[WilliamMStone]

Can you suggest me how to groom our dog in the best ways?

​

 

[jwilliams38930]

Oh, this is a slippery subject if you'd ask it on one of those "I Love XXX Breed Dog" groups. Some say you never bathe a dog as you remove their natural skin oils, reducing their ability to shed water. Or never comb a chessie so their under coat is thick and they wont get cold in the depths of winter.

I am a realist. I bath my dog when the wife says she can smell him. That may be weekly. I use gentle soap as not to overly strip oils. And I comb him with a slicker, and a rake as needed (spring when his winter coat is about to blow out). It's not rocket surgery. Brush and bathe them as needed using gentle soap and you will always be fine.

 

[mwk56]

I wash when super dirty or stinky from rolling in something disgusting.

I comb when blowing coat.

Meredith

 

[Bryan Parks]

Let them jump in a pond?

 

[Northern Neck VA]

Take them to water, let them swim, put some soap on them and scrub them, have them swim again to rinse it off.

NNK

 

[mjh345]

Let them jump in a pond?

That's my method

 

[mjh345]

Let them jump in a pond?

That's my method

 

[NateB]

Take them to water, let them swim, put some soap on them and scrub them, have them swim again to rinse it off.

NNK

It can be difficult to get them well rinsed with this method. Not enough water over the top depending on how the dog swims. If you try it, just be sure it gets completely rinsed, rub the coat with your hand and is you get any residual, then more water marks it is!!

 

[lauramcmann1221]

The best grooming methods and tools you can consult at Dog Brushes and Grooming Clippers for Dogs

 

[drunkenpoacher]

The FURminator, a garden hose and some shampoo or, best of all, launching of the dock.

 

[pghduckhunter]

Ive never washed my dog and he just turned 5 years old and his coat is fantastic....the only smell he ever exudes is when he gets an ear infection or gas of course! The pond method ahs seemed to work just great....

 

[Ray Kirkpatrick]

Johnsons Baby shampoo. Rinse and rinse again and again and again.
Twice a season or as needed.

 

[2tall]

I don’t wash my dogs. Unless of course I catch one rolling on a long dead squirrel and then tossing it in the air so the other dog can catch it and throw it down to roll on it too. Both my dogs got a bath yesterday.

 

[Breck]

A bath every month or 3 doesn't hurt. Mane & Tail shampoo.
Furminator for a week or 3 when they blow coat.
Cordless Dremmel to do nails if needed.
Ear cleaning when needed, overdue it ear chemistry can get out of balance.

 

[SaskLabrador]

Furminator once or twice a week while he eats. His coat is beutiful and maybe once every 4-6 months a nice wash at local pet care wash. I wash him myself there.

 

[K Rocha]

How about kennel dogs that are on concrete? They stink if there not bathed.

 

[DL]

The reason they would stink is if they have poop on them? They don’t sweat like people?

 

[K Rocha]

The reason they would stink is if they have poop on them? They don’t sweat like people?

I think it's from laying on the concrete, they get a damp smell.

 

[DL]

When I was cleaning some brick work recently, I read that some of the cement washes away and leaves the sand particals on the surface. You must be right about the cement getting on the dogs. I imagine if you washed them, it wouldn't take long for the cement to get back on them. The answer would be to get them off of the cement.

 

[PalouseDogs]

I realize this thread was started about a year ago, but since it was resurrected recently, I might as well add my 2 cents.

I think the most important aspect of grooming is that your dog be accustomed to being groomed, preferably starting as a puppy. I never appreciated how helpful it is to have a dog used to grooming until I had non-poodles after having owned poodles. Poodles usually get their first clip at about 4 weeks, while they are still at the breeder's. Poodle fur grows at the rate of about a half inch per month, so they need at least face, feet, and tail clipped every month or two for the rest of their lives. Poodles tend to develop a fatalistic resignation to the whole bathing, clipping, brushing, and blow-drying routine.

So, after poodles, you non-chalantly ask your young golden to lie down on the grooming table to get his nails done and you are surprised that he is not nearly so cooperative as the poodle that has been groomed into submission. You realize you must back up a few steps and teach the non-poodle that being brushed and having toenails dremeled will not be fatal.

Before I had poodles, I would have scoffed at the idea that I needed a grooming table. Now, even though my poodles are gone, I would never be without a grooming table. It is much easier on the back and knees than crouching on the floor. I teach my dogs to step on a chair and then on the grooming table and vice versa to get off. The days when I could pick up a 65 pound dog are long past. With goldens, most of the grooming is just grinding toenails, brushing hair, and checking between toes for grass seeds. Maple found something especially stinky to roll in on a walk a few days ago, which finally drove me to give her a bath, complete with lots of shampoo. The picture is of her on the grooming table waiting to be blow-dried, which she was a great sport about, despite how seldom I bathe the goldens.