Blog How Often Should I get my Dog Grooming?
Dog grooming needs depend on a number of different factors, including its breed, coat type, age, and other variables. For example, a long-haired dog would require more frequent grooming than a short-haired dog. But regardless of that, you have a dog grooming schedule in place to make sure you maintain your dog’s overall health and wellness. Your dog grooming scheduling should be made keeping in mind your dog’s breed and its current health. Following are some of the specifics which will help you get a better idea of what a good dog grooming schedule looks like:
Brushing Your Dog
Frequency: 1x a week
Brushing is done for a number of different reasons – to remove dead hair from the coat, to remove dirt and debris from the coat, to reduce shedding in the home (and your clothes) by removing loose pet hair from the coat, and lastly for stimulating oil production to keep the dog’s coat healthy.
Every dog should at least be brushed once a week to make sure its coat maintains a healthy appearance. Working dogs, long-haired dogs and dogs prone to matting of the coat should be brushed more frequently.
Brushing Your Dog’s Teeth
Frequency: 1x a day
Ideally, you should brush your dog’s teeth daily. This will prevent plaque buildup which contributes to poor health and bad breath. At the bare minimum, you must be brushing your dog’s teeth three times a week and supplementing with dental toys and raw bones to prevent plaque buildup.
Bathing Your Dog
Frequency: 1x every 3-6 months
Bathing is something that dog owners frequently do far too much. Veterinarians explain why bathing a dog too frequently can be unhealthy for canines. Basically, a dog’s skin health is dependent upon a delicate balance of oil produced by the skin and over-bathing can end up depleting these oils and cause him to feel itchy and uncomfortable.
Ideally, a dog should be bathed once in 2-3 months or twice a year. However, do keep in mind that bathing and rinsing your dog off are two different things. You can rinse the mud off your dog without bathing him using shampoo. Make sure to use a canine-friendly shampoo which will help to maintain a healthy balance of necessary oils on the skin. Also, it’s really important that you don’t ever use human shampoo on your dog as it will strip the oils from your dog’s coat and leave it dull and dry.
Cutting Your Dog’s Nails
Frequency: 1x every 3-8 weeks
Dogs, typically, need their nails trimmed once every three to eight weeks. This number varies as a result of your dog’s breed and activity. It’s common to cut your dog’s nails too short when trimming them. Thus, it’s important to trim nails slowly and to keep styptic powder on hand to control any bleeding when the nail quick is clipped.
Cleaning Your Dog’s Ears
Frequency: Inspect regularly, but clean only as needed
This process is not required for most of the dogs. Dog ears have a way of maintaining health and thus introducing any foreign cleaners into the ears can disturb this natural balance. However, for some dogs, particularly longer eared dogs or dogs prone to swimming, ear health is an important part of grooming.
Clipping Your Dog’s Coat
Frequency: 1x every 1-6 months (depending on breed)
Just like people, not all dogs need their coat clipped, those dogs that do need their coat clipped, need it clipped at different times depending on many factors. Typically, the best way to determine how often to get your dog’s coat clipped is by visually inspecting his hair/fur.
Furminator De-Shedding Treatment
Frequency 1x every 1-3 months
Removing the undercoat is very important not only for the comfort of your dog but also for the amount of hair bunnies floating around your home, all winter weather dogs with thick coats need furmination- huskies, labs, shepherds and the like with thick coats can benefit form furminating especially during seasonal changes here in Florida.
VIP offers all of the above services, call today to book your grooming and bathing care appointment.