How often should you groom your dog?

There is not a specific frequency for giving your dogs a bath or full groom them. In my 12 years’ experience as groomer, I can say that there are four main factors that determinate when to groom your dogs: The breed, physical activity (swim , hike , dog camp), health condition in the dogs (special skin conditions mostly ), and any special health condition that might affect one of the members of the family ( allergies, babies)

In occasion, if for example the dogs have allergies, or an extreme itching condition and they are following a special treatment, the frequency varies between one a two week. In the same way, out door doggies that hike, swing, or spend most of the time in outdoors, the frequency could be even 2 times a week in some cases.

Talking about the breed, there are dog such as Labra Doodle, Poodle, Shit Tzu, York Shire Terrier , Maltese, Golden Doodles that can be short or long hair and, the longer the hair, the more often (every two to tree weeks) it need to be groomed, since the hair can get matted easily if the dog is not brushed in daily bases or for some reason is licking any part of its body.

Short hair doggies such as Labradors, Pugs, Pitbull, Chihuahuas, Jack Russel and French Bulldogs for example, should be bath at least once a month, especially for keeping teeth, nails and ears in a good condition.

A good number for those dogs that don’t need hair cuts as Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Australian Shepherds, Saint Bernard’s, Sprinter Spanish, would be tree weeks. In that way you can keep the hair unmated and soft with the help of a good conditioner.

The type shampoo and conditioner on the other side, are very important. Besides the fact of being special for dogs, and different for each breed and hair characteristics, has to be applied in a proper way, leaving it for five to ten minutes. It also will help the coat to get softer, withe and shine as your dog deserves.

A very important part of the bath process is drying the dog completely and brush them very well. It will help to avoid ear infections, extreme sheading, and bad odors. As a towel dried in a closed room instead of in a drier machine, dogs that are not totally dry can have a strong bad odor even the same day you gave them a bath. Brushing the dog, helps to take out all the undercoat, (specially is some short hair breeds) making them fell fresh.

When making the decision of what doggie to buy or adopt, it is really important to consider you life style and also the budget for grooming you are able to spend. Believed or not, dogs know when they are clean and tidy, and it affects its mood and behavior in a positive way.