Maintaining your Dogs coat between grooms.

​Of course you’ll want your pooch to look fantastic! In order to achieve a beautiful healthy coat it takes two! We take care of the professional groom, but you will also need to groom your Dog at home.

Brushing your Dog

This is key to maintaining a healthy coat and if carried out on a regular basis ensures on Dogs with long coats no tangles and matting. You may think of it as a tiresome task but it’s actually a great opportunity to bond with your dog and in return they become comfortable in the process and develop trust with you their owner and the professional groomer. Before you know it, it will be part of your daily and weekly routine, and yes it needs to be that much, coats prone to matting need to be groomed most days!

So I just need a brush?

Well it has to be a certain type of brush and a comb. For long haired dogs you will need a “slicker” brush as well as a moulting comb or rake. The Slicker brush will loosen any knots from the coat, but it wont remove them, thats where the comb comes in to actually remove the knots from the hair, but you must use both! For short haired dogs we recommend a hand mitt to brush out the dead hair.

So I should bath them as well?

It can be quite a job, but if you do bath your pooch at home always make sure you brush them first, as soon as water touches the coat the knots tighten and become harder to remove. If you’ve had a walk on a wet day, or pooch decided to jump into the lake, its better for longer haired dogs to dry naturally or with a hairdryer, not with a towel as this will actually help matt their coat.

This is a great job for all the family?

Well yes and no. Its great to get the kids involved, but you want it to be a nice calm enjoyable experience that your pooch will come to accept and enjoy. Remember its not playtime! That comes later!

How often should I come to get my dog professionally groomed?

Your groomer will advise you on this depending on the breed of Dog you have and also the condition of the coat. We would advise that puppies come as soon as possible to keep on top the removal of puppy hair until they are ready for a full groom. On average dogs are groomed every six to eight weeks.

So what happens if I don’t brush my Dog regularly?

Well if your Dog becomes matted it can lead to skin irritation, excretions can become stuck which could lead to possible infection. And of course removing matting can be extremely painful. It also prevents health checks, noticing lumps, bumps, skin irritations.

Remember! If you’re struggling to keep on top of Grooming your pooch, bring him to The Dandy Hound for a bath and brush out in between full grooms to keep on top of it. 

Puppies

We are often asked when should I bring my puppy into the Grooming salon. Well, as soon as possible! As soon as they are all complete with their vaccinations, they are ready to come in. This includes short haired puppies too. It’s a great way to introduce your puppy pooch to Grooming. We call it a Puppy Pamper, a gentle introduction to grooming, a gentle brush, shampoo and conditioner followed by a relaxing blow dry with a trim around the face, feet and hygiene areas. Most puppies are not actually ready for a full groom until 9 months or later when their adult coat has sufficiently grown through. Grooming earlier could damage the coat. So its important to maintain the coat until then.