What to do about Ear Dreadlocks?

[Scout's Mom]

Scout has some dreadlocks behind her ears that I can't comb out. We've tried bathing and vegetable oil, but I'm about to pull her poor fur out. Would it be a bad thing to just cut the dreads off and start over with shorter-back-of-ear-fur?

[Sue R]

When they are small, I work them out with my fingers. I don't use anything and I'm not sure where vegetable oil came into the picture. When they are larger and can't be worked out with the fingers, I snip them off, like on my son's Sheltie.

[Beth G]

Yes, If you can't get them out I would cut them. I had to do that with Popcorn .

 

Between the shoulder blades. Not sure what he got into but I couldn't wash or comb it out (and he gets combed every other day)so I was upset his fur got so tangled up.

[Barb Scott]

I trim behind the ears with thinning shears when things look messy. But I use a comb between the ear and the shears, just to be safe.

barb

[Shetlander]

I trim behind the ears with thinning shears when things look messy.

 

Me, too. The thinning shears keep the trim from looking a little more natural. I'm so used to trimming here and there with shelties (constant upkeep and fussing) that I like Quinn's ears to be neat rather than lots of hair everywhere. I also trim around his paws, not that you asked, and if the tail looks too scraggly I'll trim that up a bit too once in a big while.

[bailey44]

I have years of experience with this problem because I had a long-haired cat who was sickly and she couldn't always groom herself properly. I had to either learn how to un-knot her fur or risk having her sedated and shaved. I also had to figure out how to do this and still retain most of the skin on my hands.

 

Like Sue said, start with trying to untangle with your fingers. Gently pull the knot at the thickest point on both sides at the same time. Not up, but sideways while wiggling and worrying the tangle a bit to see what needs to come out. This is sometimes all it takes to loosen the tangle enough to then comb or pull the knotted part out. Then comb the area to get any residual loose hairs out.

 

I sometimes use cuddle/sleepy time in the evening on the couch with Polly to work on any tangles. I also sometimes work on one tangle a little every evening for a few days so she doesn't get cranky with me in one long session.

 

Like everyone else said, some are real stubborn and need to be cut out.

 

I hope that helps!

 

Charlene

[silhouettestable]

I've had rough collies for years (and still have one, in addition to the BC's and BC mixes), and some of them can really mat up behind the ears. Luckily the one I have now is not bad at all with that. If it's too bad for you to comb out or work loose with your fingers as already suggested, there is another alternative to just cutting it out with scissors. You can either use a nice sharp dematting tool or sharp scissors. Open up the scissors and work one of the blades through the middle of the mat several times, gradually tearing the large mat into several smaller ones that you can then comb out. It takes longer than just cutting it out, but it will leave a nicer appearance when done. Instead of having a chopped up look you won't even notice that a mat's been removed. I try to avoid matting as much as possible, but if Noah gets any behind his ears that's the way I get rid of them. If he gets any around the inner thighs though I just cut them out though since it's easier and it can't be seen anyways. This is my big hairy boy Noah: