10 Days Dog Grooming Lessons-Day4

Ginger doesn’t  need frequent baths. In fact, frequent baths can dry the natural oils in canine skin and lead to constant scratching, which in turn can lead to bacterial infections and oozing hot spots.

For dogs that get bathed more than once a month, aloe-based shampoos and coat conditioners and foods and supplements with Omega fatty acids help maintain coat oils and skin health.

Before bathing, clear any mats or tangles from Ginger’s coat.
Teach her to stand in the tub, then add warm or tepid water.
Soak her to the skin, lather, then rinse thoroughly to prevent dull, sticky coat and dry skin.
Take care to keep water and soap out of her eyes and ears and clean her face and the insides of her ears with a sponge or washcloth.
Daily examination
Even if Ginger doesn’t need daily grooming, check her thoroughly to make sure she has no cuts, sores, fleas, rashes, bumps, ticks, or hitchhikers in her coat or dirt in her ears. Remove fleas with a fine-toothed comb and drop them into a container of soapy water. Remove embedded ticks with tweezers or protected fingers and drop them in a vial of alcohol. (Grasp the tick body, rock it back and forth, then pull firmly.) Carefully remove vegetative matter such as grass awns, seed casings, or thorny twigs with fingers or comb.

During this daily exam, check Ginger’s feet and ears, look at her teeth, and feel for cuts or tumors.

Shedding
Dog hair grows and dies just as human hair does. Some dogs ?particularly hard-coated terriers and Poodles ?hang on to their dead hair, thus requiring special grooming to remove it. Other dogs give it up quite readily, all over the house. Double-coated dogs generally drop their soft undercoats twice a year and lose their guard hairs once a year, although some individual dogs might shed constantly or only every 10-12 months. Shedding can take anywhere from three weeks to two months. A warm bath helps accelerate the process and daily (or twice-daily) grooming can help control clouds of hair that scurry into corners and under furniture.

Shedding is controlled by hormonal changes that are tied to photoperiod (day length) and is influenced by level of nutrition and general state of health. In addition to natural biennial shedding, a dog may drop its coat after surgery, x-rays under anesthesia, and whelping puppies.

Double-coated dogs that shed heavily are Akita, Alaskan Malamute, Keeshond, Siberian Husky, Samoyed, Norwegian Elkhound, Collie, Great Pyrenees, Kuvasz, Newfoundland, St. Bernard, English Toy Spaniel, Pomeranian, Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Malinois, Belgian Tervuren, Australian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Smooth Collie, Shetland Sheepdog, and American Eskimo. The Dalmatian sheds constantly, and many dogs shed a moderate amount of hair.

Owners should be aware before purchase that a long-coated dog, purebred or mixed, will require grooming throughout its life. If the inclination to groom or the time to do so are not part of the plan, provisions should be made for professional coat care for the dog. Otherwise, a dog that can do with a lick and a promise is a better choice as a family pet.