Dog Grooming Hints

Grooming your dog is an essential part of being a pet owner. Not only does it keep your dog smelling good and looking great, but it is also good for your pets hygiene and over all health.

The grooming process is a simple one and I myself work as a groomer and know the benefits of keeping your pet regularly scheduled.

There are many things that you can do yourself at home to help out, or you can pay someone, like your local pet store, to do them for you all at once.

- Starting out, make sure you keep your dog regularly brushed. Shorter haired dogs once a week, and longer hair dogs once a day. A twenty minute brushing session will help dramatically cut down on shedding and any matting that may happen from everyday play. Make sure you use a brush that is appropriate for your dogs coat.

- Dental work is another really important thing for your dog. Keeping your dogs teeth brushed and clean reduces tartar damage and helps cut back on bad breath. In addition to using a toothbrush and toothpaste, some bones are specifically designed to help with this. After all, how often do you brush your teeth? Should your dog be any different?

- Keeping the ears clean reduces ear infections and even ear mites. Take a cotton ball with ear wash on it, and gently swab around the inside of the ear, being careful not to press to deep as you could cause damage. If your dog has a large hair build-up, using an ear power, and either hemostats, or your fingers, gently pluck out a little at a time. Clean ears means less build up.

- Bathing your dog once every 6 – 8 weeks depending on your dogs coat and your preference is also a necessity. It is also recommended that you use an oatmeal shampoo, which is wonderful for dry, itchy skin.

- Clipping your dogs nails once a week helps to keep the quick back and helps keep the nails short. Light colored nails are easier to clip then black nails. On a white nail you can clip up to the start of the pink in the nail. Black nails clip a little at a time until you see a dark spot in the middle of the nail.

If you take your dog into a grooming salon, please, for the sake of the groomers start when they are young. This helps get the puppy used to everyone and the grooming process. Your dog will be calmer and it will be easier for the groomers to make your pooch beautiful!

Hopefully this has helped you, and always remember that if you find something on your pet you are unsure of, please let a vet check it out before doing anything yourself.