What Are the Health Benefits of Dog Grooming?

Dog grooming does more than offer your dog a shiny coat, short nails, and clean ears. Regular trips to the groomer can do wonders for your pet’s health. Proper dog grooming can help maintain your dog’s hygiene, prevent infections, reduce shedding, and promote a healthy coat. Of course, it’s not all about aesthetics. Regular dog grooming can also prevent serious illness and diseases caused by fleas, ticks, and other parasites. Let’s take a closer look at some of the top dog grooming health benefits, as well as how often you should visit your groomer.

Giving Your Dog a Healthy, Shiny Coat

A typical visit to the dog groomer involves bathing, brushing, trimming, and de-shedding. Each of these services plays a critical role in helping to keep your pet’s coat shiny and healthy.

Bathing the fur and skin removes loose dirt, debris, and dead skin cells that may be stuck in the hair. Brushing keeps the fur smooth and eliminates tangles that could lead to painful matting.

Dogs with longer coats may require de-shedding. This service entails removing the loose undercoat hair. De-shedding is often recommended when the weather gets warmer and the undercoat starts to fall out, and again when the weather gets cooler, and the topcoat begins to fall out.

Early Detection of Skin Issues

Like their human companions, dogs can develop skin conditions that affect their health. Depending on the condition and its severity, your pet may develop uncomfortable symptoms like hair loss, skin inflammation, and possible infections. You may notice your pet licking, scratching, or chewing more frequently, and small irritations could progress to open, bleeding wounds.

While routine grooming doesn’t always prevent skin issues, it can often catch these problems before they get worse. Professional groomers are trained to visually inspect the skin to detect signs of skin irritations, infections, lesions, and other problems. Once identified, your vet can help you manage or possibly cure the underlying issue.

Prevention of Bad Posture and Bone Deformations in Dogs

While most people don’t associate bad posture with canines, there is a correlation. Nail trimming is commonly overlooked by pet owners but it’s certainly an important part of pet wellness. Failure to regularly trim your dog’s nails could lead to overgrowth, preventing your pet from walking properly and comfortably.

Dogs with untreated overgrown nails are at a higher risk of certain health conditions, such as bad posture, bone malformations, and arthritis. You can avoid these issues by keeping your pet on a regular nail trim schedule. Also, look for signs that your dog needs a nail trim, such as the sounds of their nails clicking on hard surfaces, nails that curve under the paw pads, difficulty walking, or signs of pain or discomfort.

Risk Reduction of Ear Infections in Dogs

Ear infections can be painful for dogs. One of the best ways to avoid these infections is with regular ear care services performed by a reputable groomer.

When ear infections develop, the ears often become red and inflamed, and may develop a bad odor. Your pet may scratch their ears or shake their head to relieve the discomfort. If the infection becomes chronic, the ears may become crusty with a black or yellow discharge.

The most common type of ear infection in dogs involves the external ear canal, a condition known as otitis externa. Regular grooming sessions help remove the gunk and buildup in the ears that can contribute to infections. With this service, your groomer may also trim or remove hair from inside the ears, which can affect hearing.

Elimination of Fleas, Mites, and Ticks

External parasites like fleas, mites, and ticks are common in pets. Fortunately, these pests are easily managed and prevented. The treatment of external pests is primarily based on the type of pest and severity of the infestation. Once identified through routine grooming, your vet can help kill and prevent further infestations through oral or topical medications.

Regularly grooming and bathing your dog can help eliminate and prevent parasites like fleas, mites, and ticks. When overlooked, the risk of an infestation greatly increases. Remember that some dogs are more susceptible to these infestations, such as pets with a weakened immune system, possibly due to stress, illness, or age.

How Often Should I Bring My Dog to the Groomer?

If you’re new to owning a dog or are considering bringing your pet to the groomer for the first time, you may be wondering how often you should go. As a general rule of thumb, plan to visit your local groomer about once every 4 to 6 weeks if you have a longer-haired dog or a pet with a thick coat. Dogs with shorter coats may need to go about once every 8 to 12 weeks.

You should also take other important factors into consideration when planning how often to visit your dog groomer. How fast do your pet’s nails grow? Does his coat tend to get matted very easily? Is your pet at a higher risk of infection due to his age, breed, or underlying health conditions? Consult with your vet and groomer about the frequency of grooming.

Keeping Your Pet Healthy With Regular Dog Grooming

Dog grooming does more than make your pet appear healthy and well-kept. These brief appointments can also save you money in the long term as they can detect health issues early on, before they become more costly to treat. Do your part to keep your dog healthy with regular grooming.