Grooming tips and basics

Every dog needs a little bit of grooming to look and smell its best. Although most dogs like their natural aromas, most owners find them more pleasant to kiss, pet and cuddle with when they smell fresh and clean. However, no matter how good the shampoo smells, never over-groom your pooch. Dogster.com reports that most dogs only need to be bathed once every four to six weeks.

One reason to absolutely bathe your pooch is an infestation of fleas. Lather your pup up with Be Flea Free Shampoo to kill the fleas and other bugs on contact. Unlike some harsh chemical flea shampoos, this one has natural ingredients like rosemary, cedarwood, clove and peppermint oils to kill the bugs but keep the coat healthy. Plus, the vitamin E and lanolin soothe the pooch’s skin where the insects may have bitten. After this, make sure to get your pet on a medication like Capstar Flea Treatment Tablets to prevent flea infestations in the future.

Most dogs just need a general scrub down every now and then, and the perfect shampoo for regular bathing is an oatmeal shampoo for dogs like Oatmeal & Aloe Vera Shampoo, which helps moisturize irritated skin but gives a thorough cleaning of fur and skin. After the bath is a good time to brush the dog. Breeds with long hair may need a cool blow dry, while shorter breeds may just need to run around a bit to dry off. Once dry, use the Rescoe Pro-Series Combo Brush to smooth the coat and remove excess hair. Breeds with long or thick fur may benefit from the FURminator deShedding Tool for Dogs, which removes all the loose, dead hair from the dog’s undercoat and reduces shedding up to 90 percent.

If your dog is not used to being bathed or you do not feel like you have the capability to do it yourself, Dogster.com recommends scanning the internet or a local phonebook for a nearby dog groomer, or asking a friend or veterinarian for a recommendation. When you call or visit the facility, have a list of questions so you can learn how long the groomers have been in business, where they learned to groom, what experience they have with dogs of a certain breed and anything else you want to know. If your dog has special needs when it comes to things like coat matting or fear biting during nail clipping, make sure to ask what kind of experience the groomer has with these issues, the website suggests.