Treat Your Dog to a Day or Two at a Spa!

by admin · September 1, 2016

Regular grooming

by Guzal Arslanova

We are happy to see our dogs greeting us at the door with wagging tails when we come home after a long exhausting day. Our hearts melt when they look at us with their innocent puppy eyes. They bring us so much joy and unconditional love. We miss them dearly when we go out of town. We call our dog sitters a million times to check on them. They are not just pets. They are family. How can we keep our dogs happy and healthy?

Benefits of looking good

Believe it or not, regular grooming can make a big difference. Brushing and combing your dog on a regular basis not only helps with keeping the coat tangles and debris free, but it promotes healthy skin and hair growth, stimulates blood circulation, removes dead hair and prevents clogged hair follicles.

Dogs like to run and play at the park and roll in the dirt and grass. They are a lot of fun but they do not clean themselves as humans do. They need our help. Even short-haired dogs need regular grooming. The shorter the coat, the shorter the life cycle of the hair which means more shedding that requires more brushing.

Long hair gets tangled

Long coated dogs like the Shih Tzu, Lhasa or Tibetan terrier and non-shedding breeds like the bichon and poodle, must be brushed and combed on a daily basis and pay frequent visits to the groomer to prevent mats. Tight tangles are one of the causes of the skin problems; if left untreated it can lead to major skin infections, which is very uncomfortable and painful for the dogs. Double-coated dogs, like the Golden Retriever or Pomeranian, have to be brushed on a regular basis, as well, to remove an excess undercoat.

Staying cool

In the summer, the accumulation of the excessive undercoat blocks air circulation and traps heat. Pet groomers often get requests to shave double-coated dogs in the summer time. However, we do not recommend it, due to the irreversible damage to the follicles. The best thing you can do to help your Fido in the hot weather is to get your dog groomed more often to remove the undercoat.

Regular grooming is healthy

A healthy dog is a happy dog! In addition to a regular home grooming, it is essential to bring your dogs to the professionals every four to six weeks throughout the year regardless the climate. Many people think that dogs do not need to come to the groomer in winter. As a result, we see a lot of dogs coming in spring completely matted, many with skin issues.

In fact, it is absolutely necessary to get your dog groomed professionally in the winter time as well. What we often see is an itchy dry skin during the winter months due to the dry air. Spa treatments like the hot oil treatment, the Dead Sea mud bath and sugar scrubs exfoliate and moisturize the skin.

Weather

Haircuts can be longer to help your pooch with the cold weather but the dogs still need to be groomed. In fact, the longer the haircut, the more maintenance it requires, which means even more frequent visits to the groomer. Being dog groomers we meet too many dogs with dermatological conditions due to the lack of grooming.

Long and soft coated dogs tend to get matted faster when it rains or snows. So they need to see their groomer more often. Double-coated dogs tend to accumulate not only more undercoat but everything else in their coat including leaves, mold and other debris.

As it gets colder, we see more dogs with fleas. Bringing your pooch to a well-trained groomer helps to discover some health issues which otherwise would be left unnoticed. We always refer our clients to seek veterinarian help for further diagnosis and treatment if we see something unusual like lumps, odd ear discharge and odor, skin discoloration or irritations.

Nails

Trimming the nails every two to four weeks is very important. Long nails make it very uncomfortable for the dogs to walk and cause joint pain, as well as, deformations of the feet. The more often the nails are trimmed, the shorter they will be. There is a vein in the dog’s nail that grows longer if the nails are not trimmed promptly.
Therefore, it is very important to bring your four-legged friend to the groomer on a regular basis.

A well-groomed, healthy dog is a happy dog. There is nothing better than seeing your smiling, tail wagging dog meeting you at the door after a long stressful day!