The same as with Pip, we have no idea of Marley her life before her rescue, and she was severely matted when found, about 16 months old. But she definitely had not had the care she and her coat needed. In an ideal world you would never shave a Puli coat and try to save it by splitting the matts. But as she was so scared of humans it would have been inhumane to put her through that. So both Pip and Marley got a shave.
When she arrived at ours, she had long slender legs and definitely a curly coat. This is when I started to do my research in how to look after a Puli coat, it is slightly different then your average dog coat, NO BRUSHING! but need to split the matt in smaller cords (dreadlocks). Slowly but surely Marley’s coat was growing and I noticed matts were forming, she was still to scared to travel anywhere. So, help was needed fast, thank goodness I found the Happy Global Puli Tales on Facebook, who where happy to give advice. This is where I found the lovely Jane who kindly offered to come all the way from Worthing, to come and help me and Marley. She showed me what to do and to our big surprise, it seemed that Marley loves being groomed.
Pulik need daily grooming, picking out leaves, twigs, seeds etc. and making sure that the cords are split all the way to the skin. So it is great that Marley loves grooming. She is sleeping or relaxing (as far as a Puli will ever relax) next to me on the sofa and I split her cords, the only areas she’s not keen on is her ears and tail. Don’t worry Pip does get a belly rub too.
Marley today does not only looks completely different but is now a happy, confident demanding little lady, pawing for attention, barking her head off, letting everyone know that we are here. On walks when she feels Pip gets too much attention, she decides that something is stuck in her coat/paw, which will need to be removed immediately. Stopping to talk to other humans is frowned upon, and she’ll tell me quickly and loudly that we have to move on.
All in all I’m very pleased that she is now happy and confident enough to tell us what she wants and when she wants it.
