Daily Brushing for Dogs and Teenagers

Cleaning your dog is difficult if the dog is an unwilling participant. In order for a dog to willing submit him or herself to a cleaning regime, they need to be trained from the outset. The cats, it seems, got all the natural instincts for grooming. Left to their own devices, dogs have the grooming habits of a thirteen year-old boy who sleep with their skateboards. (Although thirteen-year-old boys do tend to slobber more.)

Experts suggest that a puppy be introduced to a brush within the first three weeks of their life. This gets difficult if you adopt your dog at a later stage in life, but it’s the same with any training regimen. You can teach an old dog new tricks; it just takes more patience and time. It’s the same with teenagers, too, but dogs will probably be willing to be seen with you in public.

The bottom line: set predictable ground rules. Grooming time is not playtime, and the dog needs to know that. The routine should likely begin with ten-minute increments and increase as necessary, depending on how long the dog’s coat is. The time should be the same each day, so the dog knows what to expect and when.

In order to decrease that lovely natural dog smell, brushing the coat should begin at the end of the hair and work its way down to the skin. Some mistakenly believe that short-haired dogs don’t require grooming. Certainly the ablutions will take less time depending on hair length, but it’s not a good idea to neglect the shorthairs just because the dirt is difficult to see. Like teenagers, you will likely be able to smell them before you see them if you let them run wild.

It’s also important to get your dog to relax and enjoy the ride. Grooming doesn’t have to be a tedious exercise, and it can be a great opportunity to bond with your dog. (Not so much with teenagers, obviously, but you’re going to have to find another blog to help you out there.)