I’m telling you, dog grooming isn’t always fun but it is essential. Grooming promotes healthy habits for you and your dog plus it does wonders for your pet/owner relationship. As I mentioned in my earlier post titled Dog Grooming is Challenging but the Rewards are Priceless!, dog grooming is a tedious chore but once you’ve mastered the game plan everything else becomes easier.
In this post I will be going a bit more into details about the head-to-tail grooming checklist. No dog grooming courses are necessary to get you going. It’s not as hard as it may seem. Remember to tailor your grooming master plan to your schedule, needs and dog breed. Get hooked up with your necessary dog grooming supplies so you are ready to go.
Below are some of our suggestions from our personal experience with dogs:
Healthy Skin & Shiny Coat
Bathe on a “as necessary” basis – 2 to 4 baths a year max – think of it seasonally.
People tend to bathe their dogs too much. It’s not natural, it dries up their sensitive skin and removes their natural essential oils. Don’t over do it!
You can also bring your dog to those self-service spots where they allow you to use their dog grooming tools, tub, hoses, towels, the cost varies between $15 and $25, depending on your dog’s size and services. The advantage is that you don’t have to worry about the mess, they take care of all that for you.
Don’t use commercial dog shampoos – way too harsh on skin and contain a toxic cocktail of dangerous chemicals, dyes, perfumes. Look for shampoos with natural ingredients, you’ll find them in specialty dog shops.
Depending on your dog’s size + coat length, brushing times and tools will vary greatly. Do your research for the breed specific tools and dog grooming equipment you will need.
Halle gets a good 30 minute brushing every other week.
Take this time to quickly inspect your dog’s overall body, skin and coat for any unusual signs, colors or bumps. Give him a good quick physical checkup.
Recap: Bathing, Brushing, Trimming, Massage, Physical Checkup
Strong Nails, Paws & Pads
We use a powerful rotary tool called a Dremel to trim her nails once a week. The Dremel is very effective but you have to gradually introduce the tool to your dog. High value treats work best for this situation. Also Halle has powerful “claws-of-death” so a regular clipper wouldn’t be as effective for her strong nails. There are various dog grooming clippers that you can use for your breed-specific dog. Do your research.
We also take this time to massage her paws with lots of praise so she knows that it’s a good thing. High value treats work very well here too.
Inspect the nails, paws and pads for anything out of the ordinary regularly. Our dog is very active and energetic when she runs and plays outside she tends to be a rough player. Every now and then her pads get scratched up and she leaves bloody marks everywhere. Keep some gauze and antiseptic handy.
Halle goes into a “down stay” position so we can wipe her paws when she comes in during muddy and rainy days. She tends to be a bit fussy, even after doing it over 1000 times because she doesn’t like the rain. She dislikes getting her head, nose, coat and feet very wet. So we have to be swift and effective. After the coat and paws are all clean, she runs up and down the stairs in a fury doing her “Hurricane Halle” for a few minutes to dry off a bit. Very cute and funny.
You will typically pay between $5 and $25 to cut or trim your dog’s nails at a salon.
Recap: Trimming, Massage, Physical Checkup
So Fresh’n so Clean Ears
Clean your dog’s ears regularly so that wax doesn’t have time to build up. Don’t wait until the poor thing keeps scratching until his ears fall off. Dirty ears are prone to infections and give off a peculiar smell. Halle gets her ears cleaned every other week with an ear cleaning solution that smells so sweet. We put a small amount into the ear, then massage the base of the ear until you hear a squishy sound then wipe with clean cotton ball. So Fresh’n so Clean.
You will typically pay between $5 and $25 to clean your dog’s ears at a salon.
Recap: Clean, Physical Checkup
Clear Bright Eyes
Some dogs are prone to tearing and staining of the bottom of the eye. Use a warm damp cloth to remove tearing as often as possible to help prevent the staining.
If you ever see a slight discharge coming from your dog’s eyes monitor it closely for a few days and consult your Vet if you seen no significant improvement. It might be a small infection so don’t wait too long but don’t panic either.
Recap: Clean, Physical Checkup
Bright Teeth & Fresh Mouth
If you already feed a raw diet to your dog then you don’t have to worry about clean teeth. The action of devouring and chewing the raw bones and meat will naturally clean your dog’s teeth. Inspect your dog’s mouth once in awhile to make sure that everything looks good.
If not then there are various options for you to consider. Forget about those inexpensive natural or flavored cow hides that are sold everywhere and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They are very dangerous and can seriously harm your dog, do your research.
We give Halle a cooked (20 minutes in boiling water) marrow bone every other week or so. Once
cooked, we take the marrow out because she doesn’t like it much and give her the bone to chew on for a few days. After that we throw it out. Always monitor your dog when playfully chewing on a bone. It gets the job done.
You can also brush your dog’s teeth with a specially formulated tooth paste and elongated brush made for them. Most pet shops and specialty stores with carry them.
Give your dog some parsley or mint from time to time for a nice fresh breath.
A healthy mouth also depends on your food quality so make sure that you purchase the healthiest high quality dog food you can afford. It will cost a little more but the payoff is invaluable.
A dentist trip for your dog is very costly. Prevention will save you a lot of money.
Recap: Brushing, Physical Checkup
The head-to-tail checklist is a great start to your dog grooming regimen. We will definitely dig deeper into
each task at some point because there’s just so much more to it.
Keep your cool. Be prepared and patient with your dog grooming ventures. It’s one of those things that becomes easier with time. I’m happy to have shared some tips and techniques with you and I would love to hear about yours.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Very informative article. We have two young Labrador Retriever mix dogs and one of them has very sensitive skin. We have found that an oatmeal based shampoo about every two to three weeks works very well for his coat. We have also had a great deal of success with both dogs’ coats and overall health after eliminating food products that contain wheat and corn. Live and learn!
Thanks for putting together such a nice blog.
I really enjoy reading your blog. I’m in the process of creating one myself (www.GraciesBark.com) and still trying to grasp all the social media outlets out there! I do have one question for you about grooming: Do you recommend a safe product for ear cleaning? I’ve tried two products from Petco, both ear wipes, which said they were hypoallergenic but both times they caused Gracie’s ear to become irritated. She develops small bumps from the wipes. Just wondering if you have any suggestions.
Hey Gracie, a zillion apologies for the delay – Halle demanded a prolonged belly rub for my lateness :)
It’s a great question. Cleaning dog’s ears is a relatively easy task especially if your dog is compliant but not very pleasant if he doesn’t like it. I believe that no matter what product you use, your dog’s natural -slightly uncomfortable reaction is quite normal. I mean the ears are very sensitive, not only to sound but to liquids too. So a little fussiness is ok!
I actually have several recommendations on safe natural products that you can try out. Because each dog is an individual – there is not one cleaning solution for all dogs.
1. 1 tsp. of Apple Cider vinegar to a 1/2 cup of distilled warm water using a dropper.
2. Niaouli Essential Oil – it helps with ailments including aches and pains, respiratory conditions, cuts and infections. Niaouli is less irritating than Tea Tree Oil. Dilute the essential oil by adding 1-2 drops to 5 mls of warm base oil such as extra virgin olive or almond oil.
3. Almond Oil: 1/2 teaspoon of warm oil into each ear should do the trick.
4. Green Tea: steep 2 green tea bags in boiling water for about 10 minutes or so. Take the bags out and let them cool down slightly and you can flush your dogs ears.
So test these out and please let us know which one you and Gracie preferred :)
Hope these help.
I think we should do an article on this one!
Hi Vish, Asia and Halle,
Thanks for the useful tips on ear cleaning. We ended up buying an all natural solution from our local natural foods store. Seems to be working quite nice. Gracie has the same ears as Halle and they do need to be cleaned frequently. Also, I wanted to mention a tip on keeping Gracie’s teeth clean. We started using a product called PetzLife Oral Care Spray. It is a bit pricey but we use such a minimal amount that the small bottle lasts a long time. It has worked really well. We still brush her teeth once a week, but the spray every couple of days keeps her teeth on track just in case we miss a brushing here and there. Talk to you soon Halle Balle Dog!
Hi,
With the constant warm and humid weather in S’pore, is it alright to bath my dog every week but only uses soap once every 2 wks?
eg. 1wk with handmade soap(www.touchnature.com), the other wk with dried herbs infused water such as calendula
I once tried bathing my GR after 2 weeks, but his fur feels very ‘waxy’ even though I brush him frequently. Is it normal?
Does all dogs that tends to bath less feels ‘waxy’?
Thank you for replying
Hey QS Lee I strongly suggest you don’t bathe your dog as often as you do.
By bathing your dog too often you can unfortunately disturb the delicate balance of your dog’s natural skin oil production. I think that’s the reason your dog always feels ‘waxy’. The more you bathe him, the more his skin overproduces oils.
As I mentioned in the article, bathe your dog on an ‘as-per-need-basis’.
What I mean is for example if your dog gets too muddy or gets sprayed by a skunk then give him a nice bath with a natural shampoo. If the weather gets hot and muggy like you said just give him a regular water only bath, that will do the trick. :)
You can also bathe your dog as the season’s change, not more than that!
Halle gets 2 baths a year, 1 in spring and 1 in the fall unless otherwise needed.