09/21/2024
If you don't know, or haven't been educated by a professional on how often you should get your dog groomed, just google it! The first AI generated answer is correct and backed by multiple veterinarians and shelters. I'll share the gist of it here!
"The frequency at which you should groom your dog depends on a number of factors, including your dog's breed, coat length, and type of coat:
Breed
Dogs with short hair, like Dachshunds, Pugs, and Boxers, need less grooming than long-haired dogs.
Coat length and type
Dogs with long, thick fur may need to be groomed every 4–6 weeks, while dogs with short or fine hair may only need to go every 8–12 weeks. Silky-haired dogs need to be brushed and combed every day, and trimmed every 4–8 weeks. Curly-haired and wire-haired dogs need to be bathed and trimmed every 4–8 weeks.
Environment
Dogs that spend more time outdoors may need to be groomed more often due to dirt, bugs, and pollen.
Budget
You should consider how much you're comfortable spending on grooming. You can talk with your groomer and veterinarian to determine the minimum number of grooming appointments your pet needs annually.
Consistent grooming is important for your dog's health and can help prevent matting, knots, irritation, and infection."
I can also list a few general rules for you:
- Brushing! Even for short haired haired pups like labs to long fluffy doodles, every dogs needs brushed at home! They make brushed for all hair/fur types. If you don't know what works best for you, ask your groomer! Short haired dogs like labs, pitbull terriors, and German Short-haired Pointers need a good brushing 1x a week. Double coated breeds need brushing 2x a week. The type of brush will differ depending on the size and fluffiness of your pup. Anything poodle/doodle/oodle 😂 needs to be brushed AT MINIMUM every other day. Most groomers will tell you to do every day. The more the better! That being said there is proper brushing technique! We want you to use the brushes in the correct way to make sure you aren't damaging hair or your pup. If you don't know, please ask!
-Bathing! Everytime your pup gets a bath at home they need to be thoroughly brushed. If brushing doesn't happen after drying, then extra shedding, knotting, and matting occur. We don't want that and we don't want our pups to be uncomfortable because of that. How often you should bathe your pup is up to you! If your pup is mostly inside and doesn't play much outside or roll around, you can do every 8 weeks. If they do get fairly dirty or stinky quickly, you can bathe as frequent as every 2 weeks. As your groomer what types of shampoo would be best for your pup! We have all the secrets!
-Your groomer wants to work with you! Every dog needs to see the groomer. Even if you bathe at home. Even if you trim at home. Every pup needs to see a groomer. We are an extra set of eyes to catch medical issues you haven't seen, we give a deeper clean for the bath, we are educated in skin health and what will work best for your dog, we have learned the art of dog behavior and can guide your pup in the right direction for how they should behave for this experience, and it is a very crucial socializing experience for your ever learning pup (all new smells, sounds, and experiences).
Your local groomer!!
