Many owners ask themselves: How should I groom my Golden Retriever properly? Proper Golden Retriever grooming is essential for keeping your dog’s skin health and coat good-looking. It is important because Goldens have double coat to help them withstand any kind of weather. Undercoats normally grows when before the cold season is approaching and automatically sheds whenever the weather gets warmer.
But grooming can be fun and easy if you know few essential roles.
- The key to easy and fun Golden Retriever grooming is to properly train your Golden as a puppy. If you do it right, he’ll learn to enjoy it and will easily and calmly endure the procedure.
- You need to have a complete set of Golden Retriever grooming supplies at home: a brush, a comb, straight-edged scissors, thinning scissors, nail cutters and a flashlight. You may also find grooming table useful.
- Thorough grooming of your pet normally takes about one and a half hour so you it’s better to make sure you are all set for the procedure before starting.
- Regularly brush your dogs using a quality bristle brush together with an undercoat rake to minimize shedding.
- Oil can aid in untangling knot hairs.
- Regularly bathe your golden retriever with a quality dog shampoo to keep them fresh and clean. Do not be afraid of hair loss or skin drying – if you shampooing them with quality dog shampoo it will not harm your dog’s coat or skin.
- Do not use detergent based shampoo or shampoo designed for humans for this will draw out natural oil in your dog’s skin and may even cause irritation.
- Golden retriever grooming also includes clipping dog’s nails. Regular nails trimming will keep comfortable both you and your dog. In case you’ve missed the nail and cut the skin for some reason, do not panic and just put a styptic powder to the wound to stop the bleeding.
- Never shave your Golden Retriever as the coat serves him as a protection from both cold and hot weather. But trimming the hair with a pair of scissors is a wise idea. Trim the hair around the pads bearing in mind to keep it with even length. The hair on the ears also needs consistent trimming.
- Shedding is normal from your Golden Retriever especially during the summer. There is now way around it and the best thing you can do to minimize it is daily brushing and combing.
- Do not hurry when trimming especially if you are not a professional in it. It’s better to cut little by little with regular combing to see how it looks. If you cut too much you won’t be able to repair the damage. Of cause it will grow back eventually but you want your dog to look great all the time, right?.
- To make sure the hair is 100% tangle free, brush your Golden’s coat before the trimming session. It’s better to brush in either of two directions: from top to bottom or from head to tail.
- Important: do not forget to clean the ears. Yes, you’ve trimmed the hair but it’s different from cleaning the ears. Doing this will prevent ear infections which may lead to complications. Use of a quality ear cleaning solution is highly recommended.
Golden retriever grooming indeed can be done effortlessly. But do not forget that it is equally important to do it regularly – at least once a week. Being conscientious and patiently following these basic steps will definitely insure that you are an owner of a clean, healthy, and great-looking Golden Retriever.