# What all do you guys do when you groom your dogs



## Nikkia (Jul 27, 2008)

What all do you guys do when you groom your dogs?

The second Saturday of every month is Nikkia's grooming day. The rest of the month we do normal maintenance such as brushing her everyday.

On grooming day I:

Give her a bath with doggie shampoo and conditioner
Excrete her annal glands (disgusting I know but it has to be done...)
Blow dry her
Pluck the hair in her ears if any is in there
Clean out any gunk in her ears
Brush her teeth
Scrape off any plaque
Shave out the hair in between the pads of her paws
Clip her nails


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## KCandMace (Apr 8, 2008)

You do a lot more than we ever do! Yikes.
All we do is brush the boys and clip their nail. Cut out any matts we happen to find. Mace tends to get them no matter how much brushing we do.
Bathes are every couple of months and unless it is really chilly we let them air dry after a good towel dry.


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## Minnieski (Jan 27, 2009)

How do you brush her teeth? Our pup tries to eat the toothbrush.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

I call Zoomimg Grooming they come to the house and do everything

In between grooming I will Brush Brady and trim nails


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

We trim nails (dremel), bathe, and then furminate or use the shedding rake when dry. I check teeth but so far our GSDs have never had much tartar build up. I sometimes scale the teeth on the little guys. One of these days I'm going to get my act together for daily brushing. 



> Quote:Excrete her annal glands (disgusting I know but it has to be done...)


Actually, most dogs should be able to keep those in fine working order on their own. They should only be manually expressed if they're impacted or otherwise having a problem.


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## crackem (Mar 29, 2006)

wow, I clip their nails every 2-3 weeks or so, and brush with a rake every week or two depending on the time of year or what we have been doing and that's it. Each of my dogs has seen a bath exactly once in their lives, once from a very muddy day and we still had carpets at that time and I thought I cared. my dogs don't smell like shampoo, but they don't smell like "dogs" either.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

You do a lot more than I do. My dogs get brushed twice a week, on Sunday and Thursday. The labs really only need it once a week, but if I brush Heidi and not them, they get bent out of shape. Everyone gets a bath once a month. I check nails when I brush and if they need clipped, I do it then. That's about it.


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

Jerzey would generally be brushed once a week. Although, now, with all the shedding she's been doing it's been nearly every day. We clip her nails if they look long but don't really do it on a regular basis since the sidewalk wears them down. I also have doggie wipes that I use if she ever "smells" (which she never really does but I hate even the fainest whiff of doggie odor) or if she's muddy since she's not really a fan of the bathtub.


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## Sahria (Apr 21, 2009)

I brush Inara every few days and clip her nails. She hasn't had a bath yet but we only ever bathed our other shepherds a couple of times a year. I can't get near her mouth to brush those teeth, lol.


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## Nikkia (Jul 27, 2008)

Yeah brushing her teeth is hard sometimes she doesn't enjoy it to much but going through a few doggie tooth brushes is a lot cheaper than a cleaning at the vet. The way I've worked it out with her is when ever someone looks at or brushes her teeth she clamps her jaw shut so it's okay for lifting her lip up and looking at her bite and all but trying to pry and keep those jaws open for a brushing is a pain. So I have this long thick plastic stick that she just bites down on and I brush away then when I'm done she spits it out and gets a nummy treat. I desensitized her to it as a puppy so she doesn't chew on it or nip me but she knows how to try to get out of it by not letting me got it in her mouth. LOL She mostly keeps up with them on her own by chewing on all of those cow bones I buy her so I don't have to much to brush but I do it anyways just to keep her where I can do it.

I excrete her annal glands because she has gotten infections before so the vet told me to. I only do it every so often just every couple of months or so. 

I would get away with not bathing her so often and brushing her less if my mom wasn't allergic to her. As long as I keep her really brushed out and clean my mom doesn't have to much of a problem and her allergy meds work pretty well but when I forget or get lazy she's really miserable so I have to keep up on that for another 2 years until I can move out and get a place of my own to keep her and her hairiness in. LOL


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: KCandMaceYou do a lot more than we ever do! Yikes.
> All we do is brush the boys and clip their nail. Cut out any matts we happen to find. Mace tends to get them no matter how much brushing we do.
> Bathes are every couple of months and unless it is really chilly we let them air dry after a good towel dry.


That is what we do. Use the furminator to get the dead hair out. Teeth are cleaned consistently to RMB. 

Dogs swim in the pond, so they get rinsed.


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## windwalker718 (Oct 9, 2008)

Remember it COULD BE WORSE>>> LOL

Back in the day when I showed WGSD's we drove from NW Connecticut to an April match out mid Long Island... 

Picture 3 WGSD's, freshly bathed IN SPRING... in the back seat of a Toyota... Driving down the LIE (Long Island Expressway) with the back windows down 3"... and a cloud of fur following us down the road swirling behind the car as we washed all o' the glue outta them and they truly BLEW COAT!! Us folks with "normal" colored dogs can't appreciate the white fuzzzzzzzzzz that covers every inch of everything that it comes in contact with! I got out to brush out the dogs, and brush me down... and we all looked like Dandilion fuzz


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

Mine very rarely get bathed. They are indoor dogs and we live on the lake, so its not much of an issue (they get brushed thoroughly once a week which maintains their skin & coat quite well) but after training in a horse arena all winter, a bath is a must pretty soon here once the grass comes through all the muddy spots in the back yard. 

So in addition to the 2 x / week brushing with a rake and groomers comb, I do nails (once a week with a clipper and dremel), clean ears (once a week during nail time), brush teeth (about 3 x /week - RMB 1-2 x / week), thorough skin check (done during brushing - tummy, armpits, between toes etc, esp for my one gal who has atopic allergies in the spring & fall). Brodie also gets a mild bum washing with panalog cream about 2-3 x /week (he has mild PFs).

I think thats about it....barring any wierd skin conditions/allergies pop up...but that's a whole other can of worms!


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## Sean Rescue Mom (Jan 24, 2004)

*Re: What all do you guys do when you groom your do*

I give Sean a good brushing every weekend and he goes to the groomer every 3-4 mos. for a good make over. I try to keep up with brushing his teeth on a regular basis but sometimes I forget.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

*Re: What all do you guys do when you groom your do*

I brush Rafi when he needs it which is a lot in the spring, summer and fall and very little in the winter. 

Chama only needs to be brushed a few times a year. 

I give both dogs a bath once a year unless they get into something stinky. 

I cut their dew claws but they keep their own nails trimmed because we walk a lot on sidewalks. 

That's about it!


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## BucksMom (Aug 13, 2007)

*Re: What all do you guys do when you groom your do*

I take them to the groomers when they are trying to blow their coats, because the groomer has some fantastic tools to get alot of the dead hair out. So they get bathed at least once a year or when needed. 

I try to brush them weekly and trim their nails when needed.
Clean ears when needed also.

My boys are pretty easy keepers, the only big thing is keeping all the hair vacuumed in the house and garage.


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## Branca's Mom (Mar 26, 2003)

Give her a bath with doggie shampoo and conditioner
<span style="color: #FF0000">Urro, poor neglected dog, has never had a bath. I think I did give Branca one about 9 years ago.</span>









Excrete her annal glands (disgusting I know but it has to be done...)
<span style="color: #FF0000">nope, never</span>

Blow dry her
<span style="color: #FF0000">no bath, no blow dry</span>

Pluck the hair in her ears if any is in there
<span style="color: #FF0000">nope</span>

Clean out any gunk in her ears
<span style="color: #FF0000">nope
</span>
Brush her teeth
<span style="color: #FF0000">I rather give bones</span>

Scrape off any plaque
<span style="color: #FF0000">see above</span>

Shave out the hair in between the pads of her paws
<span style="color: #FF0000">nope</span>

Clip her nails
<span style="color: #FF0000">I dremel ever so often

My poor dogs have never ever seen a groomer, poor poor neglected dogs.... LOL</span>


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## AniasGSDs (Oct 18, 2004)

*I take mine to the lake!!!! ;-)*









When they get really stinky, I hose them off in the back yard, use a nice all natural shampoo, towel dry, run a comb through, and occasionally cut their nails. Since they eat RAW, I don't have to clean their teeth or express their anal glands (YUCK!!!!).


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

Clover gets a bath once a year whether she needs it or not. She really never has that doggie smell. Max due to skin and allergy issues is getting bethed weekly but once we get past all that, I hope to ease way off on that.

We get the front nails trimmed when needed. Cathy would do it but with their nails all black, she's nervous about cutting too short. The back nails seem to take care of themselves just fine with walks.

We give them bones and greenies for the teeth and breath and that seems to do fine.

We brush/comb weekly and don't have any real tangle matting issues so that seems to work well for them.

Have not trimmed the hair between their toes, but I think we will start to add that to the list.


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## bergwanderkennels (Mar 26, 2009)

I send my dogs to Berg Wander Kennels for grooming! 

Oh wait that's me!









However I have been a tad bit lax about the grooming (other then nails and brushing) lately that I was sick. Now I am waiting a few more days for the Advantix to sit on them a bit longer before I bath them and give them Spa day.


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

Bella gets a bath 2-4 times a year, depending on how often we are away (we have her groomed whenever she is in boarding) and if she starts to smell like a dog (not that often actually, she's generally very nice-smelling







). She's gotten a couple extra this past year as she was in boarding when we had a major slab leak and when we moved, plus she got an extra bath when the old house went on the market as it got her out of the house when pictures were being taken and to make sure she was extra-clean smelling. Poor girl.

Duke has gotten a number of baths in his short life, as he has gone through a lot of experimentations with the dirt and mud. I'm really not a big fan of puppy smell, so hopefully when he gets a little older he won't need as many either.

Neither are a big fan of being blow dried, I have never had either anal glands excreted and won't ever unless problems arise. Ever since an ear injury Bella doesn't like people playing with her ears, so I don't push the subject unless they look pretty dirty (they never do to me, although I'm sure once or twice they've been wiped out by the groomers). Duke has had lots of ear cleanings, as he always seems to be getting dirt and mud in his ears.

Bella should get her nails trimmed more often then she does, but the groomers give me a hard time about doing it because she growls. She REALLY doesn't like anyone but me or my mom or my sister touching her feet--due to a couple of injuries on her feet. So my sister does it when I can get her to do it, once in a while she is muzzled at the groomers for it, and whenever she has an accident and has to be sedated I have the groomer cut them all the way back. Duke has yet to need a nail trim, but I'm going to try to make it a fun thing to have done with lots of treats for good behavior, and pray to god he doesn't hurt his paws.

As a puppy I brushed Bella and her teeth daily. I found over the years that brushing her that often wasn't necessary--her coat doesn't really tangle, and for her most of the time it seems to make shedding worse. When she blows her coat she gets brushed quite often though. The teeth just kind of slacked off as it was quite a process (bad mommy!) but she's been getting RMBs with Duke lately, and all of a sudden her teeth are cleaner and fresher than they've ever been. So we've found our official toothbrush for all the dogs--it cleans teeth and it entertains them for hours!

I think I'm learning that dogs will be dogs. I do what I can to keep them clean--if they don't like it I'm not going to do it, although I will look for other ways to get it done (like bones for her teeth). My husband has pretty bad allergies, but I let him know before we got married that if I had to choose between him and Bella, he was the one going to the dog house so he better get used to taking allergy medicine or get used to washing his hands a lot. I will, however, do extra cleaning around the house to keep both of them around together


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

My dogs both get a brushing 2X a week unless they are blowing coat which happens after winter, I clip and dremel their nails once a week, clean their ears once a month since they are almost never dirty, and I give them baths once every two months, also using the doggie blow dryer which works wonders. Isa gets more baths if she's going to a show. She maybe a performance dog, but I like her to look her best.







I've been slacking on brushing teeth though...


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## bergwanderkennels (Mar 26, 2009)

> Quote: if they don't like it I'm not going to do it,


My dogs are poped up on my table at 8 weeks of age and learn from very young to accept the blow drying from a forced air dryer, being a dog groomer aside that was the best 125.00 dollars I could have ever spent, the freedom to wash the dogs when it is cold in the fall and not have to worry about them getting a chill from being left damp. 

By the way Hella my GSD loves to get blow dried and it (and it makes those curls she has straight







)


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## headtripparade (May 9, 2009)

Bud and Lou get an actual shampoo bath every 4 months or so. If they get dirty in between we just hose them off. 

They get their nails clipped every couple of months and they get brushed every week.

That's about the extent of it... they aren't old enough for me to even consider brushing their teeth yet. Dental chews work fine for now.


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## TrackingPuppy (Feb 13, 2005)

They get a bathe twice a year or whenever they start to smell doggy or they have found something good to roll in.







Teeth = raw bones. Toe nails about once a month.







Brushing three dogs. each rotates to get a section of body brushed every third day while i check for fox tails, burrs and such.


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