Grooming is one of the most important activities to undergo when it comes to maintaining a dog's health. By taking care of your pup's health, they could go ages without falling sick and prevent common diseases such as Canine Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Canine Influenza, Canine Parainfluenza, Kennel Cough etc. Proper grooming removes 90% of disease-causing organisms.
Some dog owners prefer to leave the process of taking care of their dog to professional groomers while others do it themselves. It's all okay, as long as your dog looks and feels healthy.
Important things to remember while grooming your pet at home: even though you have the best intentions, you could still end up making a few mistakes.
A little nip in the wrong place or a totally failed nail trim shouldn't discourage you from trying again. If you're planning to groom your dog by yourself, you should consider taking note of some cons. This article is dedicated to helping you know and identify the common mistakes you might make while grooming and how to avoid them.
8 Steps To Grooming Your Dog At Home
Dog grooming includes taking your dog through a couple of procedures that make up a trusted process being done over and over again.
No matter how complicated that sounds, taking care of your pup can be easy.
Grooming starts with:
Mistakes Dog Owners Make While Grooming
Bathing your dog too often
While bathing your dog is important, bathing them too much can become a problem. It removes the natural oils and proteins that coat the hairs and cause them to dry out and irritate your dog's skin. Except in cases of conditions that require you to bathe your dog with their medication often, bath your dog at most once a month.
You can also wash them when they become visibly dirty by playing in puddles, dirt, or an environment like that. Otherwise, it is not necessary.
Not rinsing your dog's coat thoroughly after shampooing
Shampoo or soap residue in the coat can cause skin irritation, matted or knotted hair, and a couple of other coat conditions. Rinse your dog's coat under running water until all the lather is gone and then for a little bit more.
Avoiding drying your dog's coat properly after baths
This mistake is quite common amongst dog owners. While air-drying dogs after a bath is common, it is not efficient. It creates the perfect environment for bacterial and fungal growth. With dogs with long hair or heavy coats, it can make the hair tangled or matted and cause skin problems like hot spots (acute moist dermatitis).
Use a dog hair dryer to dry off your pet after a bath.
Shaving your dog's coat during the summer or hot weather
Shaving off your pups’ coat might seem ideal but on the other hand, it's actually not a very good idea.
The coat helps your dog's homeostasis in both warm and cold weather. Shaving it off also increases the risk of sunburn or sunstroke. Brushing their coat and trimming it works just fine.
Brushing their coat while it is still wet
Doing this for long-haired dogs can cause major skin irritation, and because it makes hair clump together, it worsens tangles and mats. Trying to brush it again after this might be painful for them.
Brushing and combing them before a bath and after they're dry is recommended.
Washing your dog’s inner ears
Contrary to popular belief, water or other liquids should never be introduced into or around a dog's ear canal because it creates a perfect environment for bacteria to grow, causing ear infections. Even while bathing your dog, keep water out of their ears.
Using force during nail trims
Never force your dog to get trimmed. Being patient instead will get you very far. A lot of dogs fear nail trims and using force will only make that anxiety blow up. Instead, use soothing words and rewards to help them sit still during their pawdicure. Over time, they'll come around to enjoying a good grooming session.
Conclusion
It is also important to get the right grooming supplies. Human nail clippers or hair dryers don't work very well and are not as effective when applied to a pup. To make things easy, invest in quality, affordable dog grooming supplies that are specifically recommended for canines.
Also, avoid the mistakes listed out above and you'll be well on your way to doing a good job with your best friend’s health.
