Dog Grooming Hints

by windygig

What many people don’t realize is that a major part of a dog’s health is maintained and can be monitored by regular dog grooming. Dog grooming not only keeps your dog smelling good, but improves the condition of their skin, keeps their nails in trim, helps keep eyes and ears healthy and helps to spot problems, especially parasites and injuries, before they become a major health risk.

Over the past five centuries, dozens of different specialized breeds have been developed, all with unique coat care needs. The result is that dogs of today no longer have the natural ability to take care of their own hygienic needs. They need to be bathed, brushed and clipped. They need to have their ears plucked and their anal glands purged. They need their nails cut. A wolf or a dingo in the wild can forego this pampering because their grooming needs are vastly different from domesticated breeds of dogs. No matter what kind of dog you have, it will require some degree of dog grooming on a regular basis to keep it healthy and happy.

It is easy to think that your dog doesn’t need dog grooming over the winter and that they are better off with a nice thick warm coat. However this can often be a mistake as this is the time of year where their coat needs even more work. Winter can be cruel to a dog’s coat, especially while out dog walking and it can become severely matted and over grown. This can then take hours to rectify in the dog groomers in the spring. Also an integral part of going to the dog groomers is to get a closer eye at the overall health of your dog without going to the vets. The groomer can check the skin and see if there are any growths, ticks etc. Also they will trim the nails and clean out the eyes, ears and anal glands. If you are too busy to get to the dog groomers this winter, there are pet services which run a pet taxi to transport your dog to the groomers (www.thedogwalkeruk.com).

However if you do decide to forego going to the dog groomers and getting your dog a haircut during the winter months, still make sure you keep up the other aspects of dog grooming. A regular schedule of brushing and combing as well as a bi-weekly ear cleaning and monthly nail clipping is vital. It is best to brush the coat first with a slicker or pin brush and then follow up with a steel combe to make sure there are no tangles in the coat. A great tool for this is a rubber tipped brush called the Zoom Groom. To reduce the chance of illness, make sure you dry your dog thoroughly after bathing.

As you can see, depending on the breed, you can reduce the amount of dog grooming during the winter months, but do not neglect it all together. Your dog will be much healthier and happier with a regular dog grooming schedule, either by owner or dog groomer.

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One of the fastest growing trades in North America is dog grooming. There is a very important reason for this. It is vital to the health and well being of domestic dog breeds.

Dog grooming started as an industry with the standard poodle in the 17th century. Poodles were bred to hunt and it was imperative that they be groomed in such a manner as to enable them to retrieve birds from water. The pompoms that are symbolic of poodle cuts served a purpose and it was not aesthetic. The poodle cut was developed to protect the animals’ joints and vital organs when they were in cold water. But people seeing these dogs with their fancy pompoms began to adopt them as pets. As soon as poodles became pets, groomers started offering their services to keep the dogs looking like the regal hunters they were bred to be.

Over the past five centuries, dozens of different specialized breeds have been developed, all with unique coat care needs. The result is that dogs of today no longer have the natural ability to take care of their own hygienic needs. They need to be bathed, brushed and clipped. They need to have their ears plucked and their anal glands purged. They need their nails cut. A wolf or a dingo in the wild can forego this pampering because their grooming needs are vastly different from domesticated breeds of dogs. No matter what kind of dog you have, it will require some degree of grooming on a regular basis to keep it healthy and happy.

It pays to know your breed’s needs. Before you go out and adopt a dog, find out what kind of grooming the breed requires and be prepared to follow through with it. If you are going to groom your dog yourself, you will need to know the correct way of doing it. Colleges often offer weekend grooming courses for the do-it-yourselfer that will show you exactly how to correctly bathe, brush and clip your dog’s coat, cut its nails, clean and pluck (if necessary) its ears and properly clean its anal glands. You will learn de-matting techniques as well. There are books available that can guide you through the process, too.

You will need to start grooming your dog early. Professional groomers recommend that a puppy gets its first groom at around four months of age. This first groom can be a frightening experience for a young puppy. Lots of patience and praise is the key to a successful first groom. Often professional groomers will not use clippers on a puppy the first time it is groomed. They will brush it and