The kennels I work at had a dog come in this morning, a pyrenean mountain dog, which I saw for the first time when I arrived at 5pm - she looked a bit unkempt, kind of tatty.  Didn't think much of it.

Then I let her out this evening before shutting everyone up for the night - I couldn't believe the condition she's in!!  All her fur (and I mean ALL) is matted fairly solidly, and she is absolutely filthy - the only white fur on her is right down next to the skin, the rest is grey and like straw.  I really was horrified - apparently Ann (the kennel owner) was disgusted as well, as was Jamie (kennel maid).  I got her into the grooming room to have a good look at her, as I know Ann will ask me to groom her out; it's just awful.  Her back fur I should be able to sort out, with a hell of a lot of detangle spray and patience, but her stomach fur will take me forever - it's almost solid.  Unmattable, but it'll be bl**dy hard.  I'm dying to take my clippers to the poor girl, even her tail has some nasty knots in it, she looks really bad.  In a young dog I find it unacceptable, but this poor girl is 8 years old - and she drools a lot too, her chest fur is sodden with it and is just disgusting.  There's no other word for it.  I tried to towel her off before I shut her away, just to make her more comfortable, but I couldn't dry the spit out of the mats in her chest fur, and the fur was actually *squelching* as I tried to dry it.

I really am sickened, this is so easily avoided with just a little grooming on a regular basis.  We had a briard in in a similar condition last week - I didn't have any detangle spray handy, only a mat splitting tool, comb and slicker, and it took me 8 hours total (over 4 evenings) to sort her out before I could bath her.  It sped up once I'd found my misplaced thinning shears to break the mats up easier, though - it's just so infuriating, all the mats in her, and this pyrenean, are just undercoat that no-one took the time to brush out.  It's not exactly hard work.

It makes we want to hurt the owners, quite honeslty - or force them to not brush their hair for months and see how uncomfortable it is for them when they try and get the knots out.  Really, if they don't want to do the work then they shouldn't get these dogs.  Ooo!  I really am mad!

Are these boarding kennels or rescue kennels? 

I absolutely agree with you, dogs love being groomed (well, the one's I have do anyway) and it takes no effort to keep the coat in prime condition.  My hydrotherapist did actually say to me that a lot of dogs she has in for swimming have matted coats that look like they've have never seen a grooming tool.

People are selfish! They want a dog but dont want the hard work involved!!!
Will you get to have a word with these owners?  Strong words! or will you not have the opportunity.

Can you not report these ppl to someone? It is neglect surely to leave your dog in that condition. Disgusting. And there was me feeling guilty because we've been decorating and I haven't groomed the dogs or trimmed their feet for over a week to avoid fur sticking to the paint! :rolleyes:

It's a boarding kennel, which to my mind makes it even more inexusable.  I won't get the chance to talk to the owners - I only work evenings, and dogs only come in and out between 9am and 1pm - but I'm sure Ann will talk to them.  She had very strong words with owners once about a matted dog, apparently.

I'll do what I can to get her groomed out and comfortable before she goes home in two weeks' time, and I'll find out what Ann will say and let you all know.  I would love to report them to the RSPCA, but I'm not in the right position to do that, really - being just a kennel hand and only very recently employed there as well.  I will keep you all posted, whatever happens.

In your position, if I couldn't report the owners, I would save every hair I took off the dog and every mat - and give it back in carrier bags (not bin bags, too easy to ignore ;) ) squelchy bits and all ;)  It may shame them into combing the dog regularly.  Will the kennel owner charge extra for all the work??  A grooming salon definately would ;)

But like you I would be fit to bite them

I had a dog once from a rescue kennels, like that thick matted fur,
If you bath the dog and put conditioner on the fur after shampooing,
then comb  it  wet, it will come out a lot easier, with out to much discomfort
to the dog. It always works.

I am no groomer, and it took me nearly a week to sort out a relatives overgrown castrated Samoyed that was matted solid.  I used a pair of scissors to shorten the coat and then the matt splitter (blades aranged like a wide toothed comb), and then used thinning scissorts and dematting spray.  The dog looked a bit strange with it's shortened coat, but at least he hadn't been clipped off, where the coat wouod have grown back even harder to manage.

I then showed him how to keep the belly hair, armpit and groin hair short but how to leave the sides so the dog looked coated, and how to thin the coat to a maore manageable length with thinnning sciossors.

I saw him at his next moult and he was a bit tufty but not bad at all and no more matted coat.

I think the only thing to do with owners whose dogs ahve got like this is to insist they come in for an hour or two and are shown and made to groom their dog properly under supervison. I think when they realise that if done regulsrly little and often it is not such a chore.

I'm not sure that harsh words from your boss will make any difference to these people and they may just book their dog in elsewhere next time they go away where there may not be people so caring and willing to try to help the poor dog. If they've allowed the coat to get into this state they either don't care a whole lot about the dogs comfort and wellbeing or don't know how to manage the coat and no amount of shouting at them will change this. Although, it should be made clear to them that badly matted is not just unsightly but very uncomfortable for the dog and can cause skin problems etc.

I think Brainless made a suggestion about offering to show them how to look after the coat. I also like Dill's idea of handing all the squelchy, matted fur to them too. Might be the kick in the a**e they need.

It does make me mad that people will get a breed like this and not be prepared to take care of the coat especially since a few minutes a day and a thorough going over once a week is all it take to keep the coat tangle free and looking tidy. I would be too ashamed to let my Newf out in public with a matted coat....

Fair play to you for being willing to help this dog. It sounds like you have a hell of a job ahead of you but the dog will feel so much better and so much happier for it. Maybe once the owners see their clean, tidy dog, they will want to keep it that way (fingers crossed anyway).

I used to work at a boarding kennels and we used to have dogs come in that sort of state, matted and dirty.  Once particular customer had asked their OESD to be bathed before he went home, I had not seen him come in I don't think he was inspected when he came in but when I got him on the grooming table I realised just how bad it was - including maggots where the hair had grown over his bum and caused faeces to be trapped - yuk, I was nearly sick but felt so sorry for the poor lad that I had to do something - we got hold of the owner (via a contact number left) and basically gave him a real telling off saying it was totally outrageous that he had not even spotted maggots on his dog and we told him that in order to make the process more comfortable for him we would like to clip him off (not ideal but these matts were like cotton wool) and we would not have been able to do that without his permission and he agreed to let us do it.  We clipped him right off and cleaned him up, he was not very happy and was growling and trying to bite us through pain which is why we were glad we did not attempt to groom him out!  When the owner arrived to pick him up he had the lecture and I have to say he was very ashamed and when we next saw the dog he was mat free :)

Could you maybe call the owners to ask if you could clip her belly etc (bits not seen) because it would make things easier for her?  If they give a c*#p about her I am sure they will agree?!

No dog deserves to be treated like this. if the owners do not have the time to spend grooming the dog then they shouldnt have it in the first place. all dogs need tlc but the ones with long fur need extra time spent on them to keep their coats in good condition. it makes me mad to think people get away with mis treating the dogs this way. :o(

Eeeww and to think I was embarassed to take mine in to the kennels cos she was moulting so badly it looked as if her stuffing was coming out and I had never brushed her. WHY do people have animals that they cannot be bothered to do 'basic maintainence' on??? 

echo that