HOW TO GROOM YOUR DOG

5 Benefits of Grooming Your Own Dog

by guest blogger, Aiden Taylor

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Grooming your dog is an absolute necessity for the sake of your dog’s health. Apart from the aesthetic improvement, grooming regularly deals with painful hair matting and maintains your dog’s coat in excellent condition. It also stimulates the skin and blood flow, distributes the natural oils of the dog’s coat, and reduces shedding. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to grooming your dog.

Five Additional Benefits of Grooming Your Dog

1. It saves money

We have already covered the health benefits of grooming a dog and know its importance. Frequent visits to a dog groomer can turn out to be quite expensive, especially during these difficult economic times. If you choose to do it yourself, you will benefit twice by ensuring your dog enjoys good health while saving a good chunk of cash.

The cost of purchasing a dog’s grooming kit might be high. And you may have to invest in different kits depending on your dog’s breed and the number of dogs you own. However, you will recoup your money back by saving on trips to the groomers. Our canine pets live much longer these days, and by giving the dog groomer a wide berth as earlier stated, you’ll end up making a handsome saving.

2. Bond with your dog

Apart from the money factor, visiting the dog groomer can consume a lot of your time and the sessions can take up a huge chunk of your day. When you groom your dogs you end up saving on time.

Grooming your dog at home offers you flexibility on when to do it because you can schedule the grooming around your other priorities. Grooming does not have to be stressful. It can be a relaxing and comforting experience for both the dog and yourself since the sessions are happening in a familiar environment. Don’t think of grooming as a chore, see it as a bonding experience.

Dogs offer unconditional love and make us happy whenever they can. Why can’t we reciprocate the same for them? If we enjoy the feeling of freshening up, why wouldn’t your dog want to feel the same?

3. You can do it more regularly

Dog grooming isn’t just a one-off exercise. If you have committed to giving your dog full grooming sessions every six weeks, then that’s still plenty of time for mats to form in between the sessions.

The best way to keep tangles at bay is to do regular mini grooms. They will maintain your dog’s coat in good condition while extending the time between the main sessions at professional groomers. Brushing your dog’s coat once a week will do the trick.

Invest in quality home grooming equipment and learn the basic and specific grooming needs of your dog’s breed. Different breeds of dogs have specific breed conditions and how they are groomed varies from one breed to the other.

Keep the grooming equipment well-maintained to enable the kit to give you service for a long period, even the lifespan of the dog.

4. You learn more about your dog’s health

If your dog has an infection or is in pain, you would visit a vet as soon as possible. The earlier you identify something amiss with your dog the better. When you groom your dog, there are higher and better chances of spotting changes in your dog’s health. Grooming can also take care of certain health issues. Nail clipping helps with proper balance, posture, and proper weight distribution throughout the paws. Long nails force the dog to shift its weight and contribute to joint pain, which especially affects older dogs that may also have arthritis.

You will also identify any problem with their oral health, find fleas and ticks early, or spot potential bacterial ear and eye infections. You also have the chance to remove any painful hair tangles and take note of any other abnormal development on your dog’s physique.

5. Acquire a new skillset

Dog grooming allows you to develop hard and transferable skills that are superior to everyday, regular hobbies. Once you learn how to groom a particular breed of dog, according to the standards of that breed, you can consider making a living out of that skill set.

Many dog owners take grooming lessons for the sake of their dogs but eventually discover how much they enjoy it. Rewarding careers can be made out of hobbies with a little more work and dedication.

Try grooming a different breed from yours and see if you can manage. Grooming your pet is enjoyable because it is accustomed to you. But it could be a different ball game with other dogs. Try grooming other dogs before taking the plunge.

The Dos and Don’ts of Grooming Your Dog at Home

Do’s

A grooming session requires time and you need to be calm and relaxed. Dogs sense when you are stressed. Pay a lot of attention to what you are doing and watch your dog’s reaction.

Be extra careful when using scissors and nail clippers. Regular grooming will ensure your dog is healthy and comfortable while helping you notice painful mats and skin problems.

Choose a safe, well-lit place for grooming. If the dog loves being brushed you can incorporate brushing as a reward after a grooming procedure they are not fond of like tooth brushing.

You should know your and your dog’s limits. If the dog can’t remain calm during grooming, look for a dog trainer or dog behaviorist like The Pooch Coach for help. Don’t force or restrain your dog because they could get hurt or hurt you. Try and become the calm leader for your dog by staying calm yourself..

Don’ts

Don’t do several dog grooming tasks at once. You can do a few at once and end on a high note without stressing the dog. For example, clip the nails and brush teeth on Monday and bathe your dog on Tuesday. Wednesday can be dedicated to brushing the coat and Thursday is for another tooth brushing session. Friday, you can clean the ears and brush the coat again.

Don’t trim nails too short because it is painful. Always wait until the dog is at ease before trimming. Use dog nail clippers with a nail guard.

Don’t forget to clean your dog’s ears regularly using an ear cleaner. But don’t get them wet during bathing because they are susceptible to infection.

Don’t neglect your grooming kit. Ensure they are well serviced and stored properly to keep them effective and safe for use. Find a way to incorporate easy-to-use elements of grooming like the best dog dental wipes instead of a toothbrush for the dog to enjoy the process.

Final Thoughts

Dogs have been killed, injured, or allowed to escape while being groomed at Pet store chains. That is because of being handled carelessly and hurriedly when profit overrides professionalism. Home grooming guarantees the safety and comfort of your dog. However, before embarking on home grooming, ensure your dog’s vet has given it a clean bill of health and you are also aware of best practices for at-home grooming.

About the author:

Aiden Taylor is founder and head dog groomer at FurDooz. Having battled to learn grooming at home with his ‘challenging’ husky Houdini, Aiden picked up the skills needed for grooming even the most un-cooperative of pets. Now, he and his wife, Helen, run a part-time mobile dog grooming business and Aiden shares tricks of the trade on FurDooz.com