Understanding Pet Grooming

Human beings are brought up to be hygienic. Our parents taught us to wash our hands, clean our teeth, brush our hair, clip our nails, and wash our bodies every single day (or so we all hope). Cleansing and other bodily maintenance are all apart of looking good, smelling good, and keeping our overall health in check. Cleansing keeps harmful bacteria off our bodies so we can lead healthier lives than our ancestors. Every month or every few months people also go for regular check ups with our doctors to ensure that their body is functioning normally. So, if cleansing and check ups are such important rituals for human beings, why do so many people turn a shoulder to the overall health of their best friends?

As a pet owner it is important to understand the importance of grooming your pet/s. Depending on the breed of your dog will definitely hinder the amount or type of grooming your dog will need, however, it is still important for your dog to be groomed regardless. Grooming ensures your dog is healthy and comfortable. Some dogs shed while others require trimming on a regular basis. Regular grooming helps improve the health of the skin and coat of your dog and decreases the chances of various health problems such as thrush or scratches. It also allows the groomer to check your dogs health by looking for cuts, swelling or an changes in temperature that your dog may be experiencing as well as increase the relationship between you and your pet.

Many pet owners understand the importance of grooming, however, they are afraid of what happens behind closed doors. Many believe that it is a traumatizing experience for their pet, and they prefer to bath their pets themselves or just not take them at all. Understanding what happens behind those doors and what groomers do might put you at ease and in turn relax your pet. If you think about it, remember when you were a kid and going to the dentist or doctor was scary, or even school? Your pet might be feeling the same way as we once did; scared of a new place, strange new people, weird sounds and smells and above all being left alone and taken away from our loved one. However, with regular visits, time and comfort, like we once did, our pets will learn to feel comfortable in their new surrounding.

There are various tools that are used for grooming that owners may not be aware of. There are currys or currycombs, shedding blades, scissors and clippers. Although many of these tools may look intimidating, they are specially designed to help maintain your pets coat painlessly. The curry or currycomb is a rubber or plastic tool with short "teeth" that is rubbed in a circular motion to loosen dirty, hair and other detritus, as well as stimulate the skin to produce natural oils. The shedding blade is used for harsh coats and is a metal shedding blade with short, dull teeth and is used to remove dead hair but not to cut it. Scissors and clippers are used to remove hair on certain types of coats or in sensitive areas. Depending on the breed of your dog will determine the type of treatment it will get. If your dog is a non-shedding dog, they will have to go through a process called stripping. This sounds more painful than it really is, where the dead hair of the dog is pulled off to make room for new hair to grow.

Bathing your dog is usually done with a garden hose, hand-held shower head or a bucket of water. These methods all depend on the location or type of salon you are taking your dog to. There are many types of shampoos and conditioners that can be used to clean your dog and also depend on the salon that you take your dog to. It is important to note that bathing your dog too much will strip the hair coat of natural oils and cause it to dry out. If you are maintaining your dogs coat yourself, be sure to take a note of this as it is very important.

Lastly, nail trimming is also an important part of dog grooming. If a dog's nails are left to grow, they might begin to curl over and under the dog's paws, making it extremely hard to walk and can be very painful. If dog's do not get their nails trimmed on a regular basis, the quick will grow along with the nail and make it nearly impossible to cut properly. You can do this process yourself, but it is not recommended because if you go too far you may cause bleeding so it is better to take your pet to a professional groomer.

Understanding what your dog goes through while being groomed and the importance of it will hopefully encourage more people to take their dogs to get groomed. It is not a process that should be dreaded, but a time where your beloved pet will be taken care of so you and your pet will have many years to cherish each other's company.