How to Prevent Goldendoodle Matting
Goldendoodles have the most beautiful coat, which can be wavy, straight, or curled. There is no mysterious way to groom Goldendoodles. Some have easy-to-maintain coats, and others may need daily brushing, depending on the genes. Brushing your furry friend’s coat daily often comes with being a pet parent.
Goldendoodles’ gorgeous hair gets matted quite easily if not kept combed or brushed thoroughly. When matted badly, pet parents have no option but to shave them. Mats can get very painful for the dog when you try to brush them out.
Allowing your Goldendoodle to get matted causes tons of problems. In this article, you will get insights into why Goldendoodles get matted, why you should prevent them from getting matted, and tips on how to prevent matting.
Why Do Goldendoodles’ Hair Get Matted?
Matted Goldendoodles have severe tangles and dense knots extending down to their skin. Goldendoodles are vulnerable to matting due to the nature of their coats. Here are several reasons that may cause matting in your dog.
- Friction: Most matting will happen where friction occurs. Areas prone to friction include the dog’s collar, the legs in areas that contact surfaces when sitting, joints, and other areas where the dogs scratch themselves. Friction causes tangling and the formation of a hairball. The hairball gets denser with continuous exposure to friction, forming a mat.
- Allergies: Goldendoodles may develop allergies to plants, food, food dyes, fungus, pollen, and other pets. Skin allergies like sebaceous adenitis cause itching, irritation, and hair loss. Your dog licks and scratches their skin, causing the hair to tangle and mat.
- Seasons: Goldendoodles have double coats with fluffy and soft undercoats providing insulation. On the other hand, the course and long outer coat waterproof the undercoat. During the spring and fall seasons, the undercoat often sheds heavily. Goldendoodles inherit the seasonal shedding genes of Golden Retrievers. If the loose hair is not brushed down, it mixes with dander creating dense hairballs that eventually become tangled and mats.
- Wet Hair: Goldendoodles are athletic and love to swim. Movement in water and friction causes matting. When your dog rolls in wet grass, it could lead to matted hair. Goldendoodles’ hair should be brushed after exposure to water during bathing.
- Infestation of Fleas: Infestation of your Goldendoodles’ coat with fleas causes irritation and itching. Due to scratching, dense mats are formed, creating an ideal warm environment for fleas to breed. As a result, infestation forms an unending cycle of irritation, itching, scratching, and matting.
How to Detangle Goldendoodles’ Matted Hair
Straight curled and wavy-haired Goldendoodles’ are prone to matting. If you find a mat in your dog’s hair, here is what you need to do:
- Apply Corn Starch to the Mats: Rub corn starch into the mats and use your fingers to ease the tangled hair as much as possible.
- Collect the Right Tools For The Job: You need cornstarch and a metal comb to remove mats.
- Avoid Bathing Your Dog: Bathing your dog will make the hair wet, which will make it challenging to remove hairballs, tangles, and mats.
- Comb Starting From the Tip of the Hair: Gently brush your Goldendoodle’s hair from the tip using the metal comb. The corn starch should help the comb run smoothly through the hair without pulling. Comb from the tip working towards the root. If necessary, add more starch and avoid pulling the hair as it can cause pain and irritation.
- Groom Your Dog: After removing the mats, groom your fluffy friend. Bathe, brush their hair, clip the hair, trim the nails and clean the ears to remove debris. Picking mats with a slicker brush can be very painful for your dog. Avoid using a brush to knot the mats out unless the mats are loose. Apart from being unbearably painful, it can ruin your dog’s experience with brushing and give you a hard time grooming in the future. If your Goldendoodle is severely matted, it is best not to handle the mats yourself. Tugging and pulling the mats may not work and would be very painful for your dog and cause bruises and hot spots. Cutting the mats off can also be unsafe. The ideal course of action is shaving by a professional groomer.
Why You Must Prevent Your Goldendoodle from Matting
Goldendoodles are high maintenance as their hair mat incredibly fast. Matting is bad for Goldendoodles, and you should keep their coats brushed to keep them happy and healthy.
Here are reasons why you should prevent matting.
Mats are Home to Bugs
Bugs, and especially fleas, love to live in hairballs and mats. Matting provides them with the perfect breeding environments and grounds for laying eggs. The matting also creates a protective barrier for bugs as they are hard to reach when scratching.
Parasites like mites cause many skin conditions such as hair loss and dry skin. They are also responsible for “Mange” skin conditions common in dogs. Once fleas harbor in your dog’s hair, it will only be a matter of time before they infest your home.
Most dogs are also allergic to flea bites which cause scabs, hot spots, hair loss, intense scratching, and redness. Severe cases of flea infestation can cause anemia or tapeworm.
Trapping Moisture
When mats form around the urethral opening, feces and urine are more likely to get trapped after the dog excretes. This may lead to their waste matter getting all over your house, including furniture.
The trapped air, moisture, and fecal matter can harbor bacteria which can travel upward, causing UTIs. When moisture gets trapped in the ear canal due to matted hair is also not good. It allows bacteria to breed, causing ear infections that lead to pain, discharge, and discomfort.
Skin issues
Matted hair leads to skin issues like hot spots, bruising, dermatitis, and bacterial infections. Goldendoodles with matted hair are more prone to hot spots as moisture is trapped against their skin by their coats.
How to Prevent Goldendoodle Matting
The best way to deal with mats is to prevent them from occurring in the first place.
Use Rolled Leather Collars and Always Removed the Harness When Not In Use
Mats are likely to form in areas where the hair is exposed to friction. The area under the collar is prone to mats. Using a rolled leather collar can prevent damage to the coat, tangles, and the formation of mats.
