Pet Sweaters - Pet Apparel & Matted Dogs
Today I wanted to write a little bit about pet couture! Well dog sweaters to be exact, a little known fact is that your groomer often cringes when they see a dog wearing one. Now that’s not all dogs, but the ones with long hair. Not that we want your pets to be cold! But we have noticed that the unfortunate effect of a sweater, especially one that is worn for weeks without being removed, creates a sort of body armor of matted hair beneath it. This is why I previously mentioned the longer haired breeds.
Basically the way it works is, friction creates matts, this is why we generally find them in armpits or behind the ears, this again is more of an issue with longer hair and especially curly type of coat. A tight sweater will press the hair down against the skin and when the pet walks, move the hair back and forth until it begins to cling together and begin to form what we call a “matt”. Once you have a small matt it grows outwards like a spiderweb and becomes larger and larger. The larger that matt is the less practical it becomes to try and work it out.
But dont panic! There is a solution. We had this same issue with our pet Willow who is a shih tzu. We let her grow out in the winter and she has some carefully chosen winter wear. What we’ve learned is that tight cotton sweaters are the worst culprits for matting up her hair. The best solution is to find a nice well fitting but not tight, velcro type of jacket. Willow’s has a warm fleece lining to keeps her feeling toasty and a waterproof exterior to keep her dry when she goes out if its raining. The jacket velcro’s easily in the front on her chest and under her lower ribs. It does a great job of keeping her warm, dry and without the unfortunate side effects of matting from a tight cotton sweater.
Additional to the selection of the coat, we make sure to take if off when she really doesn’t need to wear it, and brush through her coat to catch any little starter matts that may be appearing. Taking these steps will save you, your groomer and pet from much of frustration that dealing with matted pet hair can create!
Click here to view an example velcro pet jacket (jean jacket style)!
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