Advice needed keeping your setter free from tangles

[Dean robinson]

Hello all all advice would be very much appreciated where we live we are very fortunate to live close to a large park where we take Clio for her walk but as I suspect with most of the uk this has become waterlogged in areas so Clios feathering is becoming matted on her back legs. We are bathing her twice a week which is fine but she's not very keen on getting in at first. Can anybody suggest any cleaning products or maybe a coat or a brush which could help

Thanks Dean

[Cynthia B]

For mats, somebody recommended "Cowboy Magic" (cowboymagic.com) to me years ago, a detangler for people and horses (of all things).  It looks like clear silicone.  I work a blob of it into the mat, then hang on to the skin side of the mat very tightly so as to cause my dog as little hair-pulling as possible, and pick and tease out the mat with a steel comb.  Work slowly, taking a tiny tuft of hair on the outer edge of the mat, and gradually work your way in.  The dog HATES it.  But the other option is cutting it out--and that can look hideous for years.

Don't try to tease out mats behind the ears.  The hair is very thick behind the ears--many hairs per follicle, like Chinchilla, and very fine, and it will rip out by the roots and bleed.  If it's matted, get it shaved down to the skin as with a proper Irish Setter cut.  I find it hard to believe that ANY amount of grooming will keep that area mat free.  You can see in the picture how the backs of Dwyn's ears are shaved.  We do that once a year, in the Spring when the weather's starting to warm up.

To avoid mats, first brush their DRY hair thoroughly with a fine steel brush - the kind that looks like a carder for wool.  Then use a steel comb to comb through the flags right down to the skin - this will reveal any mats.  Then take your detangler and pick out the mats.  I think the whole secret is to use that steel comb to find the mats hidden in the flags when they're just beginning to form.

 

I find you don't actually have to comb them all that often to keep up with the mats. I don't even comb him once a week, although I'd do it right away if we've been around burrs.  And I'm ALWAYS petting him so twigs don't get a chance to take up residence in his coat.  I find that little twigs caught in the flags turn very quickly into giant matts.  Also I don't bathe my dog unless he reeks.  I don't think their skin takes kindly to it.  Mind you, he has a blindly shiny coat that he can get all muddy and then it goes back to being shiny as soon as it dries.  A Scotchguard Irish Setter, if you will.

 

 

[rosie beere]

I don't bath my pup he doesn't smell, he has a paddling pool he uses several times a day this keeps him clean underneath.
I use Champet for tangles spray either onto him direct or onto the brush its great.my pups breeder put me on to it. I try and brush him every other day at least. Use fingers gently if I do find a toggle I've missed.
Hope this helps.

[Jean Lippett]

We put these Cosipet trouser suits on our setters when they're off for muddy walks. They peel off at the end of the walk just leaving head and paws to clean. They're great when the cleever balls and burrs are around

[Trish Haill]

What size did you get?

[Dean robinson]

Thanks everyone for the advice it's been a big help

[James Doran]

Plush Puppy OMG grooming spray is the best disentangler i know....it definately works! 

[Jean Lippett]

As a reply to Trish about Cosipets trouser suits, 24inch for bitches, 26inch for dogs. (From memory)

[Trish Haill]

Thanks!

[Dee Rance]

I walk mine in the woods every day and they get tangled up with the ''needle holder'' from the pine trees....when I remember I use Avon Skin So Soft on the coat before I go out and these horrid things just slide out...and it tends to keep their coat free from tangles too. 

But there is no better thing than regular grooming...especially under the arms and between the back legs...and behind the ears...they are the worst places for tangles..