The Importance of Dog Grooming (Feb. 2024)

Dog grooming is not just about making your dog look better. Before attending a dog grooming course, I had never given it a thought that dog grooming is also about animal welfare. It is important for maintaining the overall health and well-being of your dog. If a dog does never, or not regularly enough, have the fur growing under his paws adjusted, nails trimmed or removed excessive layers of long hair, then he might actually suffer. Not many people think about the fact that there are also health benefits linked to it: A good grooming session helps to maintain a clean coat, stimulate natural oil production in the skin which results in a shiny, healthy coat, and can even help to detect any underlying health issues. To summarize, it contributes to dogs' overall quality of life. 

Dog grooming is also about educating the dogowner. Yes, you read that correctly ! I experience daily how so many dogowners do not realise the importance of coming regularly to the salon for the well-being of their pet. They love their furbaby just as much as a real baby probably, they are deeply concerned about what kind of food to feed him, etc., etc., but they never brush his fur at home and cannot see why they should have come to the salon two months ago and not only now.... And the sad thing is that when not done often enough, the task is more stressful, and sometimes even painful for the dog, than what it could have been. I would like to also draw your attention to nail trimming: Many dog owners overlook the importance of nail trimming. Overgrown nails can cause a dog serious discomfort. Regular nail trimming helps to maintain proper posture and paw structure. In the worst cases I have seen, some dogs' nails have not been cut for so long that they begin to grow into the pads ! I will let you imagine how damaging this can be. If the dog is black, his pads and nails are all black, then you will only see this when examining him very closely. Please see the below photo as an example: 

In some countries, it can be quite a cost taking your dog to the groomer with frequency. It's worth investing in quality grooming tools suited to your dog’s coat type, as this will reduce the intervals at which you will have to pay for a grooming session. Basic tools include the correct brushes and combs, nail clippers, and shampoo/conditioner adapted to your dog's fur. It should be a natural part of being a dogowner to have a basic knowledge about the type of coat one's dog has, and its specific needs. Everyone has 10 mins. a day to brush through their dog's coat properly. And when done every day, the task is easy. But when done only after one or even several months, the job becomes unmanageable. 

I can also warmly advise you to introduce grooming at home at an early age, if you get your dog as a puppy. This will make your dog become comfortable with the process, making it a pleasant experience for all involved. Train him to stand still on top of a table, for example, while brushing him. Try to make him relate the bathing routine with something pleasant. Getting him used to this little by little will remove the usual panic as soon as the shampoo and the brush come out. 

The joy of seeing the final result when a dog has finished his session at the salon, and experiencing how much better he feels, is amazing. You can see that they feel so much lighter ! Sometimes we remove such huge amounts of hair, that the dog appears to be only half the size of what he was when he arrived. Here some photos of my own daily experiences as a trainee in a grooming salon.

Pia Johansen, February 2024.