The Ultimate Checklist for Grooming the Dog

A dog will give the human family many years of loyal and affectionate companionship. Being wonderful creatures that they are, it would not be surprising if pet parents provide dogs with a safe and loving home. Unfortunately, dogs have other special needs aside from the highly nutritious meals that the pet owners provide. Dogs need a high quality diet but exercise and regular grooming are also vital to the maintenance of the dog's overall well being.

Dogs have different grooming requirements, your dog can be one of the high maintenance or low maintenance breeds. Grooming the pet can be a tedious chore to a busy owner especially if the pet is not compliant to the grooming routines. Grooming the dog would be easier by following the basic head to tail grooming checklist.

Bathing is one of the necessary grooming routines of dogs. Pet owners that bathe the dog very often mean well but this can have unwanted effects on the dog. A dog that is bathed too often would have dry skin as the natural moisturizing oils are removed thereby giving rise to various skin concerns. Nature may have given the dog a luxuriously beautiful coat but regular brushing will be necessary to maintain its tip top condition. Parasite infestation and developing health concerns can be noticed and resolved at once by brushing the dog's coat regularly. Daily brushing is necessary for long haired breeds to maintain the health and appearance of the coat while short haired dogs would benefit from twice a week coat brushing.

Ear cleaning is another grooming routine that should be done weekly. Dogs with pendulous ears and dogs that spend more time in water would need more frequent ear cleaning to prevent the development of serious ear problems. Being delicate organs, the eyes of the dog have to be cleaned daily. Special wipes for the eyes can be used to remove discharge from the dog's eyes.

While dogs would enjoy being brushed and tolerate being bathed, they would normally struggle when the nails are trimmed and the teeth are brushed thus these particular grooming routines often takes a back seat if not totally neglected. A dog owner though has to make sure that the dog's teeth are brushed to give the pet fresh breath and to prevent periodontal diseases. Regular nail trimming will also be necessary. The dog would be more compliant to being groomed if the routines were introduced while the pet is still a puppy.

Grooming is essential in the maintenance of the dog's health. Moreover, grooming the pet would be treasured moments that would do wonders in enhancing pet and owner relationship.