Summer Dog Grooming Tips

When the temperature starts to rise, appropriate grooming is important to ensure that your dog stays as comfortable as possible. Here are some tips from Andis Grooming Educator Kendra Otto:

Don’t Shave Double-coated Breeds

Some dog breeds, such as Retrievers and Pomeranians, have a double coat (a soft undercoat and a rougher topcoat), which greatly increases shedding as summer approaches. You might be tempted to shave your dog, but this beautiful double coat allows your dog to regulate his body temperature, so don’t shave it!

Instead, give your dog a haircut using a longer comb attachment with the clipper or thin your dog’s coat using a de-shedding tool like the Andis Deshedder.

Keep Pad Hair Short

It is vital that dogs have the hair between the pads of their feet kept short. Keeping their pad hair short will keep them from bringing an outside mess into the house and, most importantly, keep them from falling and hurting themselves on slippery floors.

Keep Toenails Trimmed

Your dogs should be walking on their paw pads and not their toenails! When your dog walks on long toenails, it increases the possibility of a nail breaking off or catching on something and getting pulled out. Toenails should be kept short with a clipper such as the Andis Premium Nail Clipper every one to three weeks to prevent premature arthritis in your dog’s joints.

Clean Your Dog’s Ears Frequently

Your dog loves swimming in ponds, lakes, and rivers. Unfortunately, the bacteria found in the water love your dog just as much! Make sure to rinse off your dog after swimming and clean his ears to prevent unwanted bacterial infections. To properly clean your dog’s ears, you should buy a quality dog ear cleaner (these can be found at your local pet store). Make sure to use a large amount, as dog’s ear canals are quite long. Hold the flap of the ear upright and point the tube downward to fill the ear with the cleaner. Massage the cleaner into the base of your dog’s ear for approximately 20 seconds. Your dog will then shake the cleaner out.

Brush Your Dog

Maintaining your dog’s coat is an essential part of keeping your dog’s skin healthy. The key to keeping your dog free from skin problems caused or aggravated by knots and tangles is to brush, de-shed, rake, and comb your dog regularly. It is especially important to make sure you are brushing your dog on a regular basis if he is being bathed frequently or loves to swim.

10 Strangest Items Swallowed By Dogs

My mother’s Schnauzer mix, Sha Sha, eats just about anything. I didn’t quite believe just how often she would quickly snap up everything in her sight until a few weeks ago when she swallowed a quarter and a nickel in the blink of an eye. The vet advised my mother to watch her for the next few days as the coins would likely pass. It’s a very common issue among dog owners and it doesn’t only happen with puppies. The majority of dogs do grow out of the need to eat inedible objects. It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what a puppy would eat so it’s best to be vigilant about where you dog is allowed to freely roam. Many dogs and puppies have been known to swallow seemingly unsuitable items, which you might not find in any way enticing or preferable, but they do. Check out this list of the strangest things swallowed by dogs as witnessed by the ASPCA :

Keep Your Dog Safe With These Holiday Safety Tips!

‘Tis the season for putting up decorations and eating delicious holiday treats, but that also means pets could be getting into serious trouble! Trupanion , a leading provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs, sees a 10% increase in foreign body ingestion claims and a 24% increase in toxicity claims during the holiday months each year. But you can keep your pets safe this holiday season with the below tips from Dr. Sarah Nold:

10 Most Common Medical Conditions That Send Dogs to the Vet

No one likes going to the vet, especially our dogs. Like many others, my dogs can sense when they are going way before we get there. They get nervous and hyper. Some dogs whimper endlessly at the vet’s office while countless others have fear-induced accidents right in the office. While regular check-ups and vaccinations are a necessary evil, we can try our best to keep our pups in optimal health thus avoiding another dreaded trip. Veterinary Pet Insurance compiled a list of the 10 most common medical conditions that send dogs to the vet. Some are unavoidable while others may be caught early on. Dr. Carol McConnell, DVM points out that many of the conditions that most regularly require vet visits “can be stopped early or successfully managed in partnership with a veterinarian. To prevent some of the discomfort that so many pets experience from common diseases, the place to start would be by checking them regularly for developing problems.” Check out the full list here at Babb

Some Puppy To Love

Search This Blog