Dog's Help

Dog grooming is not only a necessity for cleanliness and hygiene but it also gives you an opportunity to bond with your dog. If you enjoy grooming your dog there is no reason why he won't enjoy it too.

Extravagant and long grooming sessions is not what is desired, but basic grooming is essential and here is what you need to do for it.

Brushes and combs:
Use a brush best suited for your dog's hair type. Brush often. Brushing stimulates the skin and keeps it healthy. It prevents matting of your dog's coat and removes excess hair.
Long and thick hair needs brushes with bristles far apart, while short hair needs to be groomed with short and hard bristles.

Wire brushes and slicker brushes remove dead skin along with excess hair, and are suitable for medium to long hair. Bristle brushes work on all coat types. Rakes remove severe tangles.

Rubber curry combs massage your dog's skin along with removing dead hair.

Shampoos:
Selecting the right shampoo for bathing your dog can help, although you can use an all-purpose shampoo for most breeds. You should choose a deep conditioning shampoo for long curly hair. Tearless shampoos are available for sensitive eyes. If your dog has itchy or sensitive skin, medicated shampoos or natural shampoos may help. Natural or oatmeal shampoos are free of chemicals and help soothe irritated skin. Some shampoos also contain anti-flea agents.

Ear-care products:
Several ear infections arise out of water trapped in ear canals, and from ear wax or organic matter. You need to check your dog's ears at least once every week and use infection preventing ear-care products.

You will need ear cleaning solution to clean the ear canal, sterile medical grade cotton to wipe the dirt, medicated ear powder, and Hemostat to pluck out excess hair from the ear canal.

Nail trimmer or clipper:
Nail clippers come in two basic styles - scissor-style and guillotine-style. Scissor-style clippers are easier to use on large thick nails, but guillotine-style clippers give better cuts. However, these clippers tend to leave sharp edges and you need to use a coarse grain nail file to smoothen them.

A better choice is a Dremel-type nail trimmer, which has a rotating file that rubs at the nail tip. It gives you better control so that you don't accidentally cut into the dog's 'quick' (the painful area of nails).

Hair clipper:
Long haired dogs like poodles need regular haircuts. While you can use scissors for this purpose, they are best left to professional groomers. You can make do with electric clippers to give your dog an evenly trimmed coat. You'll need heavy duty clippers for thick hair. You would also like the clipper to be silent and cool to keep your dog from fidgeting.