With spring in the air we are lucky enough to have Kathryn Pentland-Bruck as our guest blogger this month. She has some great information to get through mud season. Thank you Kathryn for sharing your knowledge with us.
At
last - Spring is finally here and along with it comes the beginning of one of
the busiest times of the year for the pet grooming industry.
Just as we humans are excited about being
able to shed our winter coats, boots, hats, mitts, scarves and heavy clothing
so are our pets. And so begins the race to get Fluffy, Max, Riley, Mr./Mrs.
Whiskers -whatever your beloved feline/canine family member’s name may be - in
for a good groom including a short Spring trim. And for those with
double-coated pets a good brush out to get rid of all that loose undercoat which
suddenly seems to be clinging to everything and moving like little tumble weeds
through your home. Where the heck did THAT come from?
Just as we feel better after a long period
of time without a bath/haircut so do our pets. Can you think of a time where
you got really dirty or maybe simply weren’t able to bathe/shower as often as
usual (say after a weekend of camping) where you longed for a good clean up and
felt like a million bucks afterwards? I truly believe the same goes for our
pets. I’ve seen many pets come into my salon and after a good groom suddenly
seem more happy, playful and energetic.
So what can you, the pet owner, do yourself
either as part of your home grooming routine or while you’re waiting to get
into the groomer because when you called they said, “We’re booked solid for the
next 2 weeks now that the warmer weather’s arrived”? There are 3 main things. Note - the
following tips should also be followed year round and may even help to keep
your grooming costs down.
Brush your pet – regardless if it’s a dog, cat, rabbit,…if it has fur - just like
people who have hair - it needs to be brushed on a regular basis. There are so
many benefits to this. 1) It will help to keep your pet’s hair from becoming a
matted/tangled mess. Typically matts and tangles = total shave down/buzz cut as
in most cases it’s the most humane thing to do. Note - while matts and tangles may be brushed out it’s slow going,
painful (for both the pet and the groomer) and expensive (for the pet owner). We
groomers don’t have a magic wand which we can waive to suddenly transform this
into this,..although it would be nice if we didJ
2)
It helps to remove loose undercoat for those double coated pets – think Huskys,
Shelties, Malamutes,.. 3) It helps to keep the skin healthy – helps to keep
things like hot spots, dandruff, infections,…at bay, and 4) It’s a great way to
bond with your pet. Think of how nice it feels when someone else washes your
hair and gives your head a lovely massage,….mmmmnnnnn. Tip – when brushing your
pet it’s very important to get right down to the skin. I’ve had many a customer
come into the salon and look at me in complete bewilderment when I say I need
to shave their dog due to matting regardless of the fact that, “they get
brushed on a regular basis”. Imagine if you will that your hair is 10 inches
long. You can brush your hair as often as you want; however if the brush
doesn’t come into contact with your scalp 9 ¾ inches of your hair may be
glorious; however that remaining ¼ inch of hair attached to your scalp will
likely be ¼ inch of hot matted mess – also known as a pelt. Now imagine how it
would feel to try to brush that out? It would be like trying to brush several
packs of chewed sticky bubble gum out of your hair.
If you bathe your pet at home it is very
important that you brush their hair/fur really well prior to doing so!
Keep your pet’s nails
short – I have lots of clients that bring their pets, in my case dogs, in
to have their nails trimmed and/or grinded for a variety of different reasons:
1) They’re nervous about doing it themselves – especially with dark coloured
nails, 2) They don’t know how/aren’t comfortable doing it, 3) They can’t do it
themselves, or 4) They don’t have the time or desire to. Whatever the reason is
fine. I’m happy to do it. Regardless who attends to your pet’s nails there are
things you can do to help keep them shorter. 1) Ensuring your pet gets lots of
exercise. There are many reasons why this should be done. Nails is just one of
them. 2) Ensuring your pet comes into contact with rougher surfaces – i.e.,
walks on the asphalt, concrete or sidewalk for example – please don’t do this
in the middle of the day on hot/sunny days, 3) Playing with your pet’s feet.
Even if you don’t trim their nails. Having your pet comfortable with having
their feet/paws handles will make the process much easier for whomever does
trim their nails, and 4) Regular inspections of their feet/paws, pads and
nails. So you know if there are changes and when the nails are too long. 
Which may leave you wondering how do you
know how often your pet’s nails should be trimmed? Well the most obvious signal
is when you can hear them making the “tick tick tick” sound when your pet moves
about. Can you hear your pet before they enter the room? If so, as Jeff
Foxworthy would say, “There’s your sign!” Are your pet’s nails circling around
and starting to grow back into your pet’s feet/paws? If so it’s definitely time
to have them attended to! As a general rule think of how often you trim your
own nails? I suggest that pet owners bring their pets in monthly for nail
trimming if, for whatever reason, this isn’t part of their home grooming
routine. It’s a short appointment, isn’t very expensive and ensures your pet
isn’t in pain. Long nails on people aren’t the same thing as long nails on
pets.
Keep your pet dry – This doesn't mean your pet can’t get wet; but there are a few
things to think about. Each time your pet gets wet if they have existing
matts/tangles those matts/tangles can be worse. It’s like putting a wool
sweater in the dryer. If you have a double coated pet it’s very important that
they get thoroughly dry after being wet or you could find your pet is suddenly
very smelly and has oozy patches on their skin – hot spots. When drying your
pet be sure to get all the coat dry not just the top coat. Like brushing you
need to ensure ALL the hair/fur gets thoroughly dried – right down to the
skin.
Well dear readers I hope you’ve found this
information to be both helpful and interesting and that it provides you with
the ability to enjoy the onset of the nicer weather with your beloved family
member to the fullest! If you’re in the Kemptville/North Grenville area, or
surrounding areas, and are in search of a dog groomer please visit
FurrificDogGrooming.com or contact me at either info@FurrificDogGrooming.com or
613-258-1010.
