When it comes to your pet’s grooming, you have 2 options: get professional dog grooming or perform the dog grooming at home. There are some grooming techniques that you can use on a daily basis, but there are a few aspects that should be left for professional groomers.
Dog Grooming Needs
The grooming needs of your dog depend on a few factors including the dog breed, the hair length and whether the dog is single coated or not.
Some dogs will require a daily grooming, while others may be groomed once per week.
The grooming needs of dogs include:
- Hair brushing
- Cleaning of the skin and coat
- Trimming of the nails,
- Cleaning of the teeth
- Cleaning of ears
- Haircuts, only in breeds that have continual hair growth (i.e Poodles)
What Your Can Do at Home
You may perform certain grooming activities at home, instead of going to a professional pet grooming salon.
You can brush your dog’s hair on a regular basis, but make sure you use suitable supplies that are suitable for your dog’s breed and hair length. Cleaning the dog’s skin and coat may be done using a moist piece of cloth or a soft sponge dipped in diluted shampoo. Make sure to choose shampoos that your dog is not allergic to.
You may also perform a gentle massage, on a daily basis; this will relax your dog, reduce stress and may also calm you down.
You may also perform the daily teeth brushing at home; get a suitable toothbrush and a toothpaste your dog likes and try to cover all areas of the dog’s teeth.
The ear cleaning may also be done at home; you may use a saline solution and an ear dropper; introduce 3 to 5 drops of solution in the ear and then use cotton swabs to remove the debris from the ear.
Professional Dog Grooming
Certain grooming activities should be left for a professional groomer. The professional grooming salons have a lot of grooming tools that will be used according to the size, breed and age of your dog.
The trimming of the nails can hurt your pet; if you cut too deep into the pet’s paws you may cause bleeding and the paws may also get infected. A professional groomer knows how much to cut in order to avoid hurting the pet.
An annual professional teeth cleaning is also recommended; this is performed under anesthesia and will clean the possible tartar deposits and the groomer may detect possible dental problems.
If your dog requires periodical hair cuts, make sure you get a professional groomer to perform this.
In addition to these services, a professional groomer may also detect the early signs of possible skin or internal diseases as well as parasites.
Some dogs may not like the grooming salons and there is also the disadvantage of the price; however, if your pet requires a nail trimming, teeth cleaning or a hair cut, you should opt for professional services. The rest can be done at home.