How Often Do You Groom Your Dog?

I’m going to go with the easy answer on this one: How Often Do You Groom Your Dog? It depends. That’s probably not the answer you were looking for and I can only offer you information based on what I’ve seen and done which is very limited in this area.

Why did this question arise? Well, I’d always heard that you shouldn’t bathe your dog much more than once a month because a dog does not produce natural oils and you’ll ultimately dry out his skin leading to skin conditions. Recently Stetson has had a skin condition and our veterinarian recommend that I try and bathe him about every other week to keep his coat and skin clean. Of course, like a good parent I questioned my vet who told me that Stetson would be perfectly fine bathing every other week.

The boys waiting patiently for their dog grooming session.

That brings to question my entire dog grooming routine. So, after this revelation I wouldn’t to let you know what I do with my dogs and find out exactly how often do you groom your dog?

My Dog Grooming Routine

First of all I wanted to mention that my three dogs all have slightly different fur, but for the most part it’s a short coat. Stetson’s coat is more coarse and he’s a pure-bred Labrador Retriever. Stetson sheds pretty much year round and like most dogs sheds more heavily during the summer months. Linus is a mixed breed (we think mostly Australian Shepherd) and he’s got very soft sligthly longer fur. He’s a seasonal shedder and fur falls off by the bushel about twice a year. Derby is a pure-bred Labrador Retriever and still a puppy. His coat is much shorter than Stetson’s and he’s been lightly shedding most of the summer.

I know every dogs coat will be different and require more or less grooming then my three dogs.

Anyways, on to my dog grooming routine for Linus, Stetson, and Derby:

• Brush My Dogs Teeth - I try to do this twice a week. We’ve had vet assistants and doggy dental professionals come to our meetings and recommend anywhere from once a day to once a week. I think the majority of people don’t brush their dogs teeth at all.
• Brush My Dogs Coat - I try to do this twice a week also. This will vary greatly depending on your dogs coat. A long coat requires much more attention and can often require daily brushing if not more….unless you like the dreadlock look. Some dogs may require professional grooming and cuts as well. We have several dog brushes, but prefer the FURminator deShedding Tool
• Trimming My Dogs Coat - I have never trimmed my dogs coat either myself or professionally. None of my three dogs have a coat that requires trimming. Or family dogs (Golden Retriever, Border Collie, Cairn Terrier) have all required somewhat regular trimmings, but lucky for me my three dogs do just fine without a regular hair cut.
• Clip My Dogs Nails - I try to do this a minimum of once a week. I don’t think I’m cutting the dig nails often enough. The real problem is I just don’t cut them short enough because I’m afraid of cutting the quick. I’m going to look into using a Dremel to grind the nail rather then the clippers to cut. We like the scissor style nail clippers and find them more effective then the guillotine clippers. We use the Bamboo Dog Nail Clipper with Styptic and File
• Ear Cleaning - Once a week. If you have a floppy eared dog then you need to keep a close eye on his ears. Stetson has had four ear infections in about 1 1/2 years. Derby has had one. Luckily (knock on wood), Linus hasn’t had one in almost 4 years. The ear cleaning product we currently use was prescribed by our vet.
• Doggy Baths - The controversial topic…how often should I bathe my dog? This is probable the topic I’ve heard most varying opinions. Once a week, once a month, once a year. I’m going with the safe answer again…it depends. Long coats and short coats will require more or less bathing. Dog lifestyles like camping and hunting dogs who often trot through the mud versus the toy dog breeds who never step foot outside a purse. As I mentioned earlier my vet has recommended bathing Stetson every other week or twice a month. I’m going to do the same for Derby and Linus.

That’s the dog grooming routine. Am I missing anything. Is there something extra you do for your dog on a regular basis. How does my dog grooming routine compare to yours?

True Or False: A Dog’s Mouth Is Cleaner Than A Humans

Just the other day my dog Stetson licked my face and as a devote dog owner I had no problem with this (although as a Guide Dog in Training Stetson should not be licking). However, a friend of mine screamed out “ewwww, that’s gross!” I immediately reacted with “A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s!” The funny thing is I’ve heard that line many times throughout my life without any proof.

Is a dog’s mouth really cleaner then a human’s? Sometimes I find it hard to believe.

Dog’s Mouth Vs. Human’s Mouth

Why am I second guessing myself about what I said the other day? Well, as I said earlier I have no proof and haven’t done any research on this subject. Here’s my evidence against the dogs:

1. My dogs don’t brush or floss there teeth twice a day - I only brush my dogs teeth about twice a week.
2. My dogs both have “doggie breath” all the time. - Stetson’s is worse than Linus’s
3. My dogs can and do lick themselves in places I cannot and do not.
4. Some dogs enjoy eating there own and other animal feces (my parents dog).

I found this great quote on the About.com website:

“A dog’s mouth contains a lot of bacteria,” notes Dr. Gary Ask the Vet” Clemons. “Remember, a dog’s tongue is not only his wash cloth but also his toilet paper.”

The Verdict

So, is a dog’s mouth cleaner than a human’s? After extensive research (filtering through five or six articles on the internet) I have come to the conclusion that no a dog’s mouth is not cleaner than a human’s.

Where Did This Urban Legend Come From?

Evidently Doctor’s started this rumor. Early medical journals found that human bites were more likely to cause infection then a mammals bite including dogs. More recent findings have noted that other than bites to the hand human bites do not have any higher risk of infection than animal bites.

To sum up:

• Originally it was thought that a human bite was more likely to cause infection then a dog bite. - starting the rumor that a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s
• New evidence shows that this is not true. - thus dispelling the rumor.

Conclusion

Why is a dog’s mouth not as clean as a human’s then? Mainly because of the points I mentioned above. A dog doesn’t care where he puts his mouth or tongue. He therefore collects more bacteria then a human on a daily basis. A dog also doesn’t brush and floss daily.

Have you heard this rumor before? What do you think about this evidence?

Here are a couple articles I used in research:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/dogs/a/dog_breath.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBX/is_2003_Feb-March/ai_97515424

Did You Miss Canine Dental Health Month?

February was canine dental health month and I missed it on my blog. However, I still wanted to get a post up about canine dental health. Last month during our Guide Dogs of America monthly meeting we were visited by a gentleman who performed Non-Anesthetic Dental care.

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of several presentations on non-anesthetic dental care and while I think it is a good thing for your dogs to receive non-anesthetic dental care I myself have not had any of my dogs receive non-anesthetic dental care.

OCGDA Meeting on Canine Dental Health

One of the great benefits of being a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Dogs of America is the great information and presentations you get at the meetings. During February’s monthly meeting we were taught how to properly brush our dogs teeth and told which toys are okay and not okay for our puppies.

Unfortunately it is rather difficult to explain in writing how to brush your pets teeth here are a few pointers we learned during our meeting.

• Don’t use regular people toothpaste. Use toothpaste made specifically for dogs. Stetson likes any of the toothpastes I’ve used. Linus prefers the Poultry Flavored Toothpaste in the image to the left.
• At the meeting we were told we can use regular people tooth brushes (soft bristles).
• Be sure to brush all the teeth on the outside and inside.
• Remove anything stuck between the teeth
• Of course they recommend non-anesthetic dental care for you dog if he/she qualifies (I don’t get my dogs this service).
• Start brushing your puppies teeth early on - it’s much easier to get your puppy used to teeth brushing when he’s small then when he’s full grown.
• It was recommended that we use the actual toothbrush over the little rubber finger brush. The reason being that the rubber finger brush doesn’t remove sediment as well as the regular brush.
• Brush your puppies teeth at least once a day.
• Make sure you use lots of praise when brushing your puppies teeth.

Price List For Non-Anesthetic Dental Care

The main reason I have not used Canine Non-Anesthetic Dental care is because of the price. Here is a price list we received at our meeting. Hopefully this will help you price compare if you are looking for a similar service.

Cleaning Schedule	Cleaning Price
Initial Cleaning	$165.00
Monthly Maintenance	$28.00
Bi-Monthly Maintenance	$56.00
Quarterly Maintenance	$78.00
Semi-Annual Maintenance	$109.00

If you are interested in this dental cleaning program and are local to Orange County, CA then please contact me in the comments area and I’ll send you additional information.

Do you get your puppy non-anesthetic dental care? Do you brush your puppy’s teeth regularly?

Tar on dog beach

I love taking Linus to the dog beach. He gets to interact with some of the other dogs, sprint along the sand, and play in the water. Unfortunately, Stetson my guide dog in training is not allowed to visit dog beach (guide dogs rules — he’s not allowed to visit any dog parks). If you’ve never been the Huntington Dog Beach is located between 21st Street and Seapoint Street in beautiful Huntington Beach, CA. They also have a dedicated website at http://www.dogbeach.org. I usually go to the dog beach after work around 6 o’clock and find that it’s usually not too crowded at that time.

I grew up in nearby Fountain Valley and often went to the Huntington City and State Beach. During my youth I remember stepping on tar in the sand and having a heck of a time removing it from the bottom of my foot. I tried water, soap, rubbing alcohol, and none successfully removed the tar from my foot in a quick or easy manner. So, imagine my dismay when a few days ago after returning from the beach I found a big chunk of tar stuck right in the middle of Linus’s paw and clumped together all over his fur on the bottom of his foot. Well, I grabbed rubbing alcohol and tried furiously to remove the tar from his fur and pad. I’m pretty sure I got more tar stuck to my hand then I did on the towel I was using (the tar I moved from Linus’s paw to my hand was also a pain to get off). I figured there has got to be a better way of removing tar from dog fur, hand, and paw pad. I did a little online research and found two possible solutions. First, people said to try using vegetable oil…hmmm…I’ll try anything once. The second solution was a product called Goo Gone. I made a run to the local grocery store and found the vegetable oil and the Goo Gone. I decided to just purchase the Goo Gone and if that didn’t work head back over to the store for the vegetable oil. I put some of the Goo Gone on Linus’s paw and magically the tar began to melt away. It was amazing! The clumped up tar basically began to liquify with the Goo Gone. After adding a little Goo Gone I’d wipe Linus’s paw with an old rag then repeat the process. After about 5 minutes I had all the tar out of Linus’s fur and pad. My only concern was that the Goo Gone was irritating or hurting Linus’s skin. He did not complain, but I still immediately rinsed his paw with soap and water several times to make sure the Goo Gone was completely off his skin.

I never tried the vegetable oil and I’m not sure if it works better or worse then the Goo Gone, but I highly recommend Goo Gone if you ever have a tar situation with your dog or even if you get some tar stuck on yourself.