Once a poodle’s adult coat fully forms, from when they are about 8 months of old, you’ll find that what was once a very easy to manage coat now requires considerable grooming.
If you aren’t attentive with your grooming, you’ll find that your poodle will get matts and possibly even dreadlocks caught up in its coat. This isn’t just a cosmetic concern – it can cause your poodle discomfort and pain.
How to avoid matts
The best measure you can take to avoid your poodle having these problems is to undertake a regular grooming routine.
So as well as grooming your poodle daily, you should additionally look to give your poodle a bath once every two to three months.
When bathing your poodle, make sure you have a towel ready as you don’t want that thick coat shaken all over your bathroom!
Other problem areas
While matts in the coat are the primary concern for a poodle, this isn’t the only place where an adult poodle’s coat can cause issues.
The most common problem area is around the eyes – both the fringe and hair around the eyes can grow to the extent where they impinge on the dog’s vision.
When grooming your poodle, pay particular attention to the eyes and ensure that any fur that might be compromising your dog’s vision is cut back.
What you need to groom a poodle
First and foremost, you need a good quality comb – one particularly designed for working through the special coat of a poodle.
Alongside this you may find thinning scissors useful, as these can help to reduce the weight of the fur on the face and around the eyes.
There are other tools you may find useful, such as disentanglers that can help to work out any matts that do occur.
How to groom a poodle
One way you can groom your poodle is to saturate all of the matted hair with a detangling product. Ensure that the mats are completely wet, and use your fingers to massage the detangler deep into the matts.
Allow the product to soak into the coat until the hair is almost dry. Then, gently pull apart large clumps of matts, separating them into smaller sections before brushing out each small section.
Continue to break the matts into smaller sections and brushing the hair until there are no tangles remaining. We recommend removing tangles from the tips of the hair first, before gradually working down towards the skin.
If your poodle has a multitude of tangles or a huge knot, perhaps take a break before finishing the groom if you feel tired or your dog becomes restless.
If in doubt, speak to an expert
If you’re not sure what to do, or have concerns about matts or other problems with your poodle’s coat, then we’d recommend you speak to an expert in dog grooming. There are plenty of expert groomers out there who will be able to you help you and your poodle keep that coat at its best.
Want to know more?
We hope this article helped to answer your questions about poodle grooming. If you have any other questions about breeds, then we’d like to help. Submit your question below.
