For the majority of us, it’s been a couple of months since we’ve been able to get a haircut -- and that also includes our pets! But there are some things that you can do at home to help keep up with your furry friend’s grooming.
NBC 7 got some great information and advice from a groomer with San Diego Humane Society on how to tackle some of these tasks to help keep your pet as healthy and as comfortable as possible.
Generally speaking, you should be taking your dog, if it has long fur, to get groomed every six to eight weeks.
There are actually a lot of things that can be done right now to care for your pet, like properly brushing your dog to avoid matting, clipping your animal's nails if they are getting to long, clean their ears and wash their face every so often to remove tear stains.
“You can use either small cat or dog nail trimmers, or these are going to be the larger ones you can use on your larger dogs," San Diego Humane Society groomer Carlie Maupin said. "Also, you can use human nail clippers on small dogs or cats. Some people don’t realize, you don’t need the fancy animal stuff. Working slowly and trimming the very tips is going to get you by until you can visit your groomer again."
She added about brushing, “people don’t realize that sometimes you’re missing tangles or matting that’s closer to the surface of the skin. What I recommend is doing something we call line brushing. You’ll have your pet in front of you and you’ll pull that coat back completely in the opposite direction in which it grows and you’ll slowly work in each layer of that coat. And that will ensure you’re getting all the way to the base of the coat and all the way to the skin. And that will help you identify if there are tangles or matts that need to be spot shaved out.”
Also, don't forget about your pet's teeth and ears.
California
News from across California
Experts say you should be cleaning your pet's teeth once a week, and its ears at least once a month.
Looking for more helpful tips? Click here for more information.
