GROOMING

Regular grooming not only helps your dog look and smell good, but also keeps his skin and coat in top conditions. Make grooming sessions part of your dog's preventive health program. Dogs keep themselves clean by rubbing and rolling on the ground and licking or scratching themselves. These actions just not enough to meet the human definition of clean. Moreover, many of the things that dogs choose to roll in may smell unpleasant to human. Regular grooming will keep your dog looking good and make life around the house more pleasant for everyone.

BRUSHING

Brushing removes loose dirt for a dog's coat as well as dead hair, which would eventually either be shed or become matted. Brushing also distributes skin oils throughout the coat, keeping it shiny.

When you brush your dog, try as much as possible to brush in the direction that the hairs grows. Exceptions are when you run into tangles or when you want to fluff up certain area, such as the ruffs on a dog's chest.

Dogs with different types of coats have a different grooming requirements. In general, short haired dogs, such as Boxers, Doberman Pinschers and Labradors, need to be brushed only once or twice in a week and tend to stay fairly clean. However, many of them shed heavily. On the other hand, dog with long, curly or wiry coats need daily brushing.

Dead hairs can be removed from shorthaired dogs with a soft bristle brush or rubber brush. Wire slicker brushes may required to remove the dead hairs from dogs with short dense coat, such as Labradors. Slicker brushes and pin brushes are used to groom longhaired dogs, such as Afghans. There are some long-coated dogs, such as Yorkshire Terriers, have no undercoat to protect their delicate skin, so be gentle. Use a comb to get any tangles out of the feathers and use scissors to carefully trim the hair on the feet and ears. Pay particular attention to hair that grows between the toes and around the opening of the ear canal.

Curly-coated dogs, such as Poodles, so not shed and may develop mats in their hair if their coat are not groomed regularly. For such dogs, use a slicker brush daily to prevent matting and have the coat clipped every sic to eight weeks. While some people enjoy clipping their dog themselves, others prefer to use a professional groomer.

A slicker brush will remove dead hair from coat of wirehaired dogs, such as many of the terriers. These dogs also need to be either stripped (with hands or a stripping knife) or clipped every two to four months. Stripping, which involves pulling the dead hairs from the dog's coat, keeps the coat stiffer, whereas clipping will make it softer. Also trim any long hairs around the face, feet and ears with scissors.

REMOVING MATS

If you encounter a mat in your dog's coat while grooming. first try to remove it by gently untangling it with your fingers and then combing it though it. If you can't untangle it. use scissors or a mat splitter to cut into the center of the mat. Try to put your fingers between the mat and your dog's skin to prevent cutting the skin.

NAIL CLIPPING

A dog's nails need to be trimmed about every two weeks. Dogs that regularly walk on concrete wear down their nails and need less frequent trimming. Use a sharp trimmer and have some styptic available to stop bleeding just in case you cut the quick. A dog's nail is shaped like a crescent. It is widest where it attaches to the skin and narrows to a curved point at the end. The quick, or nail-bed, contains the nail's nerve and blood supply and runs down the center of the nail. If the quick is cut, it hurts and bleeds, so keep the trimmer well away from it. The pink quick can be seen clearly in dogs with white nails. If your dog has black nails, you can be sure you are far away form the quick if you take off only the thin, curved tip of the nail.

GROOMING SESSIONS

You should always enjoy your dog's grooming sessions. Start the session with a gentle message and praises. Then do a home healthy examination to check for any trouble spots. If the dog is restless or nervous, feed him a treat. After the examination, start grooming from the head to toe. Clean any discharge from your dog's eyes with a soft cotton ball moistened in lukewarm water. If the ears are dirty or there is any sign of discharge, clean the flap and ear opening with a cotton ball moistened with a little alcohol or mineral oil. Remember not to poke a cotton-tipped swab down the ear canal because this can pack debris against the ear drum rather than removing it. Use toothbrush, cloth, or gauze pad to clean your dog's teeth. Do not use human toothbrush, it foams and make your dog sick.

BATHING YOUR DOG

Routine grooming will keep your dogs' coats clean and healthy. Baths are necessary, but when their is a medical problem, such as parasites, dandruff or infection. No dog should be bathed more than once a month, unless recommended by a veterinarian, and many dogs need bathing only a couple a times a year. Too much bathing will cause the dog's coat dry and skin and strip away its natural waterproofing. A good alterative to bathing is to brush dry shampoo through your dog's coat from time to time.

Before begin a bath, make sure that you always brush your dog thoroughly. If possible, put a drop of mineral oil or eye ointment in each eye and cotton in his ears. Choose a warm, draft-free area for the bath - a bathtub is good enough, use a rubber mat to prevent slipping. Kitchen sink can be used for very small dogs. During warm weather, dogs can be washed outside in the yard by using a hose.

When bathing, always use lukewarm water, not hot or cold water. Use shampoo that is specially formulated for dogs, but if you cant find one, use a mild dishwashing liquid. Never use a household cleanser or laundry detergent.

Lather the dog's body and head, being careful to avoid getting soap in the ears or eyes. Give the dog a massage so that the suds get all the way down to the skin. Once the skin is well lathered, thoroughly rinse the dog, being sure to remove all the shampoo. Any shampoo left on the dog may irritate his skin, causing itching and attracting dirt. Let your dog shake and then dry him with a large towel.

Make sure to dry his ears thoroughly with cotton to prevent infection. A hair dryer, set on a warm or cool setting, dries a dog very well. It is normal that the dog will run around the house after bath, so to keep him clean, you will have to entertain him with his favorite toy until he has dried off.