Welcome to the Magical and Mysterious World of the Puli
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Welcome to the Magical and Mysterious World of the Puli
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The Hungarian Puli Introduction Index
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Dealing with a matted can be a long laborious job, neither is it something which occurs simply because of neglect. Felting can be the result of numerous occurrences, so it is always useful to have an idea of the best ways of dealing with the situation. First it may be a good idea to consider the cord formation of the Hungarian Puli which is natural, that is the entwining of the top (weatherproof) coat and the soft undercoat, will in time form into cords. There are various types of cord, basically either round or flat ribbon, the whole coat should be of one type. And within one litter it is possible for the coats to develop differently. The well groomed, clean, neatly trimmed and evenly sized corded coat we see on the Hungarian Puli today in the show ring, probably does not in any way resemble that which he had whilst working on the plains of Hungary. Nature had reasons to provide such a coat, to protect the dog from the elements and his skin from injury due to snagging on trees, bushes etc during his duties with his shepherd. Indeed it is also highly likely that the coat on the Puli would be clipped down at the same time the sheep were shorn. As the make up of each coat varies, so does its maintenance, one which has the correct balance of top and bottom with require less grooming than one which forms more undercoat. Matting is often the result of a build up of this undercoat, which allows cords to mat together. This most often happens because of insufficient attention to the coat, or that the coat has been brushed, but the brushing has not gone all the way down to the skin, or the dog has been scratching. Such matting can happen overnight. Areas to pay most attention to are the legs, especially behind the elbows, the ears, both the tail and under it, and the beard. Very often the side on which the dog sleeps will be prone to felting as well. A Hungarian Puli can be brushed, although this is not allowed in the show ring in the UK. But if you have a companion dog than a very well groomed coat can, with quite a lot of work, be achieved - in exactly the same way as people try to cord the coat of other breeds. Brushing though takes a great deal of time, as it could be said to do so is going against the forces of nature. As stated, coats vary, so it is a little difficult to generalise on the care of a badly matted coat. The best way though is probably to tear or cut the coat into cords. These in time, and with numerous baths, will look like the natural cord. First separate the clumps the coat has formed into, will have to be reduced into workable sized chunks. These then can be formed into cords by cutting, a pair of blunt ended scissors is idea for this, as great care must be taken not to snag the skin. Do not cut across the mat, but away from the skin, forming the clump into individual cords. It may be beneficial to slightly dampened the coat with a fine spray of water. In some places the cord structure may be visible, in which case it is possible that these cords can be separated by careful pulling apart. Take the size as a guideline from theses cords by looking at the amount of skin area taken up by each one. The importance of allowing air circulation to the skin cannot be emphasised enough, or it is the only way to keep a good, clean healthy skin. Whilst grooming always check the skin for hot spots, scores, spots, small tumours as well as any signs of fleas, lice or ticks, so that treatment can be carried out straight away.
Looking After Your Puli
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23/05/2008
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