General Dog Grooming
By Kelly Marshall
General dog grooming is essential to the good health and well-being of your dog. General dog grooming involves regularly combing and brushing the coat and fur of your dog. It also involves bathing your dog, trimming its nails as well as checking and taking care of its eyes, ears and mouth. If you take the time to train a dog while it is young for dog grooming, the animal will become use to you doing whatever you have to do while grooming your dog. However, with patience and time you can also teach an older dog to enjoy being groomed.
You can groom your dog at home yourself if you like, since this can save you money. However, if you so choose, you can also hire a dog groomer to groom your dog for you. There are various issues you will need to attend to while grooming your dog, these may include:
- Brushing or combing its coat
- Bathing your dog
- Trimming its nails
- Ear care
- Eye care
- Teeth care
Brushing or Combing
Brushing or combing the coat or fur of your dog is necessary to keep the coat clean and healthy. You should consider brushing your dog daily as part of your routine dog care. Brushing or combing the coat will help remove any dirt, grime or debris. It also aids in getting rid of old hair and dead skin. Brushing the coat will help to spread the natural oils of the skin throughout the coat. This is useful for keeping the coat tangle-free as well as giving the dog a much better appearance. Dogs feel good when their coats look good. You can brush or comb the coat of long haired dogs and short haired dogs to keep them looking and feeling their best.
Bathing Your Dog
Before bathing your dog, you need to brush its coat to remove any dirt, debris, dead skin and tangles from the hair. You will need to provide the dog with secure footing such as a bath towel or a bath mat while washing the dog in the sink if it is small or in the tub for larger dogs. You may consider placing some cotton balls in its ears to prevent getting water in them while bathing the dog. Use warm water for bathing and rinsing the dog, as you take care not to spray water in its face. Make sure that you use a good dog shampoo. While using small amounts of shampoo you will wash the dog from head to tail, while avoiding the possibility of getting soap in its eyes. Wash your dog thoroughly and then rinse to remove any traces of shampoo from its coat. After rinsing you then shampoo from the dog, you will then towel dry your dog. If you begin at an early age, you can train a dog to have its hair dried while using a blow dryer.
While trimming its nails take care not to trim above the area where the nails begin to curve. Check your pet regularly for eye and ear infections. Caring for dogs teeth is essential, you can use an old used toothbrush; however, you need to use dog toothpaste to brush his or her teeth.
Article by Kelly Marshall of Oh My Dog Supplies, your top spot for tough dog toys online.
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