Poor Wags! His owners called us early one morning with joy in their voice that their dog had returned after having gone missing for four days. They stated he had a 'show coat' when he left but now . . . . We were very full but the owners were seemed desperate to help their dog. We worked him right in. Wags' mobility was quite labored when he came in. We were not entirely sure he had a tail. He had more burrs in his coat than I care to think about. We lost count. He also had many burrs imbedded in his skin. As a matter of fact we called our trusted vet at first sight of his skin, eyes, etc. Every move was approved by the vet as we believe this is very important - first do no harm. Our vet directed us to continue as long as wags was not under undue stress and recommend him directly to the clinic upon release. He was so quiet and appreciative. Every so often he would let out a great sigh of relief. His face smelled so foul where the matted hair was holding so much eye discharge and moisture. Turns out wags did have a tail under all the hair, fleas, and burrs! It had been stuck to his side rendering it motionless for days perhaps longer. His tail took over an hour to slowly, safely, and carefully remove from his side and shave down. As soon as I released his tail we began wagging it furiously making a happy cry (he's a talker!) and kissing me! I've never had such a wonderful experience. I could have cried - I felt so good for him. I have great experience in removing coats in this condition and would not have done so if I was not confident he would be safe. I must express, as bad as his condition was, he was in no way harmed during his grooming process. I gave him a soothing bath and soak in Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and a gentle massage, topped off with an all natural pesticide free flea shampoo and a 15 min deep coat conditioner (all OK'd by our vet). When his groom was complete he played like a puppy for the rest of the afternoon with the resident 'shop dogs'. His owners were so good to bring him in to us and they did take him directly to the vet for treatment following his groom. He's coming in for his second groom soon too!