Learning how to brush your dog is important skill that every dog owner should learn. It is so disappointing that more and more dog owners don’t learn this skill properly. In my opinion, we need to learn this skill right away after we get our first puppy.
There are so many benefits that we can get from brushing your own dog at home.
Benefits of Brushing
One of those benefits is you can save a lot of money. I’m quite shocked to see how expensive dog grooming service today. Standard dog grooming service can cost you anywhere from $30 to $90! Imagine how much money that you could save if you learn to brush your dog at home.
For the health benefits, regular brushing can also help you to detect early any health problem that your dog might before the problem becomes too severe. When you brush your dog, you can feel any new bumps, lumps or abrasions developed in his body. Many dog health problems such as bacterial infections or skin cancers can be traced from just a small bump and lump.
Regular brushing also helps to keep your dog’s coat and skin healthy by keeping out the hair mats. Mats are serious issue, not only make the coat look disheveled but mats can also add to a do distress can cause skin irritation. When you leave the mats untreated, the dog’s coat can quickly become smelly and become a place for debris or insects to grow.
Brushing is also useful to massage the skin, distributes the oil, and loosens up the dry skin which ultimately makes your dog feeling relaxed.
And not forget to mention, when you brush your dog you will also enhance the bond between you and your dog. It’s a great way to spend time together, and you will realize how fun and addicting it is.
Start As Early As Possible
It’s important to introduce brushing to your puppy as early as possible. You can start by stroking your puppy lightly once or twice followed by giving his favorite yummy treats. This is a great way to train your puppy gets accustomed with brushing activity.
If you meet some resistance, before you brush your dog, you should take him for a good walk or playtime to wear out some of his energy after that try to brush him again.
Keep this introduction session for just a minute or two. Never force your dog when he does not feel comfortable as you might leave a lasting bad impression that he will keep continue to carry on after growing up.
Brush Your Dog Regularly
Once your dog is getting comfortable with you brushing him, it is the time to set up a regular brushing schedule. As a general rule, long-haired dogs with a coarse coat or a silky coat need to be brushed daily. As for other breeds, they can be brushed at least 2-3 times a week.
Use Right Tools
There are different types of dog grooming tools, each with their own functions. What kind of tools that you should use? That depends on your dog’s needs.
For example, let's say you have a double-coated dog with a thick undercoat. For a double-coated dog, you need a rake, a comb, and a de-shedding tool.
A rake is used to strip the dead hair and the shedding undercoat. A double-coated dog needs to be raked out 2-3 times a week especially during the shedding season; otherwise, the dog will molt profusely and matt up quite quickly.
After you remove all the dead hair and the shedding undercoat, it is the time to use a dog comb. A comb is used to remove excess fur and fleas from the dog's inner coat.
And the de-shedding tool is used to reduce shedding by removing a large amount of loose/dead hair in one session,
As you can see, different types of dog grooming tools serve different purposes depending on your dog's needs. Therefore, it's best to learn what kind of grooming tools that your dog needs first before you start brushing your dog with the wrong tools.
It's Time to Brush Your Dog
Now it's the time to brush your dog. Here are some brushing tips to help you get started:
- The first thing that you need to remember, to get the full benefits of brushing, you need to brush all the hair and not just the top coat.
- The most common brushing method is to brush with the way the hair grows. Don't brush against the grain or you might end up pull out too much hair.
- Brush sensitive areas like groin, stomach, and arm pits carefully.
- If you find a small tangle, spray the coat with a conditioning de-tangling spray, and try to gently separate it with your fingers, and use the comb to remove it.
- For larger tangles or mats, use mat breaker to separate the mat apart and use grooming scissor to cut it out. Be very careful when you use the scissors as you can cut your dog's skin accidentally.
As you can see, brushing your dog is easy and fun things to do.
