All dogs need some attention to grooming. When you think of dog grooming instructions, you may think only of brushing your dog’s coat. There’s much more to it than that, but here I’ll be talking about that one aspect of dog grooming tips – brushing your dog’s coat.
Of course, dogs with either long or curly coats such as the Shih Tzu, the Pomeranian, the long haired German Shepherd, Cocker Spaniel, and Poodle, as well as many others, require you to set time aside for brushing their coats. Brushing not only keeps their coats from becoming matted, but eliminates dust and dirt as well as parts of some plant material that tend to stick to the fur.
Elimination of dust and dirt is important for all dogs, of course, so unless your dog is a breed that has extremely short fur, regular brushing of your dog’s coat will keep it clean. It also helps stimulate the sebaceous glands which will benefit your dog’s skin at the same time, and bring some natural oils from the skin down onto your dog’s coat.
While you’re brushing your dog’s coat, you give your dog’s skin a massage with the brushing action at the same time. This is the sensation that many dogs love when you brush them.
Obviously, it’s important, then, to brush your dog’s coat as often as it needs to keep the coat free from matting, and to keep the dust and dirt to a minimum. This will necessarily require much more frequent brushing for dogs with longer coats. These breeds can benefit from daily brushing, while for dogs with shortish coats a weekly brushing may be quite sufficient.
Many dogs love being brushed, although those with longer coats that are not brushed regularly may intensely dislike being brushed, most likely because it hurts due to the fur having become matted.
And there are some dogs who are just too active to want to sit still while you brush them. They’ll squirm and struggle to get away, because they’re just too “busy” to sit still. 
Grooming your dog’s coat can also assist in eliminating shedding fur before it ends up all over your carpet and furniture. The brushing action itself will collect much of the loose fur onto the brush, but if your dog has a particular problem with shedding, as some breeds certainly do, you may wish to purchase a specialized grooming tool specifically designed to remove the fine undercoat that most often is the part of the coat that sheds.
Either way, keeping your dog’s skin and coat healthy from the inside out also helps immensely. A combination of Omega 3, 6 and 9 oils is fabulous for this purpose, and a great skin and coat formula that contains these essential nutrients is Dermatrix.
Part 2 of Dog Grooming Tips will deal with shampooing – another important aspect to dog grooming. So stay tuned!
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