Tips For Grooming Dogs At Home To Save Money

Paying professionals for dog grooming can become pricey, and you’d be surprised by how quickly the numbers can add up. For this reason, many pet owners choose to take matters into their own hands by grooming their dogs at home. With a bit of trial and error, you can give your dog that wonderful professional looking cut that costs so much.

Of course, you should start by investing some money into pet clippers. Though you can use normal human hair clippers for shorter coats, pet clippers can help prevent snagging your pet’s coat. Spending a bit of extra money can also ensure that you get clippers that can be sharpened, basically extending its lifespan. Along with a pair of good clippers, sharp scissors are ideal for trimming the area around the eyes and ears.

Getting Ready

You will need an elevated surface in order to get your pet ready for grooming. Pet salons have work tables created for this purpose, but you can use your kitchen table. Make sure you place a mat on your table to ensure the surface isn’t wet or slippery.

Ideally, you should clip your pet’s coat usually anywhere from six to eight weeks. If your pet has a long coat prone to getting dirty or matting, you can increase the clipping intervals. Usually, you can gauge whether or not your dog needs grooming by how effectively you can brush its coat.

Tips For Proper Grooming

• 

  Always choose a spot that’s free of any potential distractions and where your dog can relax. Hair is going to get everywhere, so find a place where it’s easy to clean up the remnants of your grooming efforts.

• Though not a necessity, you may wish to give your dog a bath before the clippers are used. Always use a shampoo that’s specially formulated for dogs, and brush your dog’s coat properly before using the clippers. Using a quality grooming tool that is effective in removing the underlying coat without hurting your pet will make things go smoothly. My preference would be the Equigroomer over anything else as I have tried other tools. It has a short blade that doesn’t touch the animals skin, rather, it pulls the dead hair and dander, similar to a cats tongue.

• Your clippers should be used in the direction of the hair growth. Always use long smooth strokes to clip, and hard to reach spots or extremities should be groomed using scissors.

Just like people, pets need proper grooming too. Unfortunately, pet salons can be expensive, and if your pet needs regular grooming, the costs can start to add up quickly. You can master the art of using pet clippers fairly easily, and with a bit of trial and error, you will end up saving money.