While you can hire someone to groom your dog, you may want to learn how to groom your dog on your own. Doing so will help you save money and reduce your dog’s stress since he or she won’t have to spend long periods of time with a stranger. If you want to groom your dog, you should follow the tips in this dog grooming guide for beginners.
Purchase Dog Hair Clippers
Some people will use human hair clippers, but these may cut your dog and cause him or her pain. You should stick to custom dog hair clippers since they’re designed to deal with dog fur. Make sure you look at the information for the clippers before you buy them to ensure you find the right type for your dog’s needs.
Once you have dog hair clippers, you can easily clip your dog’s body, legs, and head as needed. Make sure you carefully use them around your dog’s abdomen, ears, and nose since these areas are particularly sensitive. If your dog gets scared of the clippers, you should use a pair of scissors for the tighter or more sensitive areas. To know which hair clippers are worth your money, visit The Pampered Pup for their reviews and other excellent grooming tools for you.
Pick a Bathing Location
If you plan to groom your dog at home, you need to identify a bathing location for your furry friend. The location will vary depending on your dog and personal preference. For example, if you own a chihuahua, you can bathe him or her in a sink or in a bathtub. However, if you have a Great Dane, you may need to bathe your dog outside.
Once you pick a bathing location, your dog will understand what you want to do whenever you take him or her there. Depending on your dog’s personality, he or she will either feel happy, hide, or just deal with it. Make sure you learn how your dog reacts so you can prepare him or her before the bath.
Buy Bath Supplies
You need to have the proper bath supplies if you plan to bathe your dog at home. For example, some people may try to bathe their dogs with human shampoo or conditioner, but this can harm your dog’s eyes. Make sure you purchase dog shampoo and conditioner since it’s designed for dog’s fur.
You should put some water on your dog before you use the shampoo. Doing so will make it easier to lather your dog to properly clean the fur. Once you do this, you can rinse off your dog with some more water and apply conditioner. Be careful around your dog’s ears and face so you don’t cause irritation in the eyes or infection if too much water gets into your dog’s ears.
Drying Your Dog
You should get a towel and use it to dry your dog off since he or she will be soaking wet when you take your furry friend out of the bathtub. You should drain the water and pick your dog up with the towel. If your dog is too big to pick up, have him or her stay in the tub as you spend some time using the towel on your furry friend.
After this, you can let your dog play with the towel for a bit so he or she can dry off even faster. You can also get a hairdryer and use it on your dog to warm him or her back up. Your dog will most likely get excited once he or she gets out of the bath, so do your best to stop your furry friend from getting water all over the house.
Get a Comb
You should comb your dog on a regular basis to remove any snags in your dog’s fur. If you leave your dog’s fur uncombed, the fur could easily tangle up and cause problems for your furry friend. On top of this, debris, dirt, and other gross objects can get stuck in your dog’s fur if he or she has lots of snags, so you need to comb it regularly.
Depending on the type of fur your dog has, you will want to use either a comb or a brush. A comb works well for dogs with thin fur while a brush works for dogs that have thick or curly fur. Find the best type of brush or comb for your dog to help you properly care for his or her needs.
Don’t Forget the Paws
You can use the hair clippers for most of your dog’s fur, but you will also need to take care of your dog’s paws. The paws are sensitive areas where your dog will give you some trouble as you try to trim the fur around them. Due to this, you need to use scissors whenever you want to clean up your dog’s paws.
You can’t ignore your dog’s paws due to the way fur grows. While the fur on top of the paws won’t do too much, most dogs will grow fur in-between the pads on their feet. If this gets too long, the fur can cause them to slide and even cause irritation. Make sure you take care of the feet to prevent these issues from happening. For some great ideas on dog paw balms, check out Bone and Yarn’s website
Get a Nail Grinder
Speaking of paws, you should also care for your dog’s nails as well. The nails will grow with time, so they can become hazardous for you and your dog if you don’t trim them. While you may feel tempted to trim your dog’s nails with some clippers, you could hurt your dog if you don’t do it properly.
If you want to play it safe, you should get some dog nail grinders. These grinders will slowly remove your dog’s nails to avoid clipping them too high. Your dog will retract his or her paw if you start to get too high with the clippers, so make sure you pay attention to your furry friend as you clip his or her nails.
Brushing Teeth
Owners can easily overlook their dogs’ teeth. While dog food and teeth cleaning treats can help your dog, you should still brush his or her teeth every day. You can purchase a dog toothbrush specifically designed to help you with the process. You should also purchase some dog toothpaste to help your dog’s teeth.
Dog toothpaste tastes like a meat to help your dog enjoy the brushing. Since your furry friend will see the toothpaste as a treat, your dog will be more willing to let you brush his or her teeth. Make sure you put on a good amount of toothpaste and brush across your dog’s teeth for the best effect.
Dog grooming takes lots of preparation and effort to do correctly, but you can save some money as you do it on your own. Make sure you apply these tips to help you properly groom your dog to keep him or her clean. Each of these tips will help you take care of your dog’s personal needs so he or she can feel happy.
If your dog struggles with the grooming process, you should reward him or her afterward. This way, your dog will learn that you will provide treats once he or she finishes the grooming, so your dog may feel inclined to behave. Either way, grooming will take some effort and time to do correctly, but you will find the process worth it.
