Grooming-Long Hair Puppy

[roxiedoxie]

Hi all! I have a 7 month old long-hair doxie and was wondering when I should take him for his first grooming. The hair on his tail, legs and ears is very shaggy, but the rest of him looks okay. Also, does anyone here use Petco for grooming? Thanks.

[Tucker's Mom]

Hi, Tucker is 6 1/2 months and I take him in once a month for a full grooming, bath, nails, feet (hair between pads and foot tops), ears cleaned, etc. I would suppose each dog is different in the rate of growth, though. In between visits, I comb/brush him, clean ears and brush teeth 2-3 times a week. This month will be his 3rd grooming appt.; but, I'm kind of fanatic about his feet and don't like doing them myself LOL.

[kpm_tex]

You can take him at any age really. If he's getting shaggy though you can do a lot of the grooming on your own by getting a stipping knife and combing it through his hair to get out the undercoat. That will help with shedding and the shaggy look. There's also a tool called a 'furminator' that's a rake that takes out the dead undercoat in bunches... that would be used instead of the stripping knife (which BTW does not cut the hair). You probably also want the hair around his feet and between his pads trimmed as well as his ears (inside) you might feel more confortable having a groomer help you with that.

Hopefully others will chime in to with advise.

[schroeders mom]

Hello, I take Snickers in to PetSmart for grooming. I they trim her up, nails, ears, feet and give her a bath...I pick her up nice & pretty...take her home all soft...just so she can go into the backyard and roll in the dirt :faint: