Grooming Your Golden Retriever Right

Grooming your Golden Retriever is a process that knows no bounds. Proper grooming, just like feeding your Golden Retriever is important to make sure that your dog is in the pink of its health. It is also a nice way for you to spend quality time with your canine friend. The entire grooming process is usually done once or twice weekly and will take you about half an hour of time.

Grooming your Golden Retriever should always start with good, proper brushing.  Brushing is important to keep your Golden’s coat clean and healthy. To do this, brush your Golden’s entire body and then switch to a comb when you are done brushing to remove any loose hair remaining in his coat. And while you are at it, you can also check for fleas, ticks and skin problems that may be present as well as his ears and nails.

Bathing is essential to grooming and can be a tricky task.  Remember to brush your Golden first before giving him a bath in order to get rid of tangles.  Always use a shampoo that is especially made for dogs. Human shampoos usually have a strong formula and may irritate or dry out your dog’s skin. You need not bathe your Golden often - once or twice every week is just fine. Proper bathing and maintenance of your Golden Retriever’s coat can make grooming enjoyable and a lot easier. 

Matting, a condition wherein your dog’s coat thickens and tangles into a mass is very common among Golden Retrievers. In order to keep your Golden’s coat from matting, always make sure that you regularly brush his coat with a metal brush or comb. These work well in weeding the mats out. The use of scissors in cutting off the mats is not recommended since you can injure your Golden if it moves.

Grooming your Golden Retriever does not just end with bathing and brushing him. You also need to check his nails to see if it needs to be trimmed. Do not leave your dog’s nails to grow too long, as it can easily take the shape of your Golden’s foot and can result to a splay.  To prevent this from happening, always trim your Golden Retriever’s nails every couple of weeks. Proper trimming is important so that you will have ample time, about two weeks, before necessarily trimming his nails again. Be careful not to trim his nails too quickly otherwise bleeding may happen. But if bleeding occurs, apply styptic powder to stop it.

In addition, you also need to check your Golden Retrievers ears, making sure that they are clean and not easily susceptible to infections. Cleaning your Golden’s ears and keeping them healthy can prevent them from easily getting ear infections and diseases. It is advisable to clean his ears once in a week with a good cleansing solution. Make sure that the formula is mild enough for your Golden to avoid irritations.

Grooming your Golden Retriever does not take too much of your time. But if time does not permit you to groom your pet yourself, you can always take him to a dog salon and let the staff do the job for you. After all, a clean dog makes a happy and healthy dog.