Grooming your dog is essential for your pet's coat, skin and overall health. You should groom your dog at least 3 times per week, even if he is short haired, as during the grooming you can remove debris from the coat and also detect lumps or skin and nail infections in the earliest stages.
Skin and Coat Health
Grooming will keep your dog's skin and coat healthy. During the day, a dog plays in different environments and may accumulate a lot of dust and debris in his coat including feces, especially if his coat is longer. While grooming, you will remove the debris, dust, dead hairs and dead skin cells that give a dirty aspect to your dog and may also soil your home.
Grooming will also allow you to spread the essential oils secreted by the dog's skin, and this will give shine to the coat, keeping it healthy.
Detecting Parasites
Parasites are frequent in dogs of any ages, as they are very contagious and can be transmitted from other infected dogs or environments that your pet may come in contact with.
When you groom your pet you will remove the parasite larvae and eggs before they get a chance to hatch. You can also detect any parasites and get help before the situation gets out of control.
While grooming, you can use preventive products (flea sprays or powders), which can prevent the infection of skin parasites.
Detecting Diseases
An early detection of a disease can save your dog's life. When you groom your dog, you can observe symptoms of diseases that occur on the skin as well as skin infections. If tumors are detected in a timely manner, they can be surgically removed.
While grooming, gently palpate your dog’s skin and see if you find any sores, lumps, nodules, scratches that may be infected or bald spots. Consult your vet any time your find an abnormality. The vet will usually only prescribe some supplements and ointments, but it's better to be safe.
Reducing Allergy Symptoms
If your dog is more sensitive and has inhalant allergies, regular grooming may reduce the allergy symptoms. Some allergens enter the dog's system through the skin, so cleaning it can remove these particles.
If you're allergic to your dog, the grooming will only help reduce your allergy symptoms. You're allergic to the dog's dander, which can be removed while grooming and therefore won't land in your home.
Relieving Stress
Grooming can be an enjoyable experience for your dog as you will massage his skin and relieve stress. Make sure you get the right grooming supplies, so that you don't hurt your dog during the process.
Last but not least, you should think of the grooming session as a stress reliever for yourself. While you groom your dog, the slow movements will calm you down and you will also build a closer relationship with your dog. He will learn to trust you and it will be easier for you to brush his teeth, administer ear or eye drops or medicine, when needed.