A Golden Retriever Grooming Routine Is An Important Part Of Caring For Your Dog
Cats are the ultimate narcissists. You can tell this because of all the time they spend on personal grooming. Dogs arent like this. A dogs idea of personal grooming is to roll on a dead fish. James Gorman
A Golden Retriever will pose some serious considerations when it comes to grooming!
It is essential to establish a puppy grooming routine which will continue throughout your Goldens life. Golden Retriever grooming is just as vital as the correct diet for a healthy coat and a healthy dog. According to one study, a single genetic line characterizes the differences of Labradors and Golden Retriever dogs. One of those characteristics is the longer, double coat of the Golden Retriever which is why the coat of this furry companion needs a different routine from other dogs.
How Often Do Dogs With Silky Hair Need To Be Groomed
In Bookers professional opinion, dogs with silky hair are best served by daily brushing and combing. Curtis recommends using a greyhound comb. The frequency of haircuts depends on how long you want to keep their coat, but Booker suggests every 4 to 8 weeks for these breeds.
Curtis notes that silky-haired dogs tend to have little to no undercoat and oilier skin, so they need to bathe more frequently. For top-notch care, she suggests adding some baking soda to the bath water to help balance pH.
Grooming A Golden Retrievers Ears
Checking and cleaning your Goldens ears should be included in your Golden Retriever grooming routine since they produce more ear wax than other dog breeds to avoid infection.
Make sure theres no redness, discharge or smell. If there is, do not clean and make a vet appointment.
To clean healthy ears use a solution specially made for cleaning a dogs ears and follow the instructions to put a little bit into one of the ears. Gently massage the solution around inside the ear. Use a cotton ball or piece of gauze to wipe any dirt out of the ear. Never use a Q-Tip! It can injure your dogs ear canal. It is virtually impossible however to injure the ear drum as the ear canal has a sharp 90 degree turn before it reaches the ear drum. Repeat for the other ear using a fresh piece of gauze or cotton ball.
Both Golden Retriever pups and adults are prone to ear infections as they have floppy ears and love to swim. Checking the inside of their ears during grooming will help to prevent infection.
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How To Groom A Golden Retrievers Feet
Between the soles of the feet, the hair grows over the soles of the feet. This hair is usually cut short to align with the soles of the feet themselves, which gives a cleaner image but is also more pleasant for your Golden. Dogs sweat through the soles of their feet, so it is better and more comfortable for them when their feet and soles are free of long hair.
In the winter, these long hairs can also cause ice formation between the soles of the feet that will irritate the dog. In the Spring and Summer, long hairs on the feet and paws can pick up grass spikes, which can be very irritating and even dangerous for your dog if they are not picked out of their hair quickly.
For cutting the feet, you use straight scissors, the size does not matter much, but a small pair of scissors is more pleasant due to the small surface. To prevent accidental damage to the skin, make sure you cut with the scissors blade, not with the tip.
Keep the blade flat on the section to be cut and the tip directed outwards. This way, youll cut the hair between the soles of the feet and the outer edges. For the largest, upper sole, bring the hairs down, from top to bottom. The hairs, which fall over the sole, need to be cut away on that line with the straight scissors.
A few short snaps on your Golden Retrievers foot and then drop the coat again and see if more needs to be cut away. You can use a normal comb to lift the hairs. The overall look must be natural.
How Should I Groom A Golden Retriever Puppy
Golden puppies dont need a trim until theyre six months old, but it doesnt hurt to get them used to the tools theyll encounter when they get older. You dont need any special tools, just those youll be using on them as an adult.
Start brushing your new Golden Retriever pup right away and introduce them to the grooming tools you have and the sensation of being groomed. Just gently run the comb or rake through their hair and praise them constantly as you go. Give them lots of treats, too.
Then, open and close the scissors near their body without cutting the hair, just to get them familiar with it. Clean their ears and trim their nails as usual, but you may want to introduce them to the idea slowly.
For instance, lift and rub the ears now and then. After your dog is ok with that, work in the drops.
For their feet, let them see and sniff the trimmers. Then snip off one nail and give them lots of praise and treats. Do another nail the next day and repeat until your puppy seems to accept the idea.
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Should I Trim My Golden Retrievers Butt Hair
Your golden needs both two coats since they are designed to keep your dog comfortable in all types of weather. It is best to just get your goldens coat trimmed rather than shaving them. This would include trimming their feet as well as their ears and butt. These are areas that often get tangles or mats.
How Often Does A Golden Retriever Need A Bath
It is not advisable to wash your Golden regularly because the shampoo detracts natural skin oils from your dog. Of course, your Golden gets dirty during your walks with him or her, so to prevent having a smelly dog in the house, youll need to bathe your Golden at some point. If you want to bathe your Golden regularly or your Golden pooch really needs to because he or she has rolled in something dirty again, make sure you use a mild dog shampoo, especially for dogs with skin conditions.
On average, if you give your Golden a bath once every 1 3 months is fine. Bathing is not a necessity. I know people who almost never give their Golden a bath or shower because the coat tens to clean naturally. When the coat dries, most of the dirt, sand, and mud will fall off. If you regularly let your Golden swim in clean water, the coat will remain beautiful and frequent washing is unnecessary.
If you dont have clean, natural water in your area, the high-velocity dryer, which I wrote about earlier, might also be a good option for you to blow dry the dirt and sand out of your Goldens coat.
If your Golden retriever needs a bath, I recommend giving him or her a shower instead of a bath. Because Goldens have a double coat, its almost impossible to get all the shampoo out of the coat unless you shower them. Bathing them in standing water is fine as long as you can rinse them off with a hand-held shower sprayer to rinse away all the shampoo.
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Shaved Golden Retriever: Is It Actually Worth It
Golden Retrievers are known to have a long and luscious coat which protects them from the winter.
However, if you live in a hot area, you may think that your doggy friend gets exceptionally hot during the winter time due to his thick and long coat and may even consider shaving it off for summer time.
But, is it actually beneficial for your furry friend and worth it?
Well, today Ill talk about shaving your Golden Retriever, well go into great detail about your dogs fur, its uses, and finally well answer the big question: Should you shave your Golden Retriever?
If not, what should you do!
Lets get started, shall we?
How Often Should You Groom A Golden Retriever
Its recommended that you groom your golden retriever at least once every 4 6 weeks. This is Golden retrievers are one of the most active dogs on the planet, which in turn means they tend to work up a sweat more often than not.
Due to Goldens have a double coat, you may notice that they emit quite a bad odor compared to other dogs too. But that doesnt mean you should groom them more often, as their skin releases natural oils that help protect them from the outside elements that can be affected by constant washing.
A golden retrievers double coat works by trapping in heat when its cold outside and trapping in cool air when theyre hot. By taking away this coat, you are in fact exposing them to danger .
Youll find that a nice trim every so often will usually do the trick, and a nice dog pool with some water outback will help regulate your dogs temperature in the hot weather.
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How To Groom Your Golden Retrievers Coat In Seven Easy Steps
Now that you know the tools and products you need to groom your golden retriever, lets look at how to groom his or her coat in the best way.
Only Trim Your Golden Retriever With A Scissor
Your Golden Retriever sports a double coating that protects him/her from the temperature extremes in the winter and summer and also sheds hair especially heavily in the autumn and spring in order to make room for new hair in preparation for the winter and summer respectively.
As a result of these two things combined, you arent going to want to use a clipper to trim your Golden Retriever because doing so can easily result in the unintended consequence of your dog losing too much hair to keep him warm in the winter and cool in the summer. That can lead your Golden Retriever to suffer frostbite or sunburn.
So, just grab a scissor and trim the longest among the hair of your Golden Retriever. Focus especially on carefully trimming the dogs ears, paws, tail, and neck. I would just leave the rest of the dogs body alone for the most part.
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Golden Retriever Scissors And Thinning Shears
Learning how to groom a Golden Retriever doesnt just include brushing them. Your grooming kit should also contain a pair of scissors and a pair of thinning shears.
Scissors are good for detail work around small areas like the ears and feet.
Thinning shears are scissors with notches cut out of the blade, perfect for removing bulk from areas like the ruff, and softening edges.
Preparing Your Golden Retriever’s Coat For Grooming
What Our Expert Does: It’s important to make sure a dog is as comfortable as possible before grooming. For instance, you might spend a few minutes petting the dog and letting them explore their surroundings before you begin to brush or wash them.
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How To Do A Standard Trim On Your Golden Retriever
First, brush your dog out one more time to make sure all the hair is lying flat and smooth.
For standard maintenance, trim any feathery bits with the scissors, including ears, legs , and tail.
Next, trim the excess hair off the undersides and sides of the feet, so theyre neat. You can do this using scissors or an electric trimmer. Then, trim away any hair that sticks out on top of the foot using the scissors.
Then, shorten up the hair under the tail to keep things nice and sanitary. You can also shorten and tidy up the hair on the bloomers if needed. Trim the hair on the hocks into a half-moon shape.
Next, its time to move to the face. Dont shorten your dogs face or mask leave that hair natural. What you can do is thin the hair on the ears using thinning shears. Then, trim the edges of the hair on their ears to make it look nice and even.
Dont forget to remove the fuzzy hairs that sit behind the ears. Also, lift the ear and scissor or trim away the hair that grows there. If necessary, carefully remove or shorten any hair growing in the ear canal.
Tidy up the tail using scissors. You want the hairs to look even and uniform. You dont need to remove much length along the tail, but you can shorten it if necessary. The longest part of the tail should hit your dogs hock .
Dont trim your goldens topcoat at all. You should also leave belly, elbows, and rear long. If your dog has exceptionally long belly hair, you can use curved shears to tidy up long hairs there.
Brushing Your Golden Retriever
The golden coat that gives this breed its name is both gorgeous and fluffy. This coat has a double layer: the extensive inner layer and the thick and water-repellant topcoat .
Golden Retrievers shed heavily two times per year and moderately throughout. Their undercoat thickens to adapt to the winter cold, and the outer coat sheds to weather the summers heat.
Daily brushing helps, but shedding all over the house is just part of owning a large hairy dog. Our Goldens arent too bad most of the year, except in spring when they blow their coats.
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If you want to rid the coat of loose fur and keep the dog properly groomed, you should perform regular brushing at least once every week. More frequent brushing is welcomed but weekly should be the bare minimum.
If you brush more frequently, make sure to be gentle. While brushing is great for the coat, it can be rough on the sensitive skin of Golden Retrievers.
You should consider brushing your Golden Retriever outside the house so that loose fur doesnt cover the floor of your home. Trust me, there will be a lot. Vacuuming the fur can be difficult especially if you have a carpet.
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Trim The Goldens Toenails
When should you trim the toenails?
Generally, a Golden Retrievers nails may need trimming when you hear them clicking on the floor.
Guillotine nail cutters are the most effective nail cutter. However, you should be careful as they are very sharp.
The aim of trimming the toenails is not to make them too short but give them a nice but clean cut.
You can also use a grinder to ensure that the nail edges and nice and smooth. Grinding the nails too much generates heat which is painful for the dog.
How To Take Care Of Your Golden Retrievers Coat
When most people think of grooming, they think of taking care of their dogs coat.
And although goldens have beautiful coats, they arent just for lookstheyre important for their health as well.
Golden retrievers are a double-coated breed which means that they have a thick, fluffy undercoat and a long, smooth outer coat.
Their water-proof double coat protects them from sunburn, extreme warm and cold temperatures, dirt, and other debris.
Because of the importance of their double coat, its important to never shave them.
Many people think that shaving them in the summer is helping them, but since their double coat regulates their body temperature , its important to never do this.
When it comes to taking care of your golden retrievers coat, there are three parts:
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