Serving the Orange County, Southern California area for over 22 years.

In this section I want to give some basic care advice to help in caring for your pet.

Warning, Please keep in mind that you can seriously injure a pet if you don't know what you are doing. It can be difficult to tell what is hair and what is skin if you have a matted dog. To  make matters worse a dogs pain tolerance is four times greater than ours. This means that you could be doing something like cutting that mat behind the ear only to find out that what you are cutting is actually the dogs ear. Beware of using pointy objects as well, it is very easy to jab a dog in the eye with a sharp pair of scissors. Also, please use common sense, I am not a vet so don’t use or take any of this information as medical advise for your pet. I have 15 years of experience grooming dogs and these are the things I have learned, many through trial and error.

 Brushing

If you want to bathe your pet yourself you want to brush them first. If they have any mats when you wash them you can make the mats much harder to get out so it is important to get them out before the bath. You want to use a wire brush to get out the mats, I think the best one is called universal. The bristles are curved instead of flat and this helps to get down deep into the coat. You can find them on the web very easily, just do a search for universal dog brush. You will want the small one because the big one just doesn't get down into the coat. When you brush your dog you want to be careful not to "brush burn" your dog. This usually happens when you have a mat and brush it over and over while scraping the skin with the brush.

Clipping http://www.petcarecentral.com/smalunslic.html

The main secret to using clippers on a dog is to have some that are strong enough and has sharp blades. Most clippers bought by people are not capable of grooming a dog. The cheapest clippers for dogs are $75 to $400 and that does not include the blades. If you cut a dogs hair too short you can cause razor burn, you can also cause razor burn by letting the blades the to hot. This can permanently damage the dogs coat by changing the color of the hair at the site and also the hair will grow slower than the rest of the dogs coats.

Ears

A dogs ears are something that much attention needs to paid to. If water gets in the ear they can have difficulty getting the water out. If they have water in their ear for too long it can cause an ear infection which will require medical attention. If it is not treated it could get so bad that the infection goes up the ear canal and into the brain which can kill your dog. The best way to avoid ear infections is to use a special ear powder and cotton balls before the bath. while you are bathing the dog avoid spraying into the ears as much a possible. If your dog has an ear infection or is prone to them it is best not to wash the face at all. Instead I recommend using one of the dry shampoos on the head and face. It is also necessary on some dogs to remove the hair from the ears otherwise they are more prone to infections. This is done by applying ear powder and pulling the hair out.  

Nails

Cutting a dogs nails can be one of the most difficult things you can do. If you cut them too short they will bleed for a long time. I recommend not trying to do this unless you know what you are doing and have the right equipment. Besides nail clippers it is very important to have some styptic powder to stop the bleeding incase you cut them too short.

Bathing

Even though bathing a dog seems like a simple task, it too has some important things you should know. As I mentioned before, put powder and cotton balls in the ears. Use a quality dog shampoo, do not use shampoo made for humans because dogs have a different ph balance and you can cause them to ich. Make sure you rinse all of the shampoo off also. If you leave any shampoo on the dog it can cause a allergic reaction and they will scratch/chew themselves raw. The most common places people miss are the armpits and the belly.

Skin Problems

I get a lot of people calling about skin problems that their dogs are suffering from. There are a few very common problems which can be easily cared for. The most common one I find is a dog that is itching and their hair is falling out leaving what is sometimes red skin. If the dog has a thick coat and it gets worse when it is warm out it could be that the dog is too warm. This can be fixed by giving a summer cut. I know that some say their coat insulates them from the heat, but 90 percent of the time a good short cut makes the problem go away. I do hundred of summer cuts during the warm months and it works every time. It could also be fleas (see the section on fleas below). Another cause could be the dogs diet. Many dogs are allergic to beef and can have a reaction to certain dog foods. I recommend getting a good lamb and rice type of dog food like Iams. Also don’t give your dog processed human food, I have found that with people who do this their dogs have skin problems and don’t seem to live as long. When changing the diet it could take as long as a couple of months before a dogs coat starts to get better. Another cause could be bathing the dog wrong. If you use a cheap shampoo or shampoo for people this can cause skin problems. Also rinsing all of the shampoo of is a must or that can cause a problem. I recommend diluting the shampoo at about 10 parts water to 1 part shampoo. It will actually clean just a well and be easier to rinse out.

Fleas

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if your dog has fleas. The best way to tell is to look on the back above the tail. This is where they like hang out the most. You can also check the belly and under the armpits. If you see small dots that look like dirt and have a strange odor this is a clue your dog has fleas. These are drops of blood that are left after the flea feeds. For every one flea you find on a dog there are an estimated 10 more in the house and yard. Also if you think that because you are not being bitten that means your dog doesn’t have fleas, you are wrong. Many people don’t realize that unless you are allergic to fleas you wont itch from the bite. The best way to deal with fleas by my experience is to use products like frontline or advantage. Both of these are put on the dog between the shoulder blades. Since they are a fairly new product fleas have not had a chance to build up immunity to them yet which makes them very effective. Frontline last for 3 months is waterproof and kills ticks. I recommend frontline if you have a tick problem or have a pool that your dog swims in. Advantage last up to 2 months is not waterproof and does not kill ticks. I usually recommend the advantage to customers because it is cheaper and will get the job done just fine. I also recommend not using either product for preventative purposes. I have found that people who give their dogs either of these year round are getting flea problems because the fleas have become immune to them. I suggest only using them in the summer and only if you find fleas on you dog. I should also mention that there are a few knock off products that are administered the same way as frontline and advantage. These are just cheap imitations and will not do any good.

Skunks

I wanted to also include some info here on what to do if your dog is skunked. First and most important, do not bath your dog. If you bath them you will set the odor in and it will stay there for months. This problem almost always happens at night after the stores are closed so I suggest just letting mans best friend sleep in the back yard or someplace where the smell will not bother the rest of the family. The next morning go to the grocery store and buy a gallon of vinegar and a box of baking soda.  Mix them and use a sponge to apply it to the dog. Pay special attention to the face chest and front legs as this is where they usually get sprayed. After a thorough soaking you can use your nose to see if you missed any places. This solution can also be used in a garden sprayer to eliminate any spare smells in the back yard.

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