# Worst morning surprise EVER



## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

So my DH and I walk the babies every morning for about forty minutes. There are the usual twigs and weeds collected on feet, etc, so that was normal. What was UNBELIEVABLE was the giant poo butt of doom  that Tito created on his heinie. I mean it was bad, I don't know what he ate yesterday that made this happen but holy cow!! So we hurry on home, and since it was so bad we had to hose it off before we went in the house. Then I got him in the shower to properly wash off his booty etc. Since I was unable to dematt my blowing coat prince guess what glorious things were discovered post wash? Oh yes, giant mats of doom.... Everywhere. :frusty:

I had to leave for work so I could not really do anything with him. but a light once over with the pin brush. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can fix this magical mess when I get home? I only brush out the parts that mat (feet, armpits, leg pits) since his hair is so fragile and I am scared I am going to break every thing when I tackle this size of mat. I have never seen him with such big ones and I am dreading going home to rectify this. 

Pray for me!! :hurt:


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

ugh! Spray first with lots of conditioner and work it out a little at a time! Good Luck!


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

Oh no! That's a nightmare! I know I read on a grooming thread about rubbing corn starch or powder into the mat. I remember Kimberly suggesting it,so you might want to do a search,or maybe she'll post. I don't envy you---but just take it slow--here's thinking of ya!:tea:


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

That was painful just reading about it! I've experienced the "tennis-ball sized poop butt ball" myself, several times. It is the most disgusting thing to have to pull it off with your fingers getting all smooshed into it. Ick! 

I hope someone has a good suggestion for your re: the matting....so sorry!


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## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

Oh my gosh, there must be something in the air (or the poop). The other day Tess squated & squated & squated. I just thought she was a little consipated. Then, before I had a chance to catch her, she dragged her little butt along the ground to try & "unattach" the poop that was hanging there. Of course, it wasn't one of her little "rabbit turd" poops, it was a normal doggy doo. Talk about a poop butt!!!! She wouldn't walk, and I wasn't about to carry her (of course I was in a suit). Thank goodness it was early and no one saw us ---- what a sight! I felt really bad for her, you could tell she was just miserable, and at the same time....ound:


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Estrella, that sucks! I really hope you will be able to get all the mats out as pain-free as possible.


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Oh it was a tennis ball alright. He kept squatting and we didnt know why anything was coming out, so I look, and there is was. Ofcourse DH just stands there hands me the bag, and I had to clean it up when we got home too. Guess I won't be relying on him to change diapers!!

The mats were dreadfull, there were some on his rear legs/feet that were about the size of a quarter... huge.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Estrella, that's painful! As for DH cleaning it up.....it doesn't happen ever in our house. With hu-kids at least you are free after 3 yrs. Here we have forever 2 -year -old's butts :biggrin1:

As to the dematting, when Benji was blowing his coat, he didn't have tennis balls but he often had golf balls under his jaw, behind the ears. The Coat Handlers Anti-static deconditioner and very diluted conditioner helped me. 

Good luck!


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Estrella - use the wide tooth comb and you might want to try floating him in conditioner water. I used 1/8c. coat handler leave in conditioner yesterday in a sink full of warm water and just used a cup and kept poring and pouring for 10 minutes. It was really easy to slide the mats afterward - even doing a wet combing. Try an inside leg to make sure a wet combing doesn't break the hair, but I don't think it will even though wet hair is more fragile.

Oh, and sympathy to you. 
Jill, I know exactly what Tess looked like - poor Buddy sometimes gets "stuck" and they walk so pitifully when they've got a load stuck back there.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Oh you poor thing!!! I hope you can get all the mats without too much pain for either of you.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Ugh, what a pain.

How does Tito's coat normally respond when you give him a bath and find a mat later? Are they harder to remove or easier? If harder, you might want to try rubbing the cornstarch into it and then start at the ends of the hair. It's going to be a slow, painstaking process as you try to save every bit of hair on him, but if you get on it today, you may not lose much of anything. 

I've never had good luck with this method, so I hesitate to recommend it, but I know several have, go for the floating method. I have a gallon of Coat Handler Conditioner here if you need some in a pinch!


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Eww, Estrella, good luck! I don't envy you your chore. Been there, done that with the awful, messy bum but not with mats on top of that. 
Isn't it amazing how our husbands just give us a look and we KNOW they aren't going to deal with it.


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Estrella, when you get done tonight, let us know how it worked! We're sending cyber support to you.


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

CORNSTARCH SAVED MY LIFE!!!!

So usually when I remove a mat after a bath its pretty bad and I cannot save much hair. But with the cornstarch I was able to save a lot! The mats seemed to untangle themselves. Thank you for the tip Kimberly!! It was slow and painstaking to save the hair but I know Tito was a lot happier it didnt hurt him as bad as it could have!

Yay!!!


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

OK, this may be a dumb question or comment......but, when I comb the "kids", I end up with lots of hair and I probably end up pulling our mats more than working them out. I guess I'm doing something really awful to their coats! I thought it was the under coat like my lab, but maybe not, huh? I feel like I have "stupid" written across my forehead!!


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Judy - you're not stupid - I think it can be really hard to tell which hair you've got sometimes. I find that the outer coat is a bit more coarse and the under coat is very fine and flyaway. But MeMe still has some puppy coat I think at 14 months, so that may change as she gets a bit older.


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

It's the fine undercoat that I get a lot of......so that's ok, right? I just thought it sounded like people don't get much hair when they comb....but I do! Do some dogs produce more undercoat than others? Zoey, my granddog, mats still like crazy and she's 2.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Judy A said:


> It's the fine undercoat that I get a lot of......so that's ok, right? I just thought it sounded like people don't get much hair when they comb....but I do! Do some dogs produce more undercoat than others? Zoey, my granddog, mats still like crazy and she's 2.


Judy, I'm in the gets alot of hair gang! When Rufus was tiny, I hardly ever saw hair in the comb, but once he started blowing coat there would be tiny tangles like cotton fairies holding on to the outer hairs. Alot of the cottony down would come off. Now he's had a cut so I'm not seeing much these days, but I wonder if it'll still gather in my comb once he grows out again?


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Christy I get the same cotton poof balls clinging on the outer ones, its really annoying. I just wish his whole body was like the hair on his tail, that hair is perfect and strong and not ric rac. That hair never tangles up. 

How can you tell what hair is the adult coat coming in when they are blowing coat?


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Wow that's great news about cornstarch. I'll have to put that in my bag of tricks. And Estrella, I have no clue - I thought MeMe was getting her "adult" top coat and it turns out she'd broken off her top layer by going and sleeping under some low furniture. Needless to say I got a lecture and boy did I feel stupid to think it was an "adult" layer coming in. :frusty:


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Me&2Girls said:


> Wow that's great news about cornstarch. I'll have to put that in my bag of tricks. And Estrella, I have no clue - I thought MeMe was getting her "adult" top coat and it turns out she'd broken off her top layer by going and sleeping under some low furniture. Needless to say I *got a lecture *and boy did I feel stupid to think it was an "adult" layer coming in. :frusty:


Uh Oh... did mama Elaine lay the smack down?

What would we do without her? I would still be grooming for four hours for shows getting nothing accomplished and using the wrong technique, and tools! Gotta love her.


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Let me tell, I felt major stupid because I had asked her about five times if they got an "adult" top layer that was wavier. It was wavier because the hair had broken off shorter. It didn't even dawn on me that her hair could break off :brick:


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

EstrellaVila said:


> How can you tell what hair is the adult coat coming in when they are blowing coat?


I'm not the one to ask, I'm still trying to figure it all out. Rufus started itching so bad this year that he was scratching out all the puffiness in his coat, so now his face looks long and thin and the hairs that are there are coarser without the fufflies. Will the fluffiness come back?


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## ruthann (Jan 26, 2007)

I do as Lisa suggested. Coat Handlers in 1/15 parts and soak the mats good. Then work the mats loose and brush gently and slowly untill the coat becomes unmatted. If you get a really bad mat that this dosen't work on use sharp sissers to cut through the mat and work out with your fingers. Good Luck!! Ruthann


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