It’s good to refresh and update your knowledge every once in a while. Even if you know how to properly groom your four-legged friend, it might be worthwhile to read this article just to make sure that you’re doing everything right and aren’t overlooking any significant aspects. As you already know from the title, we will give some universal tips for dog parents (owners). These tips will be related to grooming and everyday care. Let’s begin!
You shouldn’t be bathing too often
You can wash and rinse your dog with water pretty much every few days (or daily, if they get very dirty while playing outside). What you shouldn’t be doing more than once every four weeks is bathing them. A lot of people make the mistake and bathe their dogs twice per month or even more. Regardless of the breed this is almost 100% wrong because the coat of your dog is full of certain oils which make the coat glow and hairs shine. Bath products dry out at that oil and reduce the health of the coat.
Trim the nails properly
First up – do not use clippers. Always prefer a grinder. Even though they can be a bit more expensive than simple clippers, they are by far the more superior and safer device. When you use clippers, it can be really easy to hurt your pet because the person has to be 100% precise, otherwise you can cut too much and clip the nerve endings which hurts like hell…
If you don’t know how often should dog’s nails be trimmed – click on the highlighted text to read an awesome in-depth article we found about it.
Getting back a bit, a lot depends on the device that you choose. If you have a decent-enough grinder, you can trim the nails effortlessly and quickly. Whilst if you have a device that is unstable, whirs loudly and doesn’t have the versatility – you will have a hard time using it and the dog will have a hard time allowing it to get close.
Ear cleaning is important, do it more often
A lot of people would blush if you’d ask them when was the last time they cleaned their dog’s ears. It’s understandable, this task is so easy to forget and overlook, so you might be a bit behind on schedule. However, make a reminder on your phone or put one up on the fridge because ear cleaning is super important for the dog. Our four-legged pets rely on the audio information much more than us. They have sharper hearing and this is one of their best physical qualities.
However, their ears are quite big and thus, they do excrete a lot of wax. There is also the possibility of dust, dirt and other stuff getting inside. Cleaning should be done once a week as a barely barely passable minimum but we recommend cleaning the ears every two or three days. Don’t hesitate to do it daily if you feel like it.
Let them chew more
Moving from ears to teeth, dogs also chew much more than humans. Since they cannot cut their food using a knife, they have to use all of their jaw strength to dismantle chunks of food into smaller bites which are possible to swallow. However, the strength of the jaw is also important because the dog can then get a better grip on things while biting them. Promoting jawline strength is crucial and thus we have a wide array of chewy snacks/treats as well as special chewy toys. Allow them to play for it as a dog with good teeth is always a happy dog. Bonus points if you get a chewy toy that also double-faces as a toothbrush.
Hair brushing mustn’t be overlooked
Some people tend to think that once they trim their dog’s hair or if they are a short-haired breed, brushing isn’t necessary. However, it isn’t only important for aesthetic and practical purposes (to avoid tangles). It also serves a sanitary purpose because brushing allows to remove dead hair and other debris that might be stuck on them.
Sometimes it is right to choose a salon
As our final general tip, we would like to say that sometimes you just might not have the time to groom your pet. And since it is important to do the job thoroughly, you should definitely consider the services of professionals if you lack time or place to complete this task by yourselves. You can choose to have a full-service package, meaning that your dog will be bathed, have his hair trimmed and brushed, nails grinded plus everything else. Alternatively, you can choose a single service that you like and go for that. We recommend going to a salon when there isn’t enough energy or motivation within to do a particular grooming job thoroughly.
