How often should you groom your dog? Benefits and things to be aware of!

Are you grooming your beloved dog regularly?
Grooming not only keeps your dog looking nice, but also helps maintain healthy skin and other parts of your dog's coat.

If you're getting a dog for the first time, you may be wondering whether grooming is necessary and, if so, how often.
In this article, we'll introduce the reasons for grooming and some important points to keep in mind.

What is grooming anyway?

Grooming refers to cutting and trimming a pet's hair, but salons generally include haircuts, shampooing, and bathing.

Grooming is beneficial to your dog's skin and coat.
Keeping your dog clean helps protect it from illness and infection.

What "Grooming" Does at a Grooming Salon Does

The following is the basic process.

1. Check the condition of the skin and coat
2. Shampoo
3. Dry
4. Cut

Some salons even offer nail care, ear cleaning, and anal expression services.
Bacteria easily grow in areas such as the anus and genitals due to temperature changes, so keeping your dog's hair short to prevent infection is the first step to keeping your dog healthy.

Benefits of Grooming

Appearance

There are many different types of dog grooming. One benefit is the fun of changing and enhancing their appearance!

Keeping Your Dog's Skin and Coat Clean

Regular grooming allows you to notice changes in your dog's health and skin condition early on.
Dogs are patient and will often hide any illnesses or problems. Many of these issues are difficult to notice in everyday life.
It also prevents hair from becoming tangled and is highly recommended for skin care.

Comfortable Living

During the hot summer months, more and more owners ask for their dogs' hair to be cut extremely short. However, this can sometimes have the opposite effect as a way to protect against the heat, so be careful.

A dog's coat serves to protect its delicate skin from external stimuli. If you're unsure about the best length, be sure to consult your groomer.

What's the best frequency for grooming?

You don't have to take your dog to the salon; you can trim overgrown fur yourself and remove tangles by brushing.
However, for physical care and health maintenance, we recommend taking your dog to the salon regularly!

For healthy dogs, grooming is recommended about once every one to two months, but this varies depending on the length of their hair and whether or not they have any skin conditions.

Dogs who don't enjoy walking often may develop ingrown nails due to reduced opportunities for their nails to be filed down on surfaces such as asphalt. A salon trim is a safe option.
Anal expression is also difficult to perform at home, and if left unattended for too long, it can rupture, so it's best to have your dog groomed regularly.

The specific frequency is best decided after thorough consultation with your groomer or veterinarian!

Groom Long-Haired Breeds Frequently

・Pomeranian, Yorkshire Terrier, Poodle, Shih Tzu, Maltese, etc.

Long-haired toy breeds have long hair that gets dirty easily.
We recommend grooming them about once every month to once and a half!

Groom short-haired breeds sparingly

・Pugs, French Bulldogs, Miniature Pinschers, etc.

Short-haired breeds do not need to be groomed frequently.
On the other hand, grooming can damage their skin, so it's best to groom them every 2.5 to 3 months!

Dog breeds recommended for skin care

Shiba Inu, Miniature Dachshund, etc.

The above dog breeds are prone to skin diseases. Frequent bathing and shampooing may be effective skin care.

Shampoo Benefits and Precautions

Skin impurities hinder metabolism and cause irritation.
Excess sebum must be lifted and impurities removed effectively.

Effects of Shampoo

By lifting sebum, you can remove irritating dirt.
Using a special shampoo can also wash away bacteria and mold that can cause infection.

Shampoo Precautions

The surfactants and cleansing agents used in shampoos are effective at lifting sebum.
Depending on the type and frequency of use, bathing can remove even the minimum amount of sebum, which can have adverse effects, so be careful.

Benefits of Bathing and Precautions

Benefits of Bathing

It simplifies overall skin care and can also be used as a rinse before shampooing.
Bathing also has the effect of softening the keratin, so using bath additives can be expected to have the same effect as shampooing, even on dogs with sensitive skin.

Bathing Precautions

Bathing in plain hot water can wash away essential sebum, reducing the body's moisturizing effect. We recommend using bath additives.

About Brushing at Home

The period when a dog's coat changes is called the shedding period.
If you do not brush your dog frequently during this period, the hair will become tangled and matted. Trying to forcefully remove the tangles and mats will pull on the skin, causing pain.

Regular brushing can also help reduce stress caused by pain. Getting your dog used to it from a young age will help it become a habit.
Try giving lots of praise as a reward for their hard work!

Finally

Regular grooming has many benefits for your beloved dog!
Checking your dog's body can also help detect illness early.
What's more, seeing your dog with a trendy, cute cut is one of the joys of being a pet owner!

When grooming at home, it's also a great way to communicate with your dog. You might even make some new discoveries, like, "I never knew there was a pattern like this here!"
Don't forget to praise your pet if it's good while you're brushing it.