Bathing Tips:
Pictured Here: Counts Cove's Pi of Dawdy
- Purchase Johnsons & Johnsons Baby Shampoo or Walmarts equivalent, Parents Choice Shampoo.
- Dilute the shampoo with 50% water for easier application and less waste.
- Bathe your pup frequently to help with the bonding process and to ensure they stay acclimated to the water. You can either bathe them in a tub by themselves, or allow them to join you during your shower.
- ALWAYS use warm water, NOT cold water out of the hose. Pups actually like the water a tad bit warmer than a human baby as their normal body temperature is 102 while ours is 98.6.
- Do NOT hold your pup down when bathing, instead block their exit. If you use force to restrain them, they will automatically fight back by thrashing around and trying to get away. This technique will help them to remain calm and less resistant to their bath.
- Towel Dry or Blow Dry your pup. If you decide to blow dry, understand that this is a new experience for them and the sound and smell may scare them at first. Start on low and gradually increase it once they are comfortable with the blow dryer.
- Brush your Pup's teeth at least daily, twice daily is even better. They have finger brushes that are VERY easy to use and if you start this process while they are young, they will learn to love this interaction and at the same time their teeth will stay in beautiful condition.
- Trim their nails as needed. If you can hear them click at they walk, they are too long. There is a secret to trimming nails. You will have more success if you do it by feel instead of by sight. Take the puppy nail clippers and run the blade across the underside of the nail bed until you feel the nail grab the blade. This is the edge of the nail bed and the proper place to clip the nail. So when you feel the nail grab the blade, clip the nail at that point. As the pup gets bigger you will need to graduate to dog nail clippers.
Grooming Tips:
Both Huskys and German Shepherds are double-coated animals, meaning that they have an undercoat they produce during the winter months and an outercoat that they wear all the time. When the warmer months come, they will "Blow Their Coat", which means, they will lose it very quickly. I had one customer call me frantic when her pup started blowing their coat. She thought her dog had some horrible skin disease since "his hair was falling out", as she put it! Nope I told her, just blowing his coat! It is typical for Huskys to shed enough coat to fill a 5-gallon bucket at one sitting. German Shepherds also shed, but not nearly the same volume. The lighter the coat, the heavier the undercoat, since the darker colors retain the heat better.
You have 3 options as far as finishing off the coat for your dog: 1) you can sit for about 3 hours and brush it out, 2) take him to the Groomers and have him groomed, or 3) find a Groomer that has a hydro-surge machine (a mini jacuzzi) and have him hydro-surged!
By far, the hydro-surge is the way to go, as it will get all the loose fur out and it will last the longest, however it is the most expensive.
Here are some Grooming Tools that will come in handy:
- Comb for Double-Coated Dog
- Rack for Double-Coated Dog
- Brush for Double-Coated Dog
- Shedder Comb for Double-Coated Dog
- Nail Clippers or Sander
Interesting Side Note Regarding Psoriasis:
My husband, who for 30 years has suffered from Psoriasis, recently found himself in the shower without shampoo or soap, EXCEPT for a bottle of Johnsons and Johnsons Baby Shampoo that I had just used on one of our dogs.
Out of desperation, he grabbed the "Dog Shampoo". Now several months later after switching over to Johnsons and Johnsons exclusively, almost all traces of his Psoriasis has vanished.
I hope that others who suffer from this can also find some benefit to this info, although Psoriasis is one of those diseases that is different for each person and a remedy for one is not necessary a remedy for all!
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