my old groomer has now retired and gone to live in devon, my newfy's used to get groomed every fortnight, its only been five weeks and i have notice my little girl is full of big matts of fur, on her underneath and on her bag legs. I have tried to get a groomer but they all want the dog to be taken to them at ten in the morning but i have to be at work 68 miles away at nine until till three thirty. do i cut these lumps off or do i bath her firsted and then cut them off.
we go to the country parks and she is terrible for running and laying in the mud, alfie is'nt but her (poppy) another matter. i am going to be grooming and bathing them myself till i can get a new groomer. can i ask please what is a furmunator and what does it do. my dogs are not show dogs but just pets so i dont understand what all these things are. i have just ordered a new blaster and a dogbath.
I need a shedding comb i was told and pair of scissors for trimming and a pair of normal scissors.
any advice i would be grateful

Hi

I have newfs and the tools I use to groom them are a slicker brush, a rake comb that has rotating teeth, thinning scissors and normal scissors. My brown girl for some reason gets more matted than the other one and I tend to bath her first before I trim them off, I find that removing the dirt in the matts and then blasting her dry tends to make the matts go to the ends of the hair and makes it easier to trim off. A good brush at least once a week also helps to stop them from forming, with the weird weather we are having at the moment I have found that both mine seem to be moulting constantly and because of this seem to be getting more matts than usual so I try and brush a differant area of their body every day. 

If she matts easily I would be looking at brushing everyday the area's that get more matted then others.

thanks izzy bear yes poppy gets more matted than her partner alfie moon. well took on board what you said and i bathed er first then dried her and my husband and is set about taking out the matts by cutting them out and brusing them out. she loved it bless her. i have got them all out and yes they are malting almost daily so will groom them daily in future. Alifie does not being groomed for five minutes then he gets bored but it has to be done.
i have bought the rake comb and the two scissors but could not find the the rake with the rotating teeth the staff in pet city does not know what i am talking about.
Izzy can you please tell me what the furminator is and does and would it help me with my newfy's.

i am glad that you have taken matters in hand and decided to order the stuff to groom your dogs. . It would be good if you take your dog to a groomer and coudl stay with your dog being groomed so that you can watch how the groomer deals with the matts, and how the groomer does the rest of the coat. you can see what tools they use etc.
in future i advise to not bath a matted dog....get the matts out first. in future keep on top of the coat by grooming daily and getting the loose hair out. i have groomed a badly matted stray affie, and i found that many of the matts could be eased out by repeated strokes with a small slicker brush...but it takes ages. it helps to gently pull the matt apart lengthwise with the fingers before using the slicker. there are also specialist matt breaker gadgets..but you do lose coat with them. it is almost impossible to describe how to groom out matts, or how to groom in general. i recommend that you seek out local newfie owners and go watch them in person. alternatively could you approach your breeder for help and advice. you will be much better off seeing it done in person. i have found a few links for you:

http://www.petgroomer.com/Grooming101/Breeds/newfoundland.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Newfoundlands-Today-Hedd-Richards/dp/0876052464

http://www.trainpetdog.com/dog_grooming_p.html?src=g&gclid=CILgsKLCtpUCFQ0yQgodiiD7Pw

http://www.thenewfoundlandclub.co.uk/

Hi hilary I'm glad poppy is matt free now.:) Sorry I have heard of the furminator but don't really know what it is or does. Pinklillies suggestion of seeing a someone groom a newf is a really good idea if you can and the book that she recommended by Hed and Del Richards also has a fantastic section on grooming. Bathing a dog before you get the matts out is a personal choice and I've always found brushing the matts out easier to do after a bath (followed the advice in the above mentioned book) but maybe thats just me.

Like your Poppy my girl Izzy could be brushed all day long and never get tired of being groomed she loves it but Kobi will only stand for about 5 mins before running away.:)