Dog Hairstyling Tips

When it comes to pet grooming, there are certain hairstyles that your dog can sport. You may wish to take a couple of lessons in the art or to allow a professional pet groomer to do the job.

The wiry-coated terriers would need periodic plucking or stripping, likely about two or three times a year, to keep the coat free from snags and hard in texture. When left untrimmed, the hair grows long and thick, causing the dog to be quite uncomfortable. Besides, he looks kind of like a stray rather than a stylish, well-tended pet.

Using a stripping knife or dull penknife held between thumb and forefinger, you will be able to pluck out loosening hairs as the terrier coat is cast. You may do better, however, to take a couple of lessons in the art or to allow a professional pet groomer to do the job. If you want to handle the coat yourself, you can buy trimming guides and charts having excellent directions for every breed at your pet-supply store. You can also purchase the correct tools to do the job the right way.

Certain breeds—Cocker Spaniels, Poodles, and Bichons Frises especially—involve clipping and scissoring expertise, and an amateur might have a difficult time trying to make his dog look right. There are a number of hairdos for Poodles—the Continental, the English Saddle, the Dutch, the Sweetheart, for instance—each one finishing up the dog having a radically different outline. It’s a big job, to be sure; the Poodle has a wealth of coat which should be taken off in some places, left on in others, and shaped based on the particular pattern preferred. Better have this done at the canine beauty shop, then later, maybe, take a few lessons from a professional in the acceptable manner of doing the work yourself.
 
 By Tip Writer

Tips on Caring For Your Dog's Coat

Brushing a dog's hair each day, or every two or three days, based on the length and texture of his coat, is among the most important phases of grooming. It's the best way to help prevent snags from forming and to maintain the skin clean and healthy and free from irritation.

 

Ideally, a specified pattern of hair care is best established when a dog is young, particularly if he will sooner or later have long hair. Learning the right brushing methods while the hair is still short is a fine way for an owner to gain confidence. And it's very easy and pleasant to train a young pup to accept brushing by making a game of the first few sessions. You could put the puppy in your lap or stand him on a solid surface and place your hand under his stomach (to give both support and confidence) as you quickly brush through the coat.

As your dog matures, gradually step-up the length of the sessions. By this time his puppy coat has been substituted by a stronger, tougher kind of hair which, based on breed, may be short, medium, or long. Nearly all coats are two-ply. The long-haired and the medium-haired kinds, particularly, have an outer coat varying in coarseness, and a soft undercoat that's thick and dense.

The short, smooth-haired dogs have a double coat as well. However, it is less detectable because the undercoat is neither downy nor flat-lying. Thus, it's almost impossible to tell the top coat from the undercoat. When the undercoat sheds in warm weather, the major change observed is the thinner covering of the whole.

The coat is considered the dog's complexion. A deep, full, glossy coat usually entails that all is well within; whereas a dry, lifeless coat with hair perpetually shedding implies that something is wrong. Generally, the coat sheds twice each year, spring and fall, although some shedding occurs all the time. Heavy shedding between seasons might be caused by a lack of strength, following an illness, for example, whereas dryness may ensue from too many baths using harsh shampoos, or an overheated apartment. A temporary faded look could merely mean that the old coat is on the wane, since the hair tends to lose its vigor and color just prior to its casting.

By Tip Writer