Groom your best friend year round and you’ll have one smart looking dog, but also a happy and healthy pet!
It is essential to take care of your dog and keep it fit and healthy all year round. A little bit of neglect from your side can leave you in a mountain of medical bills from the vet. If you do not have insurance for your pet, that adds to the pain, not to mention the pain it may inflict to your dog, too.
What most pet owners do not know is that grooming to-dos change with the season. What you do in summer is different for what the pet needs in winter. Below are some grooming tips to help you keep your dog clean and healthy throughout the year.
Summer Grooming Tips
The heat can really take a toll on your dog’s energy. Groom your dog to beat off the heat efficiently.
Summer Baths
Increase the number of baths per week during the summer. Brush your pet’s hair before giving them a bath and apply a flea repellant after the bath to prevent any flea infestations.
There are a variety of effective, pet-friendly grooming products you can use at home to help make cleaning your pet a breeze and keep them smelling fresh. Here are our top picks.
| Image | Product | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
For Bathing
 |
Hepper Oatmeal Pet Shampoo |
|
Check Price |
For In-Between Baths
 |
Hepper No-Rinse Pet Shampoo |
|
Check Price |
For On-The-Go
 |
Hepper Wash Wipes |
|
Check Price |
At PangoVet, we've admired Hepper for many years, and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding designs of this cool cat company!
Hair Cuts
Although you might think that a thick coat of hair might be hot for your dog, it’s not. The thick coats on dogs act like natural weather controllers and allow the dog to maintain their body temperature in harsh weather conditions.
Shaving off the hair can make your dog uncomfortable as the heat will then directly hit the dog’s exposed skin and may cause burning and other skin problems. Instead, brush the coat more frequently to keep it clean and to prevent excessive shedding.
Trim Nails
As dogs like to play outside in the summer, they may break their paw nails if they are not properly trimmed. Do not cut the nails more than required. Just cut from the tip where the nail begins and trim every week to keep the nails short.
Winter Grooming Tips
Winter brings another set of problems with it for your canines. Keep them well groomed to prevent them from falling sick.
Blow Dry
When you don’t skip your baths in the winter, why should your pet? It is important to make hygiene a top priority and bathe your dog regularly. However, care should be taken that your dog does not walk off with a wet coat. Blow-dry your pet’s coat to prevent it from catching a cold or other winter illnesses. If bathing regularly is a problem, use dry shampoo instead.
Hair Cut
Although you might think that a dog needs its thick coat to bear the winter cold, sometimes it’s more of a burden for the dog to handle and a home to potential diseases. In winters, it is advisable to give them a longer trim.
Coat Brushing
Make sure to regularly brush their coat to promote proper blood circulation and distribution of oils throughout the coat. This will help remove dirt, dead hair and tangles. Thick coats hide in them suspicious sores, bumps and lumps. Brushing regularly can help you catch these problems and you can tend to them immediately before they become worse.
Flea Situation
Many dog owners are in for a surprise if they believed that flea problems vanish with the arrival of winter. Unfortunately, they don’t. If your pet is staying indoors in the winter, in your warm and centrally heated home, the flea problem may still persist. Fleas can survive for months on warm surfaces like pet beds and cushions. Use flea repellants even in the winter to combat this problem.
With the help of these you can now keep your cuddly mutt hale and hearty, all year round.
Author Alex Khan is a dog carer at SpoiltRottenDog, a dog day care centre in Sydney, Australia. Alex is also a passionate blogger, who has contributed numerous articles on many pet sites. (Photos courtesy SpoiltRottenDogs)
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