Avoiding Common Dog Grooming Mistakes

Regardless of the breed of dog they have, most owners would never put grooming on a list of their favourite activities. Often dreams of the perfectly groomed pooch exhibiting flawless behaviour and capturing a top spot at your local dog show (or even Crufts?) collide with reality. Grooming at home can be challenging, difficult and messy with any of these five common mistakes.

Mistake #1: Failing to Train the Dog for Grooming
Simply put, training is essential if you want to avoid a mess, a potential injury or anxiety for both of you. The younger the dog is when you start, the easier training will be. It should include boosting the pet’s comfort level when touched on its face, tail, paws or other parts of the body. Helping the dog become comfortable with the buzzing and other sounds dog grooming equipment produces is equally important.
Some dogs respond well to fairly short training sessions. Regardless of the length of time spent attending to feet, ears, tail, and faces, it’s important that the pet understand that the owner is in charge and will decide when the session is finished.
Dogs adopted as adults or that experience grooming for the first time later in life need extra patience plus praise and rewards during grooming training. For older dogs, brushing, bathing and cleaning teeth need to occur in an environment as free of stress as humanly possible.

Mistake #2: Assuming Grooming is Just for Looks
Many owners who favour do-it-yourself grooming see the process solely as a way to achieve a clean, neat pet. In fact, it’s much more. Grooming is important for keeping a dog comfortable all year long. It’s also an opportunity to check a dog’s health. When owners match grooming routines with fur type, they can use grooming to look for skin conditions or discharge, bumps or lumps that signal the possible need for a veterinary visit.

Mistake #3: Not Trimming Nails Properly
Many at-home groomers dread cutting a dog’s nails. Unless the pet has been trained adequately, it’s likely to resist having its paws handled.
Trimming a dog’s nails correctly must be a precise, non-rushed activity. Owners should use sharp clippers that they replace on a regular basis. Dull equipment crushes the pet’s nails instead of trimming them and can result in an injury. An owner new at grooming should ask a veterinarian to point out the quick of a nail and explain how to avoid it when performing a trim.

Mistake #4: Underestimating Mats
Many owners already know that long hair in dogs and mats are often synonymous. What they don’t know is what actually causes mats.
Water is a crucial ingredient in the recipe for mats in long-haired canines. One way to lower the likelihood of mats that could pass for Gordian Knots is to brush as much dead or tangled fur off the dog as possible before bathing, swimming or exposure to rain or snow.

For mats, you discover while bathing the pet, use a conditioner plus a comb to make them come loose. Blow-drying the dog will help pull apart any tangles. A quick brushing, once its fur has dried, should get rid of any remaining dead hair.

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