He's not matted at all. We brush him everyday, so the only mats that ever try to start are in the groin area and I distract him with a treat and just trim those out. Petsmart groomers were able to somewhat even him out today. He's still not completely even and he looked much better before he was groomed,
but at least he doesn't have half a haircut anymore.
The Petsmart groomer said he is one of more extreme reactions she's seen (though she sounded confident when I took him in saying that they have dogs who freak out all the time, but they're still able to get them done). She said it didn't seem to be the clippers that freaked him out so much as the being handled (turned around, foot held, laid on his side, etc.) She said he freaked out during each part--bath, trim, nails, blow dryer. He stiffens his legs and holds them together so they can't work on legs or feet or groin. He snapped and actually bit the groomer once today. Which is shocking for such a happy-go-lucky dog. He must've really been scared.
I haven't noticed these reactions at home with the little I've done. I gave him a bath last week with no problem and although he ran away from the blow dryer, I was able to towel dry him and he did fine. I was able to trim the hair on his tail and the fringe around his neck last week too. And his foster mom says she was able to trim the hair over his eyes, though when he first came to her, she couldn't even brush him without him yelping. (She worked with him on it for the 3 months she fostered him.) I was able to trim some longer hairs on one side of his belly tonight by making a path of dog food on the floor and doing it while he was distracted with eating. He didn't pay attention to what I was doing at all. He doesn't like me to brush the hair on his legs or feet, but he doesn't snap--just tries to pull them away. He'll let me hold his feet while we're laying on the couch though.
We like him with
scruffier hair, so a short clipper cut isn't something we want anyway. That's why I asked about scissor cuts with long hair. How are dogs with 3-5 inch coats maintained grooming-wise?
