Matted poodle

Question
I became the owner of a matted poodle. She was matted from neck to tail with a thick mat. I have cut the mat off every where but the legs.Just like a woman she doesn't like me messing with her legs and I can't get my wife to do it. I noticed on one leg that the mat is just hanging down covering the leg without a hair growing on it. If I get the mat cut off will the hair start growing back on her leg or will it just remain skin and bone?

Thank you,
Delton


Answer
Hello Delton,
Typical Poodle, Doesn't like feet or legs messed with.  No, your not the only one with a picky Poodle.  
Without seeing the dog, I can only guesstimate that the hair will grow back or not.  It depends on the hair follicles and whether they were damaged or not.  If they were severely damaged, then the chances that hair will grow back is small.  If the hair was just pulled out by the mats, then the hair may grow back, except that it will probably grow back in as new growth hair.  This means that it will grow back in the color it was when the dog was a puppy.  Therefore if your dog was black as a puppy (but is now Silver, for instance), then the missing hair will grow back in as Black and will turn Silver as the dog ages, or whatever color your dog was when it was a puppy.

It will be one of those things that you will have to see over time.  Only time will tell if your dog will regrow hair on those bald spots or not.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim