Dogs Matting Hair

Mats occur frequently in many dog breeds with curly fine or double coats.

Dogs matting hair.

The more barbs in the hair shaft the more likely to mat says verplank. A dog s hair shafts are barbed much like a briar bush with some more barbed than others. In extreme cases the dog s coat will become what groomers call pelted when matting is very tight to the skin preventing proper air flow. 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.

Grooming and maintaining your dog s coat in top condition is therefore essential to the dog s health and well being. Dangers of matted hair in dogs and cats. This shedding process is not like those breeds that leave hair all over your house. The extra fur needs to be adequately extracted via a brush or else matting will occur.

Matting is dense or tangled clumps of hair in a pet s coat. Dogs with hair that is soft curly or wavy like poodles golden doodles and bichons are vulnerable to matting. Matting or tangling of a dog s hair prevents it from properly carrying out these functions by exposing parts and the skin encouraging the growth of bacteria etc. And dogs that have double coats with a thick undercoat like golden retrievers and cocker spaniels can mat easily.

You might think matted hair is no big deal. Why matted hair is unhealthy for your dog. As new hairs grown in mats can occur very close to the skin. Dogs with long silky hair like yorkies and shih tzu s can develop mats and tangles.

The long haired dog sheds its hair into the coat causing small mats to form. Dog fur often becomes tangled and knotted around itself without frequent brushing which is called matting. Small matted dog hair can occur daily because your long haired dog is continually shedding dead hairs. While the effect of mild hair mats is usually minimal matting can lead to pain and skin infections similar to hot spots.