Maintenance between grooms
Brushing and Combing
Why do I need to brush my dog?
Regular brushing helps to keep your dogs coat and skin healthy and looking good too! Brushing removes dead hair and skin cells, distribute oils, and helps remove undercoat. To achieve the full benefits of brushing and combing you need to make sure you are doing it properly. When brushing you need to make sure you are brushing all of the hair, not just the top layer.
How do I brush my dog properly?
Firastly, you will need a slicker brush, and a metal comb. To make sure you are brushing all the hair, we use a trechnique called line brushing. Line brushing can be used on any dog apart from those with a short coat. To line brush, you start at the lowest point of the dog and slowly work your way upwards, lifting sections of the coat to brush. Try to brush in the direction that the fur grows. Once you have gone over your pup with the slicker brush, you then need to go through with a comb. The comb should be able to glide through your dogs coat with no issues. If the comb gets stuck or can't get through the coat, there is likely to be knots that have been missed.
How often do I need to brush my dog?
How often dogs get brushed depends on their coat.
Dogs with shorter coats such as Labradors, Boxers, Greyhounds, and Frenchies, dont need to be brushed as frequently as their hair can't tangle or matt. You should brush these coats a few times a month with a rubber brush, bristle brush, or a groomi.
Dogs with double coats, such as Akitas, Chow Chows, Collies, German Shepherds, Huskys etc, need brushing minimum twice a week. These dogs shed their undercoat and need help getting it out. Brushing with a slicker brush will help get hair out, as will a de-shedding rake. Always remember to line brush with these coats as they can get matted if not brushed properly, and double coated breeds are not meant to be shaved so if matting occurs it is really hard to get out!
Dogs with a wool, curly, or long coat need brushing every other day. These will be Cockapoos, Cavapoos, Poodles, Bichon Frise, Irish Water Spaniels, Bedlingtons etc. These dogs are more suseptable to matting. If your dog isnt brushed in between appointments the likelihood is that it will be matted and will have to be taken shorter due to the discomfort of matting. Brushing and combing regularly leaves your pups coat looking and feeling amazing, it also gives you more freedom with what kind of groom you want your dog to have.
Dogs with a soft, combination, or medium length coat will need brushing at least once a week. These are dogs such as golden retrievers, spaniels, King Charles Spaniels/Cavaliers just to keep on top of them to make sure no knotts start to form.
What age should I start brushing?
As soon as you can! Puppies should start being desensitised to all grooming noises, sounds, and feelings as young as possible. Each brushing session should be short and sweet, we want this to be a positive experience. Positively introducing grooming at a young age creates a positive association to brushing and hopefully grooming!
Nail trims
Dogs nails should be cut every 3-4 weeks. This is to prevent them getting too long. To tell if your dogs nails need trimming, stand them on a flat surface and see if their nails are touching the ground. If they are, they need cutting as dogs nails should not sity on the ground. Long claws are one of the top 5 most common disorders affecting dogs in the UK. Long claws are prone to chipping, tearing, and breaking which can be very painful, especially if exposing the quick (The nerves and blood vessels in the claw). As well as being prone to damage, if a dog has long claws it can alter the way they stand and walk as it puts pressure on the wrong parts of the foot, causing pain and discomfort to the dog. To try and combat this pain your dog may try to walk differently which can make them more suseptable to other joint injuries. When a dogs nails get too long they can curl around and dig into the paw pads which is extremely painful for a dog.
