Tuffy grooming himself

by Iris Miller
(Bristol, CT USA)

When Tuffy was a few month old his hair was gloriously beautiful and long, similar to a Maltese. He loved to shake his hair and it would part down the middle. People always asked me how long it took me to do his hair and I always answered "he does that himself", I had no clue about matted hair under that coat. I brushed his hair regularly, but suddenly it became matted, maybe because of the humid hot weather at the time or since then maybe what I read about this being a normal part of their coat evolving.

Here is Tuffy at a few months old, trying to brush his coat and get the mats out, but he got bored and chewed the brush. We ended up at the groomer and he had to be shaved. Poor pup. He really missed shaking out that beautiful hair. He is 2 years old and all white now, as my other pictures show him (really! It's the same dog)