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Signature grooming service

De-shed & de-mat

Knots and undercoat worked out by hand, with a comb progression instead of a blade — so the curl pattern survives the appointment.
from $36
Price
45 min
Duration
4–16 lb
Coat weight
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  • Hand de-matting with a wide-tooth comb progression
  • No shaving unless the coat is genuinely past saving
  • Honest assessment before we start, not after
A white Bichon Frisé sitting on a cream backdrop after a round-finish groom
Porto studio · by appointment

What the De-shed & De-mat actually is

Most salons solve matting with a blade. It is fast, it is cheap for them, and it costs you the curl pattern for the next four months. We work knots out by hand instead, using a comb progression from wide to fine, section by section, starting at the tips and moving toward the root — which is the opposite of what feels intuitive and the reason hand de-matting takes forty-five minutes.

The appointment starts with an honest assessment. If a coat is so densely matted that hand work would hurt more than it helps, we will tell you that at check-in and offer a short clip instead. We do not judge — a Cavapoo that has not been brushed in three weeks is a normal dog with a busy owner — but we also do not pretend a coat can be saved when it cannot.

Undercoat comes out with a rake and a slicker used at the correct angle, never dragged flat through a curl. Once the coat is clear, we bath, hand dry and check the pattern has come back.

Who it’s for

Any curly or wavy coat carrying knots, felted patches behind the ears or under the arms, or a dead undercoat that will not brush out at home. Frequently booked alongside a Full Curl Groom — booking both on the same day is fine and your dog only comes in once.

What’s included

Everything in the
90 minutes.

No line-item surprises. The price we quote is the price on the receipt — coat condition add-ons are agreed upfront at check-in, not discovered at pickup.

  • Full coat assessment with an honest go/no-go before we start
  • Hand de-matting, wide-to-fine comb progression
  • Undercoat rake work at the correct coat angle
  • Careful attention behind ears, under arms and around the harness line
  • Warm-water bath after the coat is clear
  • Hand-dry and section fluff
  • Nail trim and paw tidy
  • Skin check for hot spots hidden under mats
  • Finish photo sent before pickup
  • Home brushing plan written for your dog's specific coat
Pricing

Three tiers,
priced by coat.

Weight is our proxy for coat volume. We weigh on arrival and confirm the tier before we start — no retroactive upsells.

Light

Under 7 lb
$36
  • Up to 20 minutes of hand work
  • Undercoat rake + bath
  • Hand dry + paw tidy
  • Home brushing plan
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Most popular

Standard

7–12 lb
$52
  • Everything in Light
  • Up to 40 minutes of hand work
  • Behind-ear and arm-pit focus
  • Skin check under mats
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Heavy

12–16 lb
$74
  • Everything in Standard
  • Full-coat de-mat, no time cap
  • Conditioning oil treatment after
  • Follow-up visit at 20% off
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How it works

Five steps,
start to finish.

You drop off, we text. The 90 minutes are structured so your dog never sits waiting in a kennel — they go from your hands straight to the table.

1

Assessment and the honest answer

We go through the coat with our hands before anything else. You get a straight answer about what can be saved, roughly how long it will take and what it will cost — at check-in, not at pickup.
2

Dry de-mat first

Knots are worked out dry, because water tightens a mat and makes it permanent. Wide comb first, then finer, always from the tip of the hair toward the root so the pull is on our fingers and not on your dog’s skin.
3

Undercoat rake

Dead undercoat comes out with a rake worked along the coat’s natural angle. This is where most of the volume you are about to lose actually comes from — and none of it costs you curl.
4

Bath and hand dry

Once the coat is clear, a warm-water bath with sulfate-free shampoo and a deep conditioner, then a section hand-dry. Matted coat is never bathed first: that is how a knot becomes a felt.
5

Check the pattern came back

We fluff and check that the curl has recovered its shape, look over the skin for anything the mats were hiding, and write you a home brushing plan for this specific coat.
FAQ

Questions we hear
every week.

If yours isn’t here, send us a note — we usually reply the same day.

Will you have to shave my dog?

Almost never, and never without asking you first. Hand de-matting saves the coat in the large majority of cases. The exception is a coat that has felted into a solid layer against the skin — at that point combing it out would be genuinely painful and a short clip is the kind option. We will call you before doing it.
Done correctly, no — uncomfortable at worst. Working from the tips toward the root means the tension stays in our fingers rather than pulling at the skin. We take breaks, and if a dog tells us a particular area is too sore we leave it and discuss a clip for that section instead.
Brush the roots, not the surface. Most owners brush the top of the coat, which looks tidy while a mat forms underneath it. Twice a week with a wide-tooth comb worked down to the skin, and a full brush-out after any wet walk, prevents almost all of it. We write the plan down for your dog’s coat before you leave.
Yes, and it is the most common pairing. Book both on the same day and we sequence them so your dog comes in once: de-mat first, then straight into the full curl groom. The combined appointment runs about two hours and is priced as the two services, not as a premium.
From the studio
Related services

Other appointments
worth knowing about.

All services share the same no-cage-dryer policy. Booking two on the same day is fine — we’ll sequence them so your dog only comes in once.

Full curl groom

Bath, hand-dry, breed-pattern clip and a finish that keeps the curl bouncy for weeks. Works across Toy Poodle, Bichon, Cavapoo and Maltipoo coat patterns.
from $58
90 min
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Spa bath & blow-out

Sulfate-free curl wash, warm towel and a slow blow-out that defines instead of fluffs. We use our own Curl Definition Shampoo unless you bring one you prefer — either is fine.
from $28
40 min
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Face & sanitary trim

Tear-stain tidy, neat muzzle and a clean finish around the eyes between full grooms. Popular with Toy Poodles and Maltipoos whose facial hair grows faster than the rest of the coat.
from $22
25 min
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Ready to book the
full curl groom?

Appointments fill about two weeks out — book now and we’ll confirm within a few hours. No deposit for first-time bookings.

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