Learning how to groom your dog at home will save you money and make sure he is always looking at his best.
1: clip the dogs nails
Use a pair of sharp nail clippers to clip the dog's nails
2: work your way around all the feet
Carefully trim all the feet. You can find instructions on the best way to trim nails here.
3: Trim the hair from between the dog's toes
Your dog can get burrs or mud caught between her toes. This can be uncomfortable and can make a mess in the house.
4: clean the dogs ears
Use cotton balls and ear cleaner to clean the dog's ears. Just use a small amount of ear cleaner. Don't go too far into the ear where you can cause damage. When you have finished washing the ear, dry it out with an extra cotton bud.
5: trim your dogs under hair
Trim your dog's under hair using a furminator or similar. This way you won't get as much hair falling out in the water when she is bathed.
6: continue until you have removed all the loose hair
You should remove as much loose hair as you can but don't keep going too long and remove hair that the dog needs to keep warm
7: Finish off removing the loose under hair with a slicker brush.
Longer haired dogs often have a lot of looser hair immediately behind their ears and around the hock area.
8: use a pair of scissors to tidy up around the feet
Use the slicker brush to make the hair stand up and then trim it with a pair of scissors.
9: Trim the back of the rear legs
Use a pair of scissors to trim the longer hair at the back of the rear legs.
10: use a pair of clippers to trim around the base of the tail.
Clean out an area around the base of the tail so it doesn't become fouled when the dog is defecating.
11: finish off by giving your dog a wash and blow dry.
Check out our full dog washing instructions here.
Watch this video to see full instructions about grooming your dog at home.
