Dog Grooming 101

It can be quite costly to take your dog to a salon for its grooming. However, you must not compromise your pet’s hygiene and overall physiological and psychological health by ignoring its need to be well-groomed. Just like people, they also need some pampering and grooming every now and then so that they look and feel better.

Happily, it’s not necessary to spend a lot on grooming your dog. There are various ways in which you can take care of your pet by yourself in your own home. Just buy some pets grooming supplies and read the following tips on how to groom your dog.

The first thing you have to consider is your dog’s coat. You don’t want your pet to develop problems with fleas and other pests so you must always clean and maintain its hair. A critical pet grooming tool is a brush with soft bristles. It’s important to give your dog a good brushing each day so that its coat doesn’t become matted. Brushing also makes the coat shine since it distributes the natural oils throughout the length of the hair. By getting rid of the hair that’s dead or dying, it will cut down on the amount of shedding your dog does.

Also, the dog’s coat should be clipped every month or so, depending on the length. If you want to do this on your own, you need to have clippers or trimmers, scissors, a brush or a comb, a blow dryer, and towels.

Next, when it comes to bathing your dog, you need to get a good dog shampoo and soap, towels, comb, and brush. Prior to bathing, brush out the coat so it doesn’t get hopelessly tangled in the water. Your dog needs a bath once a month if it has long hair, and every two months if it has short hair. It might also need supplementary baths in certain circumstances, like when it has rolled around in the mud or something smelly. Routinely giving your dog a bath will keep fleas at bay, and help to avoid various skin conditions. And your dog will smell fresh and clean.

Dog grooming also involves nail clipping. A dog’s nails are continuously growing, and if they’re long they can more easily do damage to your carpet and furniture. As well, they could break off, which can be a painful situation. Therefore, you must cut your dog’s nails about once a month. This is quite different from trimming your own nails since your dog’s nails are thicker and a different shape. You’ll need to use a dog nail trimmer. You’ll also need some powder to stop the bleeding if you should happen to cut your dog.

Every couple of weeks, inspect your dog’s ears to see if there are any open sores or fleas. Then use warm water, mineral oil and cotton balls to get them clean.

Lastly, it’s not just humans who need to keep their teeth clean. Your dog can also develop cavities and other diseases of the mouth, teeth, and gums. You need pet toothpaste and a toothbrush to clean the mouth twice a week.