Grooming your dog requires a well-organized routine so you don’t forget any of the grooming stages, do it ideally, in chronological order and to guarantee a comfortable aura for your dog.
But sometimes in the midst of all the preparations, some mistakes could slip into our grooming routine without noticing them.
If you are grooming your dog at home, you opt to fell for some mistakes that may hurt your dog while you think you are doing him good. So here are the cons you should dodge out of your routine.
Grooming Your Dog: Bathing Mistakes
Showering for us, humans is time for some relaxation and ease, but for our dogs, it is not the same. Most of the dogs will find bathing a troublesome. A lot of scrubbing, water on their faces and lots of noise. No wonder they hub out of the tub as soon as we put them in.
Making mistakes would make the bathing more complicating, so here are 7 mistakes you have to avoid doing:
Using too hot or too cold water:
if the water temperature is wrong, you are giving your dog a reason to be uncomfortable. Try to use lukewarm water always so you don’t give your dog a negative stimulus. To know if the water temperature is warm or not, use the same technique we use with babies, of trying the water on the forearm to make sure it is suitable for a shower.
Using human shampoo:
To give your dog a bath with your shampoo is totally wrong. Even if it contains natural ingredients, it is still not suitable. Dog’s ph is different than humans, so by using human shampoo, even babies shampoo, it will dry your dog’s skin and may cause irritation.
Filling the tub:
A lot of pet owners would fill the sink or tub when they intend to shower their dogs. The water pressure along with the sound of running water may scary your dog. You can use the handheld showerhead to wet your dog with. Start from spraying his legs while patting and reassuring him and gradually, wet his entire coat.
Applying shampoo the wrong way:
Pets are different than us, immersing the shampoo and leaving it for a while then washing it won’t work with dogs. You need to massage the shampoo into the dog’s fur for about three minutes. Start from the legs too till you reach his face, you may clean your dog’s face with a damped towel to avoid getting shampoo inside his eyes.
Try to lean your dog’s head when you wash his ears so the water doesn’t get to his ear canals and cause infection.
Inverse the water direction while rinsing. Start with the head to make sure no soap is on his eyes going your way down to his legs.
Timing of the brushing:
You should brush your dog’s coat before and after bathing. If you don’t have a brushing routine for your dog, it is better to take him for a groomer first to de-tangle all the mats from your dog’s coat, and after that, you can take the charge of brushing your pooch.
Hurrying to dry your buddy:
Some pet owners would want to dry off their dogs pretty fast, so they use a blow dryer. Using blow dryer is not recommended as it is hard to adjust the temperature of the airflow coming out the dryer, and may cause skin burning for your animal.
Gently squeeze water out of your dog with the usage of towels. It won’t dry your dog completely but he won’t be dripping water on the floor.
Bathing your dog a lot in summer:
Taking care of your dog is wonderful, but overdoing it may hurt your dog. Bathing your dog more than necessary wouldn’t make him cleaner, in fact, it would hurt him in the long run. Extra bathing will strip off the dog’s natural body oil and would cause skin irritation.
Hair Trimming Mistakes
With time, dogs’ hair needs to be trimmed for hygienic and health reasons. Our buddies need to have their hair nails trimmed about once a month.
For hair cutting, it depends on the thickness of the dog’s coat. Double coated dogs would need much more cutting than short-haired dogs. So it is better to read more about your dog’ breed to know how to take care of your buddy’s fur. Short-haired or long, you need to be aware of these mistakes.
Keep your dog at a well-lit, safe place:
Groomers have a special table for dogs, it is stable, secured and has a restraint to keep the dog protected from slipping or falling. For home groomers, you need to settle on a place in the house you can safely groom your dog at.
If you are going to put your dog on a raised surface, make sure it is steady and will carry the weight of your dog perfectly. Pet owners with large dogs are recommended to use the floor and not to set their dogs on a table as it may not endure the dog’s weight.
Never grip your dog from his coat:
Don’t grip your dog from his fur when you are grooming him. This will make him feel uncomfortable and may lead him to be anxious.
Nail Trimming Mistakes
To pet owners, the hardest part of grooming a dog usually is trimming his nails.
the worst nightmare awaits the owner if he hits the dog’s quick (the blood vessel that supplies the nail with blood).
If the quick is cut, serious pain will hit the dog and his nail will start bleeding. Although this bleeding is not dangerous, it may give your dog an enormous negative experience that probably makes him hate nail trimming.
So to avoid such an incident, please consider this:
Don’t cut a large portion of the nail at once. Cut small pieces until you come close to the quick and stop, and if your dog has black nails, stop at the pulp.
Don’t use clippers that have a guard:
They may seem a good idea at first, but as a beginner, with clippers, you will need to see the nail clearly. The guard will block your sight. Put your dog’s paw on a hard surface and cut his nail on it. That surface will act as a guard.
All these are cons that you need to dodge out of your routine if you made any of them.
if you are new to the pets world, try to dodge these from the beginning, and remember a happy pet= a happy parent.
