Grooming Tips: Brushing Short-Coated Dogs

To be healthy and happy, all dogs of any coat need to be groomed. Depending on the length of the coat, your dog’s grooming regimen may be as simple as a weekly brushing or as high maintenance as daily combing and monthly professional grooming.

Brushing and combing help remove pests, burrs, and tangles and also help distribute oils that keep canine skin healthy. Regular grooming will keep your dog feeling and looking good. Sometimes all your dog needs is a good brushing to get rid of a bad hair day. And with a good doggie bath your dog might smell and look better than your teddy bear.

Five Essential Grooming Tools For Brushing Short-coated Dogs

• Slicker Brush: Use for removing dead and shedding hair from your dog.
• Pin Brush: Generally used for daily brushing of most coats except for smooth-coated breeds. It is also good for finishing off after combing on long-coated breeds.
• Flea Comb: Commonly used to remove fleas, but I like to use in on hard to reach areas.
• Shedding Comb or Metal Comb: Use it to check for tangles and combing out excess dead hair on those heavy shredding dogs.
• Dematting Rake or Detangler: Use it for cutting through knots and removing dead hair effectively without disturbing the outer coat. Excellent tool for double coated breed dogs.

Grooming Tools Tip: Do not try to save pennies on cheap grooming tools. A good set of grooming tools can dramatically reduce your grooming time and in return save you more money. Invest on a good bristle brush as some synthetic bristle brushes can generate too much static electricity that cause hair breakage.

Step by Step On Brushing Short-Coated Dogs

1. Using a slicker brush, start from the hind leg working towards to the front leg. Flip open the fur with the your thumb and brush down the fur gradually.
2. Repeat step one on the other side of the body.
3. If you encounter any minor tangles, simply use your figures to gently loosen the tangles. For more difficult knots, use a dematting rake. Knots left unloosen may cause skin irritations and possible infections.
4. When brushing the underside of your dog especially around the productive area, be extra careful and gentle. Use a pin brush or comb on those sensitive areas.
5. Use a comb instead of a slicker brush around the face area to prevent injuring your dog.
6. Use a flea comb under the chin and muzzle areas for removing “leftovers” stuck between hair.
7. Brush the tops of your dog’s ear and the hair covered under the ear with comb.
8. After brushing, use a metal comb to check for tangles following the same sequence.

Grooming Tips: To help stimulate oils in the coat and to lift debris effectively off the skin, brush your dog’s hair in circles against the growth. Then brush your dog’s hair back in shape.