Seasonal Grooming: Super Matted, Fleas and Allergies
As warmer weather arrives, your pet's scratching might not just be a casual itch—it could signal the onset of seasonal allergies that require your immediate attention. Professional groomers Shannon and Tanya reveal why your dog's allergic reactions mirror your own stuffy nose and watery eyes, but with one critical difference: they can't tell you when they're suffering.
The grooming experts dive deep into why matted fur becomes more problematic during seasonal transitions. Many pet parents make a well-intentioned but counterproductive move—bathing an already matted dog actually tightens those tangles against the skin, often necessitating a complete shave. "We don't want to shave your dogs," Shannon emphasizes, "but the tighter the mat is, the shorter your dog has to be." This frank discussion delivers practical solutions for maintaining that fluffy coat without the discomfort.
Flea prevention takes center stage as the conversation shifts to parasites that thrive during warmer months. Even if your furry friend rarely ventures outdoors, you're not immune to infestations. "If you're in an apartment, your neighbor's dog may go out all the time. And if they've got fleas, you share a wall, so you've got fleas," warns Shannon. The grooming professionals share their preferred prevention methods, explaining why ingestible options typically outperform topical treatments for comprehensive protection. They also reveal surprising culprits behind matting—those cute dog sweaters might be causing more harm than good!
To learn more about Hound Therapy visit:
https://www.HoundTherapy.com
Hound Therapy
3509 E Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
469-367-0009
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound
Therapy, the podcast where wetalk all things pet grooming,
daycare academy and more.
Hosted by Shannon and Tanya ofHound Therapy serving pet owners
across North Texas, we're hereto share expert tips, hilarious
pet stories and the inside scoopon keeping your furry friends
(00:25):
happy and healthy.
Our motto humanity over vanity.
And don't worry, we don't bite.
Let's get started.
Who let the dogs out?
Who let the dogs out?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
As the seasons change , so do your pet's grooming
needs.
As the seasons change, so doyour pet's grooming needs.
Learn how a timely groomingroutine can prevent serious
issues like matting, fleas andallergies.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host,slash producer, back in the
studio with Shannon and Tanya,professional groomers at Hound
(01:01):
Therapy.
Shannon and Tanya, how's itgoing today?
Beautiful day today, sofia, howare you?
I am doing?
Well, and yes, it is.
That is wonderful to hear.
Now let's answer the questioneveryone wants to know why is
seasonal grooming important forissues like matting, super
(01:25):
matted pets, fleas and allergies?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Let's start by saying everybody this time, especially
this year today alone just thewind, the constant rain, you're
sneezing, you're pollen, youreyes are itchy in water.
Your dogs are essentially thesame Dog care is.
It's very easily related topediatric care.
So if you have a stuffy noseand runny eyes, the same
(01:51):
medicines that we use for humansis what we use for dogs.
That said they're.
They're tailored a littledifferently but if they're
itching and chewing, unlike ababy, you can't say, hey, you
know, stop doing that.
You've got to stop them fromitching and chewing.
So the more that they itch, themore that they chew, the more
matting that they cause.
If they've caused matting, thenoftentimes you've got saliva
(02:12):
which causes then a sore or aninfection.
So we've got to be able toreally recognize when our dogs
are acting unusual, when they'renot the same as they normally
are from a day to day.
Their paws, their butts, theirscooting, their eyes have a lot
of extra drainage to them.
You know that they've gotallergies.
It could be that they havefleas if they're extra itchy, or
(02:34):
it could be that they have anoverproduction of yeast so they
get a lot of more yeastinfections again.
That grows in that real humidkind of environment.
We have several cockers thatcome in here.
There's certain breeds that aremore prone to it than others,
but all dogs have the allergies.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
You can do allergy shots from your vet, like
Cytopoint, aptoquil, all thosethings.
They're a little pricey butthey are worth it and you can do
a Benadryl.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
There's seasonal allergies, and then there's food
allergies as well.
All of a sudden, you haven'tchanged a diet or food.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Chances are it's seasonal and that's something
that they can get to.
It's kind of like allergies inus, like you're fine one day and
then the next day you feel likecrap and you're just like my
nose won't stop running, my eyesare itchy, so your pets get the
same.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Now let's get to a matted fur.
A lot of people want to washtheir dogs.
Oh, they're itchy and they'regross.
You take a shower, you feelbetter.
Well, that's not necessarilythe same for your dogs.
If you are washing your dogsand your pets and they've
already got mats or tangles inthem, what that's going to do is
tighten it up, and the tighterit gets to the skin, then the
less likely we're going to beable to de-mat it.
(03:41):
Not only are they itchy andit's icky, but that mat gets so
close to the skin that there'snothing else we can do but to
shave it, and nobody wants ashaved dog.
If you want a fluffy dog, you'vegot to brush them regularly If
you want to make sure that theyare flea infested.
If you're traveling and youneed to wash your dog on a
regular basis, you want to makesure that they have a short coat
(04:03):
.
So that's an easy maintainable.
But a mat is not something thatwe can cut through or cut
across.
It's something that we've gottago underneath.
So the tighter the mat is, theshorter your dog is.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
So we don't want to shave your dogs.
No, we don't like doing iteither.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Cute and fluffy is good, although a shaved dog
during the summertime can bevery simple and easy to do.
So if you don't have a budgetof grooming, you know, every
four to six weeks, a shorterhaircut is definitely a much
easier way to maintain your dog.
They'll still look cute and ifyou're trying to do a topical
for fleas, let's get into fleas.
Fleas are huge this time ofyear.
(04:42):
They have a cap star which youcan give your dogs.
We do defleeing here.
I do not like to see a dog thatcomes in with live fleas.
We have it from time to timebut that means we have to
basically shut the shop down.
We disinfect, we clean, webathe that dog directly.
We have to bathe it with aTerrence coat, we do a dip, we
do a cap star which will killthe dogs.
(05:03):
It starts working in the first30 minutes but it will kill the
fleas for up to 24 hours thatare on them.
It is not a flea preventativefor long-term use.
If you can get that flea pill,we'll give it here.
If we have to either come andpick it up the night before, we
would rather deflee dead fleasthan live fleas.
We have a lot of people here.
(05:24):
Nobody here wants fleas.
There are flea and ticks thatyou can get, pills and
digestibles that come with yourheart guards and I highly
recommend that everybody.
Everybody is on those.
Just if you're at a dog parkand you know I hear every day oh
, my dog some sort of flea mydog something is better than
nothing.
I hear all the time my dogdoesn't ever go out.
Well, you have neighbors and ifyou're in an apartment your
(05:47):
neighbor's dog may go all thetime.
And if they've got fleas, youshare a wall, so you've got
fleas.
Now they have to go outside towalk.
You have cats, right.
Cats may or may not jump intoyour yard.
So there's topicals as well.
They do not work as well in myopinion, but I am not a vet.
Some dogs do not do as wellwith pills.
I think it's some preventativeis better than none.
(06:09):
I prefer an ingestible becauseI know that they're getting it.
The topical is great because itworks through the sebaceous
glands, so it goes through thedog's body, but it does leave an
oily spot in the back.
You can't wash them directlyafter giving it, so you want to
de-flea them first, which kindof you know don't get it all on
or missed a spot or if your doghas got some kind of a medical
(06:30):
condition, it may only hit theback half or the hind end
quarters or the front quarters,leaving part of your dog open
for a flea infestation, and wedefinitely don't want to see
that.
So hopefully that answers someof your questions.
It's a lot to cover reallyquick.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
It most certainly is.
And one final question for youtoday are certain breeds more
prone to seasonal matting orflea problems?
Let's get into that for asecond.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Any dog can get fleas , so it doesn't matter what
breed it is Cats and dogs, bothFleas are fleas and they don't
care who they get on.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
If it has blood, they like it.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yes.
Now as far as seasonal matting,yes, the longer doodles are
cute, Doodles mat, you know, thelonger they are.
Everyone wants a long, fluffydoodle, so I would say that's
the number one.
Just curly coated breeds andthen anything that's got a
pattern cut.
(07:28):
So you've got Cockers.
Cockers tend to have anoverproduction of yeast more
than other breeds.
I'm not sure why the older yourdog gets the undercoated breeds,
if they only get them once ortwice.
They've got that double thickundercoat and you know, as it
gets warmer and moist, thatmoisture stays underneath those
coats.
So you know letting the skinbreathe.
There's your key is gettingdown to the skin so that that
skin can breathe.
(07:48):
But if it gets compacted,that's the same as matting, it's
just.
It's a different terminologybecause it's a different type of
hair.
Matting on a thinner dog versusa double coated breed and a
single coated breed are twodifferent things.
They're both removed, but in avery different kind of way.
I would say, the longer yourdog, the more prone you are.
(08:08):
Schnauzers, armpits behind theears, certain collars can
promote matting because they rubSweaters.
Do not ever put sweaters onyour dogs, Please, people please
.
Or, if you do, brush themreally well if they have long
hair.
If you have longer than a halfan inch of hair on your dog, no
sweaters, no sweaters.
Short hair, dogs, sweater allyou want.
If you want hair on your dogsand you want to have a sweater,
(08:32):
then we need to shorten yourdog's hair so you can wear the
sweater, but you can't have bothharnesses create a lot of
matting as well, especially likethe armpit areas, just because
it's constant friction.
So anything that rubs on andwear a dog's.
The best way I can describe itis if you were to put a stocking
cap on your head and imagineit's cold.
(08:54):
You're just wearing it on yourhead all of the time, you're
never taking it off, and thenyou, three days later, you take
it off, and then the next dayyou go out and you put that same
hat right back on your head.
Can you imagine what your hairis going to look like?
Yeah, so that is what happensto dogs and sweaters.
It's just a constant friction.
(09:16):
Yeah, it's.
It's like a noogie, a wetnoogie all over.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Wow, my goodness.
Well, shannon and Tanya, thankyou so much for stopping in
today.
We'll catch you in the nextepisode.
Have a fantastic rest of yourday.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Thank you so much.
That's a wrap for this episodeof tail talk with hound therapy.
Ready to book your pet's nextgroom daycare stay or grooming
academy tour?
Call us at 469-367-0009 that's469-367-0009 to schedule an
appointment, or visit us onlineat wwwhoundtherapycom.
(10:03):
Serving North Texas with expertpet care.
Until next time, keep thosetails wagging.
Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound
Therapy, the podcast where wetalk all things pet grooming,
daycare academy and more.
Hosted by Shannon and Tanya ofHound Therapy serving pet owners
across North Texas, we're hereto share expert tips, hilarious
pet stories and the inside scoopon keeping your furry friends
(00:25):
happy and healthy.
Our motto humanity over vanity.
And don't worry, we don't bite.
Let's get started.
Who let the dogs out?
Who let the dogs out?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
As the seasons change , so do your pet's grooming
needs.
As the seasons change, so doyour pet's grooming needs.
Learn how a timely groomingroutine can prevent serious
issues like matting, fleas andallergies.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host,slash producer, back in the
studio with Shannon and Tanya,professional groomers at Hound
(01:01):
Therapy.
Shannon and Tanya, how's itgoing today?
Beautiful day today, sofia, howare you?
I am doing?
Well, and yes, it is.
That is wonderful to hear.
Now let's answer the questioneveryone wants to know why is
seasonal grooming important forissues like matting, super
(01:25):
matted pets, fleas and allergies?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Let's start by saying everybody this time, especially
this year today alone just thewind, the constant rain, you're
sneezing, you're pollen, youreyes are itchy in water.
Your dogs are essentially thesame Dog care is.
It's very easily related topediatric care.
So if you have a stuffy noseand runny eyes, the same
(01:51):
medicines that we use for humansis what we use for dogs.
That said they're.
They're tailored a littledifferently but if they're
itching and chewing, unlike ababy, you can't say, hey, you
know, stop doing that.
You've got to stop them fromitching and chewing.
So the more that they itch, themore that they chew, the more
matting that they cause.
If they've caused matting, thenoftentimes you've got saliva
(02:12):
which causes then a sore or aninfection.
So we've got to be able toreally recognize when our dogs
are acting unusual, when they'renot the same as they normally
are from a day to day.
Their paws, their butts, theirscooting, their eyes have a lot
of extra drainage to them.
You know that they've gotallergies.
It could be that they havefleas if they're extra itchy, or
(02:34):
it could be that they have anoverproduction of yeast so they
get a lot of more yeastinfections again.
That grows in that real humidkind of environment.
We have several cockers thatcome in here.
There's certain breeds that aremore prone to it than others,
but all dogs have the allergies.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
You can do allergy shots from your vet, like
Cytopoint, aptoquil, all thosethings.
They're a little pricey butthey are worth it and you can do
a Benadryl.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
There's seasonal allergies, and then there's food
allergies as well.
All of a sudden, you haven'tchanged a diet or food.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Chances are it's seasonal and that's something
that they can get to.
It's kind of like allergies inus, like you're fine one day and
then the next day you feel likecrap and you're just like my
nose won't stop running, my eyesare itchy, so your pets get the
same.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Now let's get to a matted fur.
A lot of people want to washtheir dogs.
Oh, they're itchy and they'regross.
You take a shower, you feelbetter.
Well, that's not necessarilythe same for your dogs.
If you are washing your dogsand your pets and they've
already got mats or tangles inthem, what that's going to do is
tighten it up, and the tighterit gets to the skin, then the
less likely we're going to beable to de-mat it.
(03:41):
Not only are they itchy andit's icky, but that mat gets so
close to the skin that there'snothing else we can do but to
shave it, and nobody wants ashaved dog.
If you want a fluffy dog, you'vegot to brush them regularly If
you want to make sure that theyare flea infested.
If you're traveling and youneed to wash your dog on a
regular basis, you want to makesure that they have a short coat
(04:03):
.
So that's an easy maintainable.
But a mat is not something thatwe can cut through or cut
across.
It's something that we've gottago underneath.
So the tighter the mat is, theshorter your dog is.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
So we don't want to shave your dogs.
No, we don't like doing iteither.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Cute and fluffy is good, although a shaved dog
during the summertime can bevery simple and easy to do.
So if you don't have a budgetof grooming, you know, every
four to six weeks, a shorterhaircut is definitely a much
easier way to maintain your dog.
They'll still look cute and ifyou're trying to do a topical
for fleas, let's get into fleas.
Fleas are huge this time ofyear.
(04:42):
They have a cap star which youcan give your dogs.
We do defleeing here.
I do not like to see a dog thatcomes in with live fleas.
We have it from time to timebut that means we have to
basically shut the shop down.
We disinfect, we clean, webathe that dog directly.
We have to bathe it with aTerrence coat, we do a dip, we
do a cap star which will killthe dogs.
(05:03):
It starts working in the first30 minutes but it will kill the
fleas for up to 24 hours thatare on them.
It is not a flea preventativefor long-term use.
If you can get that flea pill,we'll give it here.
If we have to either come andpick it up the night before, we
would rather deflee dead fleasthan live fleas.
We have a lot of people here.
(05:24):
Nobody here wants fleas.
There are flea and ticks thatyou can get, pills and
digestibles that come with yourheart guards and I highly
recommend that everybody.
Everybody is on those.
Just if you're at a dog parkand you know I hear every day oh
, my dog some sort of flea mydog something is better than
nothing.
I hear all the time my dogdoesn't ever go out.
Well, you have neighbors and ifyou're in an apartment your
(05:47):
neighbor's dog may go all thetime.
And if they've got fleas, youshare a wall, so you've got
fleas.
Now they have to go outside towalk.
You have cats, right.
Cats may or may not jump intoyour yard.
So there's topicals as well.
They do not work as well in myopinion, but I am not a vet.
Some dogs do not do as wellwith pills.
I think it's some preventativeis better than none.
(06:09):
I prefer an ingestible becauseI know that they're getting it.
The topical is great because itworks through the sebaceous
glands, so it goes through thedog's body, but it does leave an
oily spot in the back.
You can't wash them directlyafter giving it, so you want to
de-flea them first, which kindof you know don't get it all on
or missed a spot or if your doghas got some kind of a medical
(06:30):
condition, it may only hit theback half or the hind end
quarters or the front quarters,leaving part of your dog open
for a flea infestation, and wedefinitely don't want to see
that.
So hopefully that answers someof your questions.
It's a lot to cover reallyquick.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
It most certainly is.
And one final question for youtoday are certain breeds more
prone to seasonal matting orflea problems?
Let's get into that for asecond.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Any dog can get fleas , so it doesn't matter what
breed it is Cats and dogs, bothFleas are fleas and they don't
care who they get on.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
If it has blood, they like it.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yes.
Now as far as seasonal matting,yes, the longer doodles are
cute, Doodles mat, you know, thelonger they are.
Everyone wants a long, fluffydoodle, so I would say that's
the number one.
Just curly coated breeds andthen anything that's got a
pattern cut.
(07:28):
So you've got Cockers.
Cockers tend to have anoverproduction of yeast more
than other breeds.
I'm not sure why the older yourdog gets the undercoated breeds,
if they only get them once ortwice.
They've got that double thickundercoat and you know, as it
gets warmer and moist, thatmoisture stays underneath those
coats.
So you know letting the skinbreathe.
There's your key is gettingdown to the skin so that that
skin can breathe.
(07:48):
But if it gets compacted,that's the same as matting, it's
just.
It's a different terminologybecause it's a different type of
hair.
Matting on a thinner dog versusa double coated breed and a
single coated breed are twodifferent things.
They're both removed, but in avery different kind of way.
I would say, the longer yourdog, the more prone you are.
(08:08):
Schnauzers, armpits behind theears, certain collars can
promote matting because they rubSweaters.
Do not ever put sweaters onyour dogs, Please, people please
.
Or, if you do, brush themreally well if they have long
hair.
If you have longer than a halfan inch of hair on your dog, no
sweaters, no sweaters.
Short hair, dogs, sweater allyou want.
If you want hair on your dogsand you want to have a sweater,
(08:32):
then we need to shorten yourdog's hair so you can wear the
sweater, but you can't have bothharnesses create a lot of
matting as well, especially likethe armpit areas, just because
it's constant friction.
So anything that rubs on andwear a dog's.
The best way I can describe itis if you were to put a stocking
cap on your head and imagineit's cold.
(08:54):
You're just wearing it on yourhead all of the time, you're
never taking it off, and thenyou, three days later, you take
it off, and then the next dayyou go out and you put that same
hat right back on your head.
Can you imagine what your hairis going to look like?
Yeah, so that is what happensto dogs and sweaters.
It's just a constant friction.
(09:16):
Yeah, it's.
It's like a noogie, a wetnoogie all over.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Wow, my goodness.
Well, shannon and Tanya, thankyou so much for stopping in
today.
We'll catch you in the nextepisode.
Have a fantastic rest of yourday.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Thank you so much.
That's a wrap for this episodeof tail talk with hound therapy.
Ready to book your pet's nextgroom daycare stay or grooming
academy tour?
Call us at 469-367-0009 that's469-367-0009 to schedule an
appointment, or visit us onlineat wwwhoundtherapycom.
(10:03):
Serving North Texas with expertpet care.
Until next time, keep thosetails wagging.
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