulders done, gonna do the other today. I only do a little at a time as he gets antsy and I want to stop before he gets like that. I am working on slowly increasing the amount of time I work on him; upping his tolerance. He doesn't do anything to bad, just starts fidgeting and it annoys me. I will put up pictures when he is totally done, so in a few days hopefully

Thanks for the brand recommendations sophie and graco.


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