What does grooming involve at your house?

teacuptiger

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#21
Roxie (wash and wear) gets bathed once a month at least (she doesn't get smelly, like EVER, but... y'know) - if she rolls in poo, then I bathe her as well (luckily she does not enjoy doing that!), but if she gets muddy I just brush her out and spray her with some "dog perfume" (my sister got me "dogs of new york" spray year before last for x-mas). Her shampoo is oatmeal and aloe Pet Meds shampoo- it smells AMAZING. Her coat is really awesome afterwards, too!

Nails get clipped once a week- I am lightly going about getting her used to a dremel (black and decker). Clippers are just random from Ace Hardware, but they were cheap and cut better than any other clipper I've used that's under $15, so it was a great deal! I will have to replace them soon, though :(

Brush is just a rubber curry brush- it takes like 30mins during super-shed months to get her completely dead fur free. She gets brushed once a week, too. Normally it takes 15 minutes because she doesn't shed much at all.

Her ears get cleaned each week (or every other if I'm being super lazy...). Ear solution's from Pet Meds. For teeth, she had Drs Foster And Smith dental cleanse pads that work really great. Waay better than me trying to brush her teeth- she still puts up a fight (mostly just tries to keep her mouth shut, and tries pulling away at first), but it's not as bad and it's all over in a few minutes. Also done every week or so... I should probably get better at that, I used to do it nightly.
 

Toller_08

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#22
All of my dogs are bathed once every 4-6 weeks on average. My favourite shampoo is Isle Of Dogs but it's expensive and hard to find around here. I also like Chris Christensen's Black on Black for all if my dogs, and I generally use Coat Handler conditioner. I've used plenty of other shampoos and conditioners and generally keep a bottle of Earth Bath Peppermint/Eucalyptus around as well, but the above three work really well and the scent mildly lingers for at least a few days.

The Tollers and Journey get their coats tidied up once per month on average. I pluck excess ear fuzz out and use thinning shears as well. I clip their pads with an electric clipper and trim between their toes with straight shears or thinning shears depending on the dog and what works best for their coat type. I also tidy up Journey's tail with thinning shears. Not much, but just enough to make it look not messy. Ripley gets no trimming. I used to tidy up his tail a bit and take off his whiskers, but I haven't done that in like three years.

I own a little orange Metro dryer and the Tollers and Journey get a good force dry after pretty much every bath. Don't know how I ever lived without it.

In the spring or if I feel like it whenever, I have an amazing undercoat rake that takes out as much undercoat as I want. Cuts way back on shedding. I use it a few times per year.

Everyone gets their nails dremeled with a corded dremel every 7-10 days. Ideally more, but I don't have the energy after work most days so I make do. My dogs are pretty good, but it's definitely not the most fun chore.

The Tollers and Journey also get a quick comb/brush through probably like twice a month haha. Just to spiffy them up a bit. Their coats are easy maintenance and nobody mats. Journey inparticular always naturally looks freshly groomed even two hours after playing in filth lol. Her coat is fantastic.

I don't do anything special for ears or eyes. Ripley gets a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol in his ears monthly or so and the other three never have dirty ears. They don't need cleaning.

When I remember I also scale any excess plaque off of everyones' teeth with a dental scale.

I think that's all! I really don't do a whole lot of grooming. I think people tend to think I do more than I actually do.
 

Doberluv

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#23
All of my dogs are bathed once every 4-6 weeks on average. My favourite shampoo is Isle Of Dogs but it's expensive and hard to find around here. I also like Chris Christensen's Black on Black for all if my dogs, and I generally use Coat Handler conditioner. I've used plenty of other shampoos and conditioners and generally keep a bottle of Earth Bath Peppermint/Eucalyptus around as well, but the above three work really well and the scent mildly lingers for at least a few days.

The Tollers and Journey get their coats tidied up once per month on average. I pluck excess ear fuzz out and use thinning shears as well. I clip their pads with an electric clipper and trim between their toes with straight shears or thinning shears depending on the dog and what works best for their coat type. I also tidy up Journey's tail with thinning shears. Not much, but just enough to make it look not messy. Ripley gets no trimming. I used to tidy up his tail a bit and take off his whiskers, but I haven't done that in like three years.

I own a little orange Metro dryer and the Tollers and Journey get a good force dry after pretty much every bath. Don't know how I ever lived without it.

In the spring or if I feel like it whenever, I have an amazing undercoat rake that takes out as much undercoat as I want. Cuts way back on shedding. I use it a few times per year.

Everyone gets their nails dremeled with a corded dremel every 7-10 days. Ideally more, but I don't have the energy after work most days so I make do. My dogs are pretty good, but it's definitely not the most fun chore.

The Tollers and Journey also get a quick comb/brush through probably like twice a month haha. Just to spiffy them up a bit. Their coats are easy maintenance and nobody mats. Journey inparticular always naturally looks freshly groomed even two hours after playing in filth lol. Her coat is fantastic.

I don't do anything special for ears or eyes. Ripley gets a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol in his ears monthly or so and the other three never have dirty ears. They don't need cleaning.

When I remember I also scale any excess plaque off of everyones' teeth with a dental scale.

I think that's all! I really don't do a whole lot of grooming. I think people tend to think I do more than I actually do.
I have some of those things you mentioned...Isle of Dogs and CC stuff. The best place to get all kinds of stuff is at a dog show. The vendors charge less than you get at stores. And it's fun to go shopping while you're at the show.
 

*blackrose

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#24
Everybody gets bathed every 4ish weeks.

Bathe with a KetoChlor type shampoo - Cynder's had a history of allergies and when we first moved down here Abrams was having problems with weird scaley dandruff down his spine, so I like using it as a maintenence shampoo.

They get their nails trimmed, washed, ears cleaned, towel dried, and then blow dried with a force drier (cuts down on shedding ao much!l.

The only thing I may do between bathing sessions is a good brush out to cut back on shedding. Either a shedding blade, undercoat rake, or furminator depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. I like my low maintenance dogs. Lol
 

SpringerLover

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#25
I'm currently trying to prevent shaving Gabby down again. When her coat grew in, it really grew and I admired it for too long. And then she got to looking like a cotton ball so I shaved her. So, she's getting a bath every month or less and I'm working on her top coat a little at a time. I hope I can keep her in coat and not give up this time around. Feet and nails as needed (every 2 weeks or so right now). I have a feeling I'll be hacking off a lot of belly feathers with a thinning shears because I despise long belly feathering and I can't make a straight under line to save my life. So I'll try to make it look like she doesn't grow as much hair!

Bailey has been getting shaved down in the warmer months for a couple years now. I'm currently growing her ears out, but we'll see how long I last. Her nails are my current project as they got SUPER LONG living with my mom. But she's good for them so they're almost to where I want them now. I'm doing her nails about every week and a half. I trim her feet as needed. They get muppety really quickly.

Diego needs a bath. But he can't have one yet. He needs a bath so I can work on his top coat. He is a curly monster right now.
 

pinkspore

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#26
OK Brisbane is definitely the Most Washed Dog, he gets washed in baby shampoo and medicated conditioner a minimum of once a week, generally every 4-7 days. I have access to a pro bathing setup at work so I use the force dryer there. If I ever leave I will have to acquire one of my own. Ears swabbed every other bath or so. Nails...Lol...Briz has a long and sordid history of foot injuries and is scarred for life. I've been teaching him to scratch on a board to sand them down but it's slow and possibly hurting his pads. Also working desensitization, it's been a week of diligent work and now he's sort of OK with my touching almost near his feet a tiny bit. Working on the dremel too but mostly need to convince him that handling his feet won't kill him. Other option involves vet sedation and one tech per leg.

Ru doesn't get washed. Once in a while my husband will take him in the shower. I hold him down and do his nails every week or so, we're also working on the dremel but Ru doesn't like food and I can't figure out how to use fresh-from-the-dryer laundry as a reinforcer. Ru also gets his teeth brushed with the sonicare every day, and every summer I dye him fuschia.
 

JacksonsMom

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#27
Jackson is actually pretty wash and wear believe it or not. But only because I keep his hair short. He does see the groomer every 8-10 weeks.

Other than that, he gets a bath & brush probably twice a month in the winter and probably every 7-10 days in the summer. We use Chris Christensen Shampoo & Conditioner and then usually a spritz spray.

Oh and try to brush teeth every night/use petzlife gel but it usually ends up only being like 3x a week.
 

mrose_s

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#28
Quinn's very wash and wear. She gets a bath once in a while, when she starts to get smelly. Sometimes I'll run the force dryer over her if I feel like ruining her life or I want to pull a bit of coat out of her.
I've got lazy with nails, I only do them about once a month. They're never too long but their not as short as I'd like.

I'm hopefully going to take on a more high maintenance dog at some point in the next couple of years. I'm seriously thinking an OES. He would look so fancy in full coat!
 

Laurelin

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#29
Not much.

We do nails when they start clacking.

Hank gets washed down pretty often because he gets filthy regularly. Often just hose him down outside vs full on bath though.

When Mia and Summer start getting greasy looking they get a bath. I like to bathe them every 2 weeks usually. I like clean dogs. They don't NEED it that often but I prefer it.

About every 3-6 weeks (whenever I remember) I trim up papillon feet and the bum area a bit.

I brush them all about once a month. Trying to brush more ironically because the short haired dog sheds so darn much. Doesn't seem to help. Probably needs a force dryer.
 

maxfox426

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#30
Morgan has two phases of grooming. Both are relatively simple, though. He's pretty wash & wear for the most part. I rarely ever brush him.


Phase 1: Bath. He gets bathed whenever he begs to join me in the shower. I'd wager that happens roughly once every 2-3 months. Sometimes more, sometimes less. He's not a terribly dirty dog in general, so he doesn't require a lot of baths.


Phase 2: Nail trim. I try to clip his nails every two weeks-ish, because his are naturally looooooong. It goes something like this:

Me: Morgan, it's time to clip your nails!
Morgan: *DRAMA*

Last time, he faked an injury to get out of it. :rolleyes:
 
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#31
We have a D-Flite 1000 Standard that is full of grooming stuff.
Depends on the dogs, what they get.

My Danes get a zoom groom and a nail trim as needed.

Rodeo gets nails done as needed, and we more of rub him down than brush him. He doesnt require much coat work.

The terriers get hand stripped before every show, and inbetween, we use various stripping knives, a grooming stone and whatever else is needed. The retired one gets longer between stripping, the pet ones get stripped every couple months.

The PWD gets bathed monthly and her lion trim. She is getting bathed and trimmed probably get weekend at the show. She isnt entered but will go along for bathing, trimming and shaving.
 
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#32
Mondays are dog days. Ears cleaned, if needed. Nails dremeled, if needed (Jesse gets a trip to the groomer for that though). They don't really need weekly brushing, but they like it so what the heck. They get bathed if they get into something smelly, they're greyhounds. Baths usually mean me in my bathing suit with a dog in the shower. What the heck, it's not like I'm going to stay dry, right?

Holly gets her pads moisturized with bag balm twice a day.
 
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#33
Both boys are easy. Gambit gets bathed ever 6 weeks or so, and brushed when I feel like it (meaning never). Nails are clipped once a month.

Gimmick is the drool rag of the daycare, so he gets bathed at least every other week, sometimes more often. He wears his own nails down. I comb his ear puffs every other day.

Then I cry a little and chase Felony down for her nightly combing/dematting. As lovely as a Persian in show coat is (and dear God, she's not even 7 months yet, she's going to be a monster when her full coat comes in) it requires more work then the boys and myself put together.
 

SoCrafty

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#34
Right now, we are trying to get her used to being brushed. The breeder did a good job with her in this aspect already, it looks like, so she is relatively easy. I have been using a slicker for a few minutes each day. Her puppy fur seems to knot relatively quickly, so, I'd rather her experience good brushing with no knots, rather than having pain and equate brushing with bad. Today I added the pin brush to her pants area and parted the fur to get the "undercoat" (preparing her for line brushing). There were some knots there but she did great.

We did bathe her once already, with a Burts Bee's for puppies as she seemed to be very itchy. We made the bath a fun experience and snuggled her afterwards.

As she gets older, and loses that puppy fluff, am hoping to cut it down to a good brushing once a week. We will only bathe her when she needs it. Her ears are glued and braced, so when the glue losens, we'll practice cleaning her ears.
 

samshine

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#35
Here's what I do with my two Samoyeds. Disclaimer: both girls so they have less coat, I select for a more moderate working coat (not as long) and also select for great coat texture. Also since they are intact they have better texture and don't have that huge thick spay coat.

If we are not showing and they are not shedding, I tend to bathe every 4-6 weeks. They don't necessarily need it but I like them to look nice. Since they are intact, they shed all at once. Between sheds there is very little hair coming out. Because my girls have good coat texture they are not prone to matting. So they can go right into the tub and then get dried by my force dryer (KII). This dryer is powerful enough to separate the coat down to the skin, so combing isn't really necessary. Trim the hair off the bottom of the foot, around the edges of the foot, and the back of the hocks. Nails. Done. Pretty easy, except for the drying time. Maybe 30 minutes at most with my fantastic dryer.

A show groom if the same except add in a total line combing after the bath, and possibly beforehand also.

If they are shedding, it's another story! Never ever bathe a Samoyed with dead coat packed in. It will felt into a huge matted mess. Since they are intact, they shed all at once. Getting the coat out requires a lot of line combing. I generally do a section at a time. For example, left side of dog, top half. That would take 15-25 minutes. I comb the entire dog out every 5-7 days until the shedding is over, two to three week process.
 

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