Dog Service Network, LLC » Grooming

Why Dog Health and Grooming Go Hand in Hand

Dog Service Network — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:59:41 +0000

Dog health and grooming are closely related because this is a perfect opportunity to investigate past the big eyes and the fluffy body. When you groom your dog you get to see down to the skin.

While grooming your dog you are engaged in a hands on everything project. Even some areas you would just as soon not have your hands on. During this time you can check for lumps, warts, and any other irregularities on their bodies.

While clipping your dogs toe nails you are seeing the bottoms of his feet and would notice any broken toe nails. You might also notice any problems on the pads of his feet.

While cleaning his ears you should notice any unusual smell or discharge indicating something your veterinarian should check.

While clipping the body you are shortening his hair, making it easier to see his skin by simply stroking his hair backwards with your hand. You may notice dry skin, or red areas.

While blow drying your dog you are actually separating the hair and looking directly at the skin. A time when you would notice puncture wounds, cuts and abrasions, foxtails and other stickers and also foreign travelers like fleas,ticks or lice.

While you are grooming your puppy or mature dog, you are also teaching them. The more you teach your dog and praise your dog, the more well rounded he will become.

When we are lifting their paws and moving them around we might notice if they are sore or perhaps getting arthritis.

When we look at our pets we see our furry friends but if we look closer we may see much more that relates to the health of our dogs.

Katherine Durr is a professional dog groomer and the author of “How to Groom your Mutt”. Visit her website at Doggie Dews

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What I Learned from a Cocker Spaniel

Dog Service Network — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:59:00 +0000

By Katherine Durr

About twelve years ago I went to a dog grooming expo in San Bernardino California. At the time I had been grooming for a few years and thought I knew lots. I remember watching the scissoring competition. One of the entries later became a team member of Groom USA. The whole experience humbled me and helped me strive to be better at my art.

Then one of the judges for the competition gave a lecture on grooming the Cocker Spaniel. At first I was only mildly interested. She began her lecture with “Most people don’t really understand the Cocker Spaniel”. She went on to say that Cocker Spaniels were “sensitive dogs”. A Cocker was a dog who’s feelings were hurt easily. While she was giving this lecture she had her own Cocker Spaniel on the grooming table, let us call her, Buffy. The woman began demonstrating how to groom Buffy. I still was not ready to buy into this whole “sensitive” thing. That was because before the lecture, Buffy was being walked through the crowd up to the lecturing platform. Two different audience members tried to pet Buffy as she walked to the front. Buffy let out a yelp, a snap and a little tinkle each time.

While this woman groomed Buffy, I noticed that the dog stood very proudly, cooperating at every step of the grooming. When the woman would start to turn Buffy around the dog would immediately turn around for her. Then Buffy would be quietly praised by her owner and she would stand straighter and more proud. This is where I started to think that maybe this woman had something with her whole “sensitive” thing.

Well wouldn’t you know it…first dog scheduled on Monday was a Cocker Spaniel. We referred to her as “the brat”. The honest truth was that if a dog came in with an attitude I would just groom them. I Didn’t take their attitudes personally, just did my job to the best of my ability. The “good” dogs got the pats, the praise and the added attention.

On this Monday I decided to groom her differently. Whenever she did any small thing well, I praised her. If she waited a second before she growled at me for picking up her foot I would tell her how brave she was. Slowly I noticed a change in her that day. Although she was still a brat she seemed to want to be good. Her patients with me seemed a little longer. When I finished grooming her I actually saw her tail wiggle. I told her how good she had been and how brave she was, it wiggled even more. I realized that there was a “good” dog in there and it was too sensitive to trust just yet.

That day changed my whole outlook in regards to my work. I realized that positive reinforcement was my best grooming tool. From then on, no matter how busy my shop was I tried to give each dog a little added attention. After a time I was amazed at how many dogs that would normally wear muzzles during the grooming would later graduate to never having to wear them. I began getting more and more dogs that were being referred to me because no other dog grooming shop in the area would groom them. Although not all of the dogs got over their little quirks, many of them became more trusting and more cooperative. Praise and patience are the keys to cooperation.

Dogs are similar to people. If you give them a chance, let them relax, and try not to initially judge and label them, you are sometimes surprised at what you learn.

Katherine Durr is a professional dog groomer and the author of “How to Groom your Mutt”. Visit her website at Doggie Dews

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katherine_Durr
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-I-Learned-from-a-Cocker-Spaniel&id=78891

Removing Matts

Dog Service Network — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:58:18 +0000

By Katherine Durr

Before I discuss the tricks used to remove matts on your dog I must emphasize a few things If your dog is badly matted or the matts are close to the skin I strongly recommend you take your dog to a professional to have him groomed. I also recommend a professional if your dog is elderly or can not tolerate being brushed.

Having said that let’s talk matts. There are certain areas of your dog that I would not recommend de-matting. Some dog groomers refer to them as the sensitive areas. They are located between the back legs, under the armpits, on the belly, and under the tail. These areas I would recommend that you clip with a #10 or #15 blade. One of the most common areas for a dog to matt is around and behind the ear. This happens because this is the most popular petting spot. The area behind the ear has very thin skin and can be very hazardous to de-matt. If gentle brushing does not remove the matt you can cut the length of the matt in half and try again to brush it out. To make sure you do not cut your dogs ear try holding the matt with your finger tips at the skin and then cut the matt in half. Now try gentle brushing. If this still does not remove the matt it may be time to use clippers.

Matts can occur anywhere on your dog. One way to remove them is to take a pair of scissors and put the blade between the skin and the matt. With the sharp side away from the skin you can either use a sawing motion to cut through the matt or you can simply cut it in several places parallel to the direction of hair growth. Try again to brush the matt out.
There are several de-matting combs on the market. All of these work well but you should be careful when using them. Take the de-matting comb and comb it under the matted area. When it catches a matt, use a sawing motion to cut through the matt. Try to limit the pulling motion because most dogs do not like it.

If your dogs tail has matts you can use either method above to remove them. Before cutting the tail try to gently brush it out. If the matts are too extensive, either cut through the matts parallel to the direction of hair growth and then attempt to brush them out or shorten the entire length of the tail. Simply hold the tip of your dogs tail and shorten the entire length by cutting parallel with the tail. If the matts are hanging from the tail in different places you should be cutting them in half with this method. When you have removed all the matts from the tail and after you have bathed and dried him you can go back and even up any long hair.

If you are uncertain about shaving the sensitive areas, the pads of the feet or shaving matts from around the ears, some grooming shops will shave just these areas for a small fee.

During any dog grooming session you should praise your dog but especially while brushing them. Most dogs do not like to be brushed and they need the added reinforcement when they are tolerating it.

Katherine Durr has been a professional dog groomer for over 17 years and is the author of “How to Groom your Mutt”. Visit her website at Doggie Dews

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Removing-Matts&id=102992

The Pitfalls of a Matted Dog

Dog Service Network — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:42:29 +0000

By Katherine Durr

Many dogs do not like being brushed and for this reason their owners do not brush them. Sometimes trying to find the time for brushing in our busy schedules can be difficult. If you have a dog that gets knotted and you do not brush them or give them a hair cut on a regular basis this is what can happen.

FACT: When you have a dog with matts in his fur, the matts will not come out without brushing or clipping.

Each time you bathe your dog with knots in his fur, when he dries, the knots become tighter. It is similar to loosely knotting a piece of leather, getting it wet, then letting it dry. The knot becomes tighter and close to impossible to get out. At this point a dog hair cut is in order.
After a period of time the knots become so tight that the hair is actually ripped from the skin a few hairs at a time.
When a dog becomes matted all over and you bathe him, the soap is very difficult to rinse out. If soap is accidentally left behind it can irritate his skin. Scratching these areas can cause further irritation along with cuts and scrapes from his nails.
If he has a wound from scratching all sorts of things can then happen.
The area can get infected or flies can lay eggs in the wound.
When a dog is matted to the skin it is difficult if not impossible to see the skin and any problems that may be occurring.
Severe matts between the toes and on the pads of the feet can cause lameness. Just imagine if you had a rock in your shoe that you could not remove.
Matts under the armpits and between the back legs can hinder the range of motion your dog has with his legs.
Around his mouth and lips, matts can create a wonderful breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and yeast.
Severe matts on his ears can create excess weight, especially when wet, and can contribute to chronic ear infections.

The best advice:

A dog hair cut. Groom your dog on a regular basis, weather you take him to a shop and have him groomed, or you groom him at home.

For those of you who have dogs that do not like to be brushed, try giving them a clipper haircut every 4-6 weeks. Usually this amount of time can prevent too many knots from forming. If however you find your dog getting knotted in a shorter period of time, shorten the time between grooming.

Katherine Durr has been a professional dog groomer for over 17 years and is the author of “How to Groom your Mutt”. Visit her website at Doggie Dews

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katherine_Durr
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Pitfalls-of-a-Matted-Dog&id=102997

When Is My Dog Too Old For That Haircut?

Dog Service Network — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:45:53 +0000

By Katherine Durr

Most dog owners prefer to have the breed haircut on their dogs. If they own a Cocker Spaniel they prefer to have the “Cocker clip”. If they own a Bichon Friese they prefer a Bichon haircut. There are times when this to not the case. When the owner is dealing with stickers, skin problems or perhaps they just want something manageable. If you could ask the dog what type of haircut he wants I think that his reply would be “anything that makes my owner happy”. But the question is, “When is the dog too old to have a breed haircut?”.

Some people do not understand the difference between the time taken to clip a dog using clippers and the time taken to scissor a dog into a breed clip. So let me try and explain.

When a dog is in a clipper style haircut, during dog grooming the time it takes to wash and dry the dog is usually short. This means that the dog stands in the tub and on a table for a short time. When the dog is dry and ready for a haircut the time to do a clipper cut is relatively short. Usually it is not an issue if the dog has knots. The clippers will cut under the knots to remove them. Then the finishing scissor work is done on a clipper style haircut. The feet and the face must be done. Any long hair that the clippers missed must be cut off. And depending on the groomer, other areas of the dog are done. Normally is will take forty five minutes to an hour for all the stages of a basic clipper cut. And during the majority of this time the dog is asked to stand up.

When a dog is in a breed clip, usually the hair is at a length of at least one to two inches. Depending on the breed and the preference on the owner. The time is takes to wash and dry this length of hair is longer. This means that the dog must stand in the tub and on the drying table for a longer period of time. If a dog is getting a longer haircut, all the knots must be brushed out prior to the cut. This means more time spent standing on a table. For the breed clip it can take between one to two hours for all the stages of the haircut. This includes standing in the tub, on the table to be dried, tolerating having all the knots brushed out, and then standing again for the scissor work.

When a dog becomes older their tolerance level is sometimes less. They no longer tolerate being brushed as much as they did in their younger years. This alone causes them stress. Many times this is due to their bodies being more sensitive. Arthritis makes their joints a little stiffer and they get tired quicker. The longer they are made to stand on a table the more stress is causes them.

Unless our dogs are show dogs, the haircuts we have done on them are done for our own personal reasons. If your dog is twelve years old and can not walk for any distance then perhaps it is time for the dog grooming haircut that takes the least amount of time and stress. It really is true, your dog does not care what he looks like, he only cares what you think he looks like. So tell him he is just as beautiful with that short haircut as he was when he was younger with that fancy one. You will both be the better for it.

Katherine Durr has been a professional dog groomer for over 17 years and is the author of “How to Groom your Mutt”.

Visit her website at Doggie Dews

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katherine_Durr
http://EzineArticles.com/?When-Is-My-Dog-Too-Old-For-That-Haircut?&id=274345

Why Dog Health and Grooming Go Hand in Hand

Dog Service Network — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:52:21 +0000