subject: The Best Home Grooming Tips [print this page] The Best Home Grooming Tips The Best Home Grooming Tips
Your pet is a very important member of your family. As you already know, one of the responsibilities as a pet owner is to provide for their animal's health and well-being. Included in caring for your pet's health is proper diet, daily exercise, regular visits to the veterinarian, and consistent grooming. There are many reputable professional groomers that will take excellent care of your dog; however, there are things you can also do at home to keep your pet looking, feeling and smelling nice. Here are some excellent grooming tips from a professional groomer that you can do at home:
Clean your dog or cat's teeth regularly with a special toothbrush and paste made especially for them. Just like us, your pet's health, good or bad, can be seen by the condition of their teeth. Poor diet can cause tartar build up which can cause many other health conditions in your pet, resulting in costly veterinarian bills.
Clean your pet's ears with a soft cloth especially for those dogs that have long ears such as cocker spaniels, beagles, hound dogs, etc. If dirt or water gets into their ears, it can cause ear infections resulting in the fun job of putting drops in their ears.
Trim your dogs nails at least every month or so. There are excellent nail trimmers made especially for dogs with safety guards so you can't trim to close and hurt your pet. How often you trim your pet's nails depends on the weight of your pet and how much exercise they get. "Couch Potatoes" will need their nails trimmed more often than "Runners".
It is recommended to bath your dog approximately every 6-8 weeks using special shampoo and conditioner made for dogs. Bathing your dog too often can cause dry skin, unless it has gotten into a mud puddle or tangled with a skunk. The natural oils in their skin are needed for a smooth coat.
Most dogs and cats shed excess hair and fur on a regular basis, especially during the warmer summer months. So brushing or combing your pet every other day to reduce the shedding is recommended. There are several excellent deshedding tools such as the Furminator, Furbuster and Bamboo Rake to consider. They come in several sizes appropriate for the size of your pet. A comb such as the Untangler, which is a professional groomers' favorite, is needed for those hard to reach areas such as behind the ears and under the legs.
Once you have the tools and products you need to groom your pet at home, it will be easy to make grooming a part of your daily routine with your pet. Your pet will look forward to their regular brushing with a deshedding tool since it gives them lots of attention from you. Taking regular care of your furry family member will ensure many years of a healthy, happy pet.
