Some simple, natural & basic dog grooming at home. Starting with steps of dog grooming a pet parent is bound to do most often.
Paw cleaning
A dry wipe is recommended after a walk outside. This get’s all the debris out of their paws.
Especially if you like your dog on the sofa and bed. However, if you do feel the need to clean their paws thoroughly, you could use a mix of soap nut solution with water. Fill up a spray bottle and spray directly on the paws to get all the dirt out and wipe them dry. Preferably do a wet wipe only once or twice a week. Soap nut solution is one of the mildest, yet effective natural anti bacterial wash for dog paws.
Dog grooming tips:-
Their paws won’t get muddy, if you, do the dry wipe first. Click link for recipe to anti bacterial wash for dog paws.
Brushing your dog’s coat
Recommended once a week to keep the coat from matting.
Recommended 3-4 times a week during shedding season. Or even if your dog has seasonal allergies.
Keeps the coat tangle free . And removes loose fur and debris.
Dog grooming tips:-
The kind of brush to use, depends on your dog’s coat. A wide tooth everyday comb is used for double coat dogs. We use a flea comb, for a dog with long, yet fine coat.
We’ve tried a de-matting comb on a saint bernard. However, if you do run their coat with a flea comb, it doesn’t strip as much of the good fur. The slicker brush is best for a lovely massage.
Brushing your dog’s teeth
Recommended twice a week. Even if your dog’s getting a dental chew like chicken feet, chicken neck regularly.
Reduces deposits or tartar buildup. Tartar build up after brushing also in 3-4 days.
Do note, dental care is necessary for dog’s with kidney problems.
We use Beaphor’s Tooth Gel, that doesn’t require brushing. We still prefer using the brush but on lazy human days, this works just fine.
Use a dog tooth brush of your choice. We use a normal baby tooth brush for our medium dog. For our giant dog, we used the silica finger tooth brush which was easier to manoeuvre around her mouth.
Brushing as part of dog grooming for beginners, the above works well. It’ll get you comfortable with the whole exercise.
For natural toothpastes, consider using neem bark powder and coconut oil mix.
We give neem leaf powder mixed with one meal a day as a supplement. Which works wonders on their dental hygiene as well. If your puppy loves to chew even on wood or barks. You could also offer a fresh neem bark, twice a week. And replace the teeth brushing all together.
Ear cleaning
Recommended once a week for dogs with closed ears.
Recommended once or twice a month for dogs with open ears.
Cleaning the insides of the dog’s ear once a week helps remove wax, debris.
It provides a good check for foul smells, signs of infection or mite in the ear.
A basic ear cleaning with cotton pads soaked in ear cleaning solution. Rub the insides with cotton pad around your finger. Give a gentle massage and wipe clean to check for wax. Repeat if necessary with fresh cotton pad.
Dog grooming tips:-
Since we give our closed ear dog, neem leaf powder as a supplement, the amount of ear wax had reduced. This dog was prone to ear mites.
Between the baths
Bathing large to giant breed dogs every month also can be a challenge. And we had our chamomile tea spray to our rescue. We used this for our saint bernard.
Dampen a clean towel with water. Do a “sponge bath” on your dog, especially where they tend to get dirty fast and of course the paws. After which spray the chamomile tea all over the body and brush their coat. Click link for blog that has recipe for chamomile tea.
Nail clipping
If you do choose to clip your dog’s nails at home, here are a few tips to ease into the process:
I was scared I was going to hurt my dog. So I started with two paws at a time every week.
Ensuring I clipped a little length at a time. And my dog was in the habit of getting his nails clipped. Eventually move to clipping their nails, once in 2-3 months.
Now I clip a longer length since I am more confident of my skills.
Dog Bath
Bathing a dog more than once a month is not recommended. We make our very own dog wash at home – the soap nut solution. It works well on our medium dog with skin allergies. However for our giant dog with a double coat, we always headed to the groomers.
Most of a dog’s grooming at home, is a matter of getting your pooch and yourself into the routine. And you’ll start noticing any small changes which could impact their health. Grooming at home, is a small health check for your canine companion.