Make your grooming memorable for all the right reasons
You don’t want your dog’s grooming session to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Be prepared, your local pet store will be able to provide everything you need. Maintenance sessions lasting just a few minutes will keep your dog looking great and feeling good.
Get the right kind of brush and combs for your dog’s coat, different brushes have different uses, if you have a very long haired dog you may need specific brushes. For simple routine grooming a series of wide and narrow toothed combs are handy. Excessive tugging with the wrong brush will make your dog sore and he or she will be reluctant to be groomed.
A dog’s coat should be kept clean; the frequency of baths will depend on your dog. In the good old days, the family dog was generally washed with human shampoo, which is not suited to a dog’s coat at all and when used too often strips out essential oils. There are numerous dog toiletries available now including conditioners, detanglers and so on.
You need a suitable place to bathe your dog. Putting your dog in the shower cubicle is a huge no-no as it is may panic the dog, so it’s either in the bath or a bathing tub, using lukewarm water and don’t forget to rinse – and rinse again.
Have plenty of towels to hand, but be realistic, the dog’s instinct is to dry him or herself off by shaking. Hold the scruff of his neck as his mother would have when he was a puppy to avoid him shaking. Otherwise, you will end up wet but at least the dog will be nice and clean.
Remember, the more your dog enjoys being groomed the easier it will be.
