Matted Dog Hair: Causes, Treatment, and Prevention.

Matted dog hair is a serious issue every parent should take care of it, as it once starts it will be a snowball, it will be ugly and painful, and become a health issue.
Although your dog’s long coat is one of the most wonderful traits, it can be very challenging and irritating.
Long hair has a tendency to develop tangles and mats that trying to get them out can be an unpleasant experience for your pooch. Don’t stress, all you need are good grooming tips!

Everything about Matted Dog Hair

Before we get into the solutions, it’s always a good idea to find out what causes your dog’s hair to get all matted and tangled up in the first place. It might not be completely apparent at first sight, but there are many reasons that could cause your dog’s beautiful hair to get all tangled and matted.

The Causes of Matted Dog Hair

Usually, tangled hair occurs in areas of friction like behind the ears, under the collar and neck, or legs when your pooch rubs their legs together.

Your dog may be right hipped or left hipped so every time they sit, they may at risk to get mats in that spot. In addition, lack of grooming is one of the main causes of knots and tangles.

How to untangle dog hair in 7 steps?

1. Choose the right tool in order to get rid of mats. You should have a mat splitting tool and a slicker brush to take on tangles. These tools are available at any pet supply store, or you can purchase them online.
2. Locate mats. In order to find the tangles your dog battle with, you need to brush your pooch’s hair with the slicker brush. As said, usually tangles found behind the ears or under the collar. 
3. Apply your dog detangler. Start to put some of the detanglers on the areas of your pooch’s coat that are tangled or matted.
4. Run your pooch’s coat. Use your fingers to ease the hair apart and to work the tangle out.
5. Use a splitting tool. If you followed the previous step after a considerable amount of time and it didn’t work, use the mat splitting tool. you should cut the hair in the hair grows direction. 
6. Use the slicker brush. After removing as much of the tangles as you can, gently use the slicker brush to separate the hair from the mats. You may need to loosen the hair more so you can apply more detangler.  
7. Give your dog a bath. After finishing all the previous steps, you should bathe your dog. Make sure all the tangles are gone before you wet your pooch. Actually, water can make mats worse. 

5 Grooming tips you should know

• Train your pooch to enjoy grooming as much as you can. If you succeed to do that, your dog will stand still long enough until you finish getting the mats out. You can start brush and groom your pup when they are young. also, treat and praise your pooch every time you groom them so they can associate grooming with good experience.
• Get into the habit to check the areas that are more likely to have tangles and mats – behind the ears, under the collar, and back legs-.
• Use detangler sprays regularly. A detangler product keeps matted dog hair from forming. You can use it before your dog gets into the water or before a bath.
• If you neglect matted dog hair or your pooch has gotten many tangled knots that haven’t been cared of, you should visit a vet or a professional groomer. In fact, extremely matted dog hair can cause skin infection and should be treated by a professional.
• Good and balanced nutrition will help your dog to have a healthy coat. Your dog’s diet should include omega 3 or fish oil. You should ask a vet to recommend you the best food and supplements your dog should have.

How to prevent Dog’s hair from Getting Matted?

Precautions are always better than the cure, so instead of learning how to deal with mats, it’s better to know how to prevent them from getting formed in the first place. In fact, dryness can from knots and tangles easily, so whenever you brush your dog’s hair add a little moisture.

The best technique to use slicker brush with a gentle motion

• Use the slicker brush to brush a small section at a time. Apply the brush to your dog’s coat and then pull it away from your pooch’s body.
• Repeat this process for several minutes. By that, you will be able to find any mats and tangles hidden. 
• You should brush your pooch’s hair at least once a week. The time will depend on the breed.

What tools should you use to prevent matted hair?

You can always choose brushes, combs or any detnagler products you prefer. Based on my experience, I figured out that the best brush will work well for your pooch, is a soft brush that vary in density and structure. the only thing you should take into consideration is the size of your dog and the brush that will fit them.

You can ask your groomer for advice. They can recommend the different types of brushes you can use and how to use them.

There are many different detangles and shampoos you can use. They are all fine and will make it easy to deal with mats and tangles. 

You may want to clip your dog’s coat to a very short length, hence, this will allow you to prevent mats and tangles from forming in the first place.

Conclusion

The process of removing mats and tangles can be very challenging. In fact, it’s commonly seen in dogs. If your dog’s hair has been very long and neglected, mats and tangles will be formed as a result. In that case, you should visit a professional groomer to clip or shave your pooch’s coat. if you have clippers and you want to do it yourself, then go ahead.

To sum up, dog matted hair isn’t just uncomfortable and irritating for your pooch, it’s very painful and dangerous so you should be cautious.  

Finally, with the right tools and products you will get rid of any tangles your dog may battle with.

If you think you’ve mastered caring for your dog’s hair, it’s time to take care of the rest of your dog. You can start by learning how to clean your dog’s ears in 7 easy steps here.

I hope you find this article helpful . Leave your questions and I will be more than happy to answer them all.