Mats behid the ears

[Silaria]

I know this has come up before but I'll be darned if I can find the old threads on this.

Edan's fur behind his ears has gotten really silky soft and fine again. (It was like this as a puppy but it's been years since it was this fine.) Because of this, he constantly gets mats behind his ears. Heck, I just had him groomed on Wednesday and there were no mats when I brought him home but last night, sure enough, there was a new one.

Anyone have any advice on how to reduce the number of mats behind his ears? I know my poor guy is tired of having his fur drenched in Ice on Ice while mom tries to get rid of the latest one.

[rose]

Suzi has the silky fine fur also, i keep her ears kind of trimmed up, so they do not matt up. you can brush her and a hour later, a knot.

[corbinam]

Lexi had this trouble not too long ago, but it seems to have subsided (who knows why).

Honestly, the best thing we could do was to comb her ears out every night. I used baby powder when I was done to help a bit, but if we weren't diligently brushing them every day, she would get a mat (or the beginnings of one).

[DieDany]

Perry has the silky fur behind the ears and from time to time mats come up. Neither me nor Perry are patient enough to comb it back to normal so I usually cut it off. Perry has so much fur on his neck so you can't see any difference I brush the fur behind the ears every day, that may help a bit.

[lovemyshelties]

Yep. I have the same issue with two of my Shelties who have silky fur behind their ears. I check them often and cut the mats out as needed. Never thought to try baby powder though. Interesting...

[Emmasmom]

I find cornstarch works better than the baby powder, just doesn't smell as nice. I work out the matts and then come through a small amount of cornstarch.

[Silaria]

I have Johnson & Johnson vanilla scented cornstarch powder at home. I can try that... after working the matts out of his fur.

[Lightplum]

thats a sure sign for me that the fur needs to be trimmed, when I get mats the fur is too long! When the fur is trimmed to the correct length I never have any mats. it took a while to figure out the correct length as to avoid getting mats..I can say knock on wood I havent had one in over a year!

[k9kreationz]

I was going to suggest the baby powder, but it sounds like cornstarch is the way to go.

I also like to use this mat removal tool to cut out the mats, versus using scissors or just a comb. Makes it easier, without removing a ton of hair.

Good luck. I remember dealing with that with Miko. Thankfully, Koji's hasn't been too bad.

[romeosangiovese]

I never realized that the fur length behind the ears makes a difference to the mats. I always thought it was just that the fur there is so darn soft and silky!

Poor Juliet gets mats behind the ears so easily and regularly! Doesn't help that her brother would mouth her ears and get it wet with saliva. Ugh. I just spliced and combed out a few mats last night.

Will try trimming it down - hope that helps! She really hates me working on her mats.