Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

By Jennifer Herne, LVT

Grooming is about more than just making your pet look pretty. You are also tackling potential health problems at the same time. Grooming is an intricate, time consuming job.

First let's start with the basics. Taking your dog to the groomers can be scary for you and for your dog. We recommend you start taking your puppy to groomers. It can be as simple as a visit to say hello, no grooming required just yet. You can visit often and your groomer can discuss with you the proper grooming schedule for puppies. You want the puppy to start associating the experience as a positive one and then by the time he is older it will be a breeze, for him and for the groomer.

It is very difficult to work on a 5-year-old dog who needs a complete shave down and they have never been to the groomers before. It is scary for them so it will take the groomer a long time to get their work done. If you start regular grooming visits as a puppy your dog will also get to know the groomer and realize that it's not a bad place to be. The key to make the visit a good one for everyone is to start taking your puppy to grooming appointments when they are young. I am not saying that older dogs cannot be groomed, all I am saying is it may take a long time, may be stressful for your dog and may be more expensive for you if the dog doesn't cooperate.

There are many steps to a grooming appointment. Next week we will discuss the steps and also discuss what breed of dogs require more frequent grooming.