If you are unable to take your dog to a professional groomer for whatever reason, you shouldn’t worry at all. Grooming your dog at home is easy, and anyone can do it.
Here is a list of the most important things you should know about grooming your dog at home.
BATHING YOUR DOG
Bathing a dog once or twice a month is perfectly okay. But if your dog has excessive shedding, it is preferable to bathe them once a week to help them with removing dead hair.
STEPS:
1 – Always brush your dog before bathing it because matted hair always causes problems and might lead to irritated skin.
2 – Always use warm water.
3 – Instead of human shampoo, use dog shampoo. Dog shampoo doesn’t dry the skin that much. And make sure that no soap gets in your dog’s eyes.
4 – Never use a human blow dryer. The air it produces is too hot for the dog, and it makes them uncomfortable. Always use a blow dryer for dogs.
GIVING YOUR DOG A HAIRCUT
This part requires extra patience. Also, you have to prepare yourself with many, many treats so that the dog feels comfortable and doesn’t get bored.
You can trim your dog’s coat with grooming scissors – and hair clippers can come very handy too, especially if you have a long-haired dog.
The unwritten rule is always to start trimming from the neck to the tail.
CUTTING YOUR DOG’S NAILS
Cutting your dog’s nails is a tricky part – and in order to do it successfully, you have to put your dog in a comfortable position – whether in your lap or on a table.
Before you start the process, you have to locate the quick, which is connected to blood capillaries. And you mustn’t cut any part of the quick because bleeding will occur – and the healing process might last even for weeks. It’s not hard to locate the quick. White nails have a pinkish quick, whereas dark nails have a darker quick, which seems like a black spot.
Always stop the cutting process just before reaching the quick.
