Dog grooming is an essential component of dog care. Dog grooming involves a number of diverse tasks. Routine brushing and combing to take out dead hair, skin and general flotsam and jetsam. Bathing and nail trimming, as well as maintaining your dog’s ears, eyes and mouth.
Whilst routine dog grooming will help with your dogs health, it is also a great moment for quality time and bonding with your pooch. Your pooch will see it as another form of fussing. Dog grooming must be started early in the puppies life, build a regular routine, do at the same time, same location and do in the same way. When starting dog grooming, be soft, but firm, that way he will be relaxed, but knows where he stands.
The brushing and combing will care for your dog’s coat, taking out all sorts of potential skin irritant and pests, giving a healthier and more brilliant coat. The exact type of grooming required depends on the dog breed, the below is generic and suitable for most dogs, but either check with the breeder who supplied the dog, or find more information on the web, or your dog sitter should be able to help.
Bathing
Bathing is a significant task in dog grooming. There is no consensus on how often a given dog or breed must be bathed. The trade off discussion centring around natural self grooming preserves natural body oils. However bathing, even with specific dog shampoos will wash the natural essential oils away. So many people wait until the dog becomes dirty before bathing. There may be a man / woman thing, with the ladies normally preferring to bath routinely and more often. Normally a bath about every two months or so should be expected.
It is easier to introduce a dog to bathing at an early age, so they are at ease, and even look forward to it. So prior to a planned bathing of the dog it is a good idea to brush the dog well.
It is a good idea to plan the dog bath well, collect and place everything ready and at hand prior to getting him. This is especially difficult for those in large cities, with lack of space and without the luxury of shower rooms and utility rooms by the garden. For us city dwellers, we must take the dog up to the bathroom.
Avoid you and the pooch loosing footing, so place the rubber mat in your bath. To evade ear problems, protect the ears by using cotton wool in the dog’s ears to stop water ingress into the ears. Some breeds with open ears such as German Shepherds can be particularly susceptible to ear diseases.
You do not want to shock your dog so use warmish water to bath your dog. It is easier to use a shower or spray hose. Keep the nozzle head close to the animal and do not spray onto the dog’s face, as this could scare him.
Choosing the right dog shampoo is important, do not use human shampoos. Only use a little and start from the head and top and work downward and toward the tail. Obviously avoid and be careful around the eyes. Key areas to spend time on washing well are under the chin, particularly if he is a messy eater, behind the ears, around the toes and the rectum.
Finish by rinsing with warm water, removing all the shampoo.
Do not forget the natural way for a dog to remove water is to shake, so let him and stand clear, after this you can rub him down. Some people like also to use a hair dryer, especially women again! This is not normally needed unless you are needing to take him out. It is better to finish drying off naturally inside.
The other tasks of dog grooming and dog care will be dealt with later, including coat care, ear and teeth care and nail trimming
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