Dog Grooming Hints

by Dog Groom UK

There are thousands of people searching online every day to find dog grooming tips to keep their pets looking their best.

There are five good dog grooming tips shown below:

1. Keep them out of the dirt. This is easier said than done, but not all dogs love to be bathed and will fight you every step of the way when you try to put them in a tub, or spray them with a hose.

2. Don’t use harsh chemical shampoos. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, but look for something that is a natural product. Harsh chemicals destroy the vital skin oil on your dog and will make them itchy. These natural oils are what help keep them clean and prevent irritation on their skin. Keep reading for more dog grooming tips.

3. Feed them proper food, such as holistic dog food. Natural foods, with a large concentration of real meat and fat will go a long way to keeping their coat soft and manageable.

4. Brush their coat as often as possible. Much like bathing: Not all dogs are going to be receptive to regular brushing, but it’s important in order to keep tangles out of their hair. Remember also if you have a long-haired dog that you will eventually come to a point where you either have to brush them, or take them to a dog groomer. Therefore, it’s much easier to deal with a fussy dog when their hair isn’t full of painful tangles and matted clumps.

5. One of the easiest dog grooming tips you can utilize, is one that doesn’t require much effort from you at all: Feed them a hair and coat conditioning supplement. There are a lot of them on the market and they should be chocked full of amino acids and fatty acids. Combined with a premium dog food, your dogs coat will have no choice but to look good.

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by bookish in north park

To keep your dog’s long coat looking beautiful and healthy, you should be prepared to spend regular time in grooming. In fact some long coated dogs also need regular baths to help keep their coats free from matting and frequent brushing in between.

Grooming A Dog with a Long Coat

To know that you are doing all that’s necessary to help keep your dog’s coat maintained in good condition, it might be a good idea to read books specifically for your dog’s breed as these can provide excellent tips and information on grooming and general care as well as suggesting grooming tools best suited for your breed of dog. Grooming can be a pleasurable activity both for dog and owner, providing the chance to spend quality time together.

A well-trained dog is always easier to groom than a one that is restless, fidgety and reluctant to co-operate. A dog, for instance, can really get to enjoy his bath when trained from being a puppy. For long-coated breeds of dogs you might consider buying a grooming table. There are also many different types of brushes to choose from. Wooden handle rubber brushes with pins can make grooming more comfortable with long-haired dogs. Wooden handle slicker brushes are also useful for removing tangles in long silky coated dogs. It is especially important for long-coated dogs to be trained to stand still or to lie down when being groomed as it can become frustrating for both dog and owner if the dog keeps trying to run away!

Tools needed for grooming a long-coat dog include:

Brushes and combs – When grooming the dog’s coat should never be completely dry as this can cause the ends of the hair to split. Use a mild conditioning spray (specifically for dogs and not humans). Your dog should be encouraged to stand and using a curry comb first, work through all the knots and tangles in your dog’s long coat. The curry comb can be either plastic or rubber with short teeth on one side; it is used to break up clumps and tangles in the hair and to pull loose hair to the surface of the coat.

After this, go over thoroughly with a metal brush. Brushing not only helps keep your dog’s coat free of tangles but for the long-coated dog, it will stimulate the natural oils in his skin and helps keep the coat in good condition. Brushing also helps to keep shedding around the house under control. Pay attention to paws as dog’s with a long coat can tend to get mats in their paws.

You might then want to use a long toothed steel comb to be sure the coat is free of tangles. If your dog’s coat has a parting along the back, this should be done from the neck downwards, carefully taking a comb through in one smooth stroke. Some breeds with long coats will need to be clipped, trimmed or stripped. This can be quite difficult and you might prefer to leave certain aspects of your dog’s grooming to an expert. Or at least to get expert advice before splashing out on expensive clippers which can be hard to use. Purchasing unsuitable tools for grooming your dog can be an expensive mistake!

Hair Cutting Scissors are useful as the hair around your dog’s paws will need to be regularly trimmed. Check in between his nails too. You might also want to trim the hair around your dog’s hind quarters. Keep inside of ears clean and trimmed and check paw pads for excess hair which again should be trimmed. Both small and large long-haired dogs will need to have their nails clipped regularly.

Cut the nails as close to the ‘quick’ as possible. The long hair of the feet can hide the toenails causing some owners to neglect cutting the nails as often as required. If you can hear your dog’s nails clicking when he walks, it is time they were cut otherwise lameness can occur. Dew claws need to be trimmed too or they can loop around and grow into the dog’s leg. Toe nails should be cut using special dog nail clippers and this must be done with great care. Dog grooming can be time consuming but this is a great excuse to spend quality time together and for dog and owner to bond

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Many people look at the Pomeranian and just a cute little fluffy dog. They do not have any idea what it takes to be a Pomeranian owner. Grooming a Pomeranian takes a lot of work. Herman is my oldest Pomeranian. He turned 12 years old this year. His hair needs to be brushed daily. If I don’t brush his hair daily, it’s very knotted up and hard to comb through. I need to get him groomed every four to six weeks or he’ll have all sorts of things caught up in the hair.

Oreo is my second Pomeranian. She is seven-years-old this year. She is black. Her hair is a little smoother than Herman’s hair. She has black hair and the hair sheds badly in the summer. I have to brush her daily. I have to vacuum daily to avoid having clumps of hair on my carpet. I need to get her groomed every six weeks.

Both of my Pomeranians are outdoors some of the day, but inside at night. They get grass, goat heads, and about everything else caught up in their fur. They are very high maintenance dogs. They need lots of attention to their beautiful coats.

Regular combing is important so that you can remove the thick wooly hair that sheds from the massive undercoat. The Pomeranian hair matts easily if there is not brushing from the upper and inner coats. Pomeranians need to have the hair trimmed around their anus. You can comb around the coat growth to add fluffiness. The last part of the grooming should be the brushing the coat up to add volume.

Bathing the Pomeranian needs to be enjoyable by the Pomeranian. Make sure the water is the right temperature and that your Pomeranian is calm and enjoying the bath. Talk softly to the Pomeranian to ensure they are feeling relaxed. Be very gentle as you bathe the Pomeranian. Use a conditioner for dogs after the shampoo to get the silkiest hair possible. Blow dry after you bathe your Pomeranian to keep the hair fluffy and smooth.

No matter how tempting it may be, never get your Pomeranian shaved. The skin will not be as protected by the sun, insects, and other things that could irritate the Pomeranian’s skin. If there is a huge matt in the hair, try brushing the matt out before shaving the Pomeranian dog. The hair will grow back more course if you shave the Pomeranian.

In conclusion, grooming is essential for the Pomeranian. Every 4-6 weeks the Pomeranian needs a trim and a major brush through with their bath. A Pomeranian should be brushed once a day to avoid matts.

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Grooming a Blue or Red Heeler is a simple and pleasurable task as their weather-resistant coat requires only basic care.

The Blue Heeler, also known as the Australian Cattle dog or the Queensland Heeler, has two layers to its coat: a thick, downy, under-layer, and a thin, straight top-coat. A de-sexed Heeler will generally shed part of its under-coat twice a year, while a breeding female will shed after each cycle.

Regular brushing with a stiff bristled brush will speed up the shedding, which can come out in clumps that resemble staples of wool.

The Heelers coat is resistant to weather and so needs little washing; a few baths a year is plenty. Heelers love swimming and allowing them this opportunity for super exercise has the additional benefit of freshening up the fur and removing the dust, while leaving the important natural oils on the fur and skin.

When your dog does need a wash, choose a low-allergen dog shampoo and be sure that it is completely rinsed. Don’t use conditioners as this disturbs the process of their natural oil production.

If your dog lives inside, you will need to clip its toenails regularly; about once a month. This job is also easy. Buy good quality clippers that include a nail-guard, which prevents you from cutting the nail too short. Make sure your clippers are sharp for a quick, clean snip. If you haven’t seen this done before, it’s a good idea to ask your vet to show you how. You need to avoid the “quick” within the nail as cutting it will hurt your dog and the bleeding can be difficult to stop.

Dogs that live outdoors and do a lot of their walking on hard surfaces, such as footpaths, may need their nails clipped a little less often.

One point to note with Blue Heelers: basic obedience is vital for this breed, particularly if living in a domestic situation, as it has been bred as a farm-dog, built to work hard and take orders.

If your dog is given no job or is dominant in your relationship, then grooming, or any other task, will be a nightmare.

It’s just as well then, that Heelers are so intelligent and easy to train. Basic obedience classes are a must and are enough for some owners. Others, though, on seeing how agile and easily taught their dogs are, are keen to exercise their intelligence further by enrolling them in classes for agility training, at which Heelers truly excel, search and rescue training, or tracking.

All of these are great for Heelers as they need a lot of exercise and should be walked for at least an hour each day. They need a large yard and should never be kept in an apartment. A frustrated Heeler is liable to nip at your heels. If your dog is doing this, it is out of desperation: give it something to do and it will stop trying to herd sheep, the job it is bred for.

Just as well they’re easy to groom, huh?

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An important aspect of dog ownership is regularly bathing your dog. This will help not only to keep your dog clean and odour free but will also help to keep the skin in healthy condition, free from irritation caused by natural toxin release, environmental pollutions and dog saliva which can cause hot spots.

As a former dog groomer, I’m going to guide you through how to have a pleasant experience with little mess and limited strain on your back.

THE PREPARATION

Preparing the Dog

There are two things to consider in preparation; the bath area and the dog. First let’s talk about the dog. The single most important thing you need to do before you even turn on the water is to make sure the dog’s coat is prepared to be wet. You MUST brush the dog first. This is particularly important for long-haired breeds. The coat must be tangle and knot free before it gets wet or the tangles will set and form huge mats that will be very difficult to brush out later. If you have a double-coated breed, its important to brush out that under coat or big clumps will come off in the bath causing drain blockages. Even with a short-haired breed, use a rubber curry comb to rid your dog of as much excess hair as possible.

Now that that is done, its time to protect your dog’s ears. Taking two cotton balls, gently insert them into the ears. This will keep out any water avoiding possible ear infections later on.

Preparing the Area

Now that your dog is ready, let’s choose our area and prepare it. To avoid strain on your back, where you bath the dog is important. If you have a smaller dog the best choice is a laundry sink. It’s elevated and deep so you will avoid spilling excess water on the floor, and it is bigger than a kitchen or bathroom sink.

If you have a large dog, consider taking it to a U-bath facility. These are usually found in a grooming salon where they have an extra elevated bathtub for clients who want to bathe their own dog. If you don’t have one of these in your area then the next best thing is your own bathtub.

Next most important thing is to get a hand held shower attachment, the kind that have a long hose with a shower nozzle on the end. You really aren’t going to give your dog a bath; you are going to give it a shower.

Let’s talk about the shampoo. You need to buy a good quality PET shampoo. A human or baby shampoo is PH balanced for a human- not a dog- and it will cause irritation and dry out the coat. If your dog has dry, oily or other

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