Grooming Dogs

Photo courtesy of Jenna Lynn

All dogs can benefit from regular bathing. However, as is true with dog food, many dog shampoos also contain potentially harmful ingredients. It's important to read the label to make sure you're purchasing a product that’s safe for your pet, yourself and the environment.

Choose a safe and effective shampoo that will not dry out the dog’s skin and hair. Ingredients to avoid include artificial fragrances, foaming agents, surfactants and insecticides.

Beneficial ingredients of a high-quality shampoo include certified organic oils and herbs, such as coconut, jojoba, olive, lavender, tea tree, and citrus oils. Shampoos made with these ingredients are less likely to irritate the dog’s skin and can be used more frequently.

An important Dog grooming tips is to place cotton balls in your dogs ears before getting in the bath. Especially if your Great Dane's ear are cropped. This will help prevent ear infections.

Dog hair left dirty for long periods of time can build up stains that are difficult to remove.

A dog's coat is truly his glory. Whatever color and patterned coat the dog you love best wears, you can help keep it looking its shiny healthy best with good nturition, proper shampoo and conditioners and carefull grooming.

After washing your dog's coat make sure and rinse all the soap out. Left over soap can be very irritating to your pets skin. A dog's skin is thinner and more sensitive to injury than human skin. It is easily damaged by rough handling. Once the surface of the skin is broken and distrurbed by trauma or some other disorder, the condition tends to spread rather easily and become a major problem. So, remember to be gentle when washing and brushing, and rinse throughly.

You Can Do It Dog Grooming Here is a website dedicated to Grooming Your Dogs.

Nail Trimming is part of Grooming Dogs here are 5 Tips for Nail Trimming

• Choose your tool. Nail trimmers come in 2 basic types: guillotine and scissors style. Either choice is fine. More important than style is a sharp blade that will cut rather than crush nails. Another option: a nail grinder. The only thing about these is they tend to be loud and since Great Danes tend to scare easy it might not be a good option for them.
• Hold on to your dog gently. Put your dog on a comfortable surface like the coach, or your bed, of if have a cushion that she lays on the floor with (but you may like the elevated position of the couch or your bed better). With a Great Dane you will need the help of another person. Ask the other person to put their arm around the front of her upper body around her chest. Stay calm and upbeat and talk to your dog calmly and reassure her that she is a good girl.
• Clip the tip (not the quick). Take her paw gently in your hand. Position the trimmer so the flat surface of the cutting blade is perpendicular to the nail, with the trimmer tip pointing up. Cut just the nail tip avoiding the blood vessel and nerves in the nail called the quick. If you cut the quick, it will bleed and be painful. You may be able to see the quick in the light colored nails, but not in dark colored nails. Some nail trimmers you buy has a guard that will help protect you from cutting your Dane’s nails too short.
• Embrace regularity. Although it may seem like more trouble, frequently trimming nail tips rather than infrequently cutting large pieces of nail has two big benefits. First more frequent trimming encourages the quick to recede, reducing the chance of injury. Second, it becomes less traumatic for your dog, as she realizes nail trimming is routine. If trimming makes her nervous, just trim one nail each day. So she adjusts to the routine, work up to all nails in one session. Repeat weekly.
• Pay up. Reward your dog with praise, petting, and a small treat.