Grooming your dog is an essential step in pet ownership. Not only does it make your dog look good, but it’s good for your best friend’s hygiene, helps prevent fleas and ticks, and reduces the risk of getting infections and diseases. You might be OK with leaving your dog in the capable hands of professional groomers for a while. However, as healthcare experts do not recommend face-to-face contact and consultation during this pandemic, many pet owners have had to groom their dogs themselves.
If you’re still hesitant about whether you can groom your dog or if vets recommend this, here are some reasons and benefits to why grooming your dog yourself can help not only you but your beloved pooch.
- Save Time and Money
Probably the number one reason why many pet owners decide to groom their dogs themselves is that it saves them a lot of time and money. You’ll have to buy a complete grooming kit for your dog first, of course. That includes shampoo, toothpaste, pet grooming shears, and a comb, among others. Getting all these might be inconvenient to think, but it’ll save you more money in the future.
- Less Chance of Injury
There’s always a risk of injury every time you visit the groomer’s, whether they’re new or not. While most groomers are entirely safe and trained to handle even the rowdiest of dogs carefully, there is still a chance of injury or trauma from a terrible groomer or handler.
At the very least, if you have to go to a groomer, find one that gets good reviews or have groomers and handlers that are well-trained and trustworthy. Otherwise, grooming your dog yourself can lessen the risk of injury from mishandling and just overall terrible treatment.
- You Know Your Dog Best
Often, the reason why dogs get anxious when you leave them with the groomers is that they’re with someone they don’t know or trust. When you’re the one doing the grooming, not only do they trust you significantly more than a random stranger, but you know them better than anyone else.
You know all the right places to scratch or rub them, all the correct commands to get them to behave themselves, and their favorite treats. Most importantly, you’ll know all their habits, like where they get the dirtiest or what causes a behavior change. If you know your dog well, you’ll probably know what to do not to hurt them, injure them, or cause them any distress. Your dog is used to you and used to having your hands all over them, so they might not put up much of a fight when you have to groom them.
- Keep Both Your Dog and Your Home Clean
As every pet owner and homeowner know, when a dog gets dirty—such as when they’ve been playing outside and come back inside—they tend to track dirt or bring in other gunk from outside. They can stain those white sheets that you just washed or that brand-new rug that you just brought. If you’re tired of your dog getting all the furniture dirty or shedding fur everywhere, keeping them clean and groomed is one way to keep your house clean too. A clean dog equals a clean and happy home.
- You Decide Everything
When you groom your dog, you call all the shots, including how long you want their fur to be, how you style it, and what kind of shampoo you use. If you’ve never liked how your regular groomers cut your dog’s hair or the way their regular shampoo smells, grooming your dog yourself gives you the freedom to decide all of that for your dog. You can choose what makes them more comfortable or cater to your own specific tastes.
If you’re worried about what your dog will think, don’t worry. They don’t care at all about appearances the way that we do. So feel free to go nuts and unleash your inner stylist. Just remember that it might take months for a dog’s fur to grow back, and once you’ve shaved it off, there is no way to stick it back on.
- Builds Trust Between You and Your Dog
Not only is it a good bonding activity, but you can build a stable and lasting relationship of trust with your dog. As your dog gets used to you and your grooming, your dog will soon learn they can trust you, that nothing you don’t mean to hurt them, and that they’ll gradually relax and submit themselves willingly to you. Your pup might put up a bit of resistance—after all, dogs will be dogs—but if they know that they can trust you and that you don’t mean any harm, they won’t be too bothered or distressed.
Learning how to groom your dog can be a long process, and you might make a few mistakes here and there. But it can save you a lot of time and money and nurture a deep bond of trust between you and your pup. So try something new and unfamiliar and start learning to groom your dog yourself.