Why Shaving A Golden Retriever Is Bad
While grooming a Golden is a must, there are rarely good reasons for shaving or clipping a Goldens coat. Shaving or significant clipping can be harmful because it now leaves the skin exposed to potential sunburn. Shaving can also bring about hot spots which are very painful to the dog and difficult to heal.
How To Set Up For Your Golden Retriever
How Often Should I Bathe My Golden Retriever And Why
We wash our hair daily or at least 4 to 5 times week, the reason for that is the excessive dirt and oil in our head and the body as well. We wash our body to feel clean and fresh if we don’t wash up for 3 to 4 days we smell like s***. Yeah, that’s true if you are living in a moderate weather region, if it is colder or snowfall season you are good to go for maximum four to five days but not more than that. Bathing has excellent levels of benefits to the body as well as the mind.;
Same is with your Golden Retriever, your dog has way more hair than you do, and those big long dual coated hair are always exposed to the outside environment. The dog body significantly gets in contact with ground, mud and other surfaces. This way your golden retriever gets a whole lot dirty even if he doesn’t look that dirty to you. The golden retrievers are very sensitive dogs, they love to be clean and tidy every time. So the question is you have to bath your dog but how often should you bath him or her? Well, ladies and gentlemen, we will provide the best guideline to bath your beautiful and glamorous Golden Retriever.
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Golden Retriever Grooming: How To Bathe Your Golden Retriever
You will always want to keep the beautiful golden coat of your dog shiny and healthy looking. This can be achieved by giving him a regular bath. This is part of Golden Retriever grooming. Following these simple steps on how to bathe your Golden Retriever will help keep your dog well groomed and healthy.
The PreparationBrushingBefore bathing your dog as part of your Retriever grooming process, brush your dog’s coat gently and comb out all tangles and knots. Skipping this process will tighten the tangles and knots as it gets wet.
Bathing Area & ToolsAlways prepare things you might need on hand before proceeding with the next step. Ensure that you place them within your reach for easy access as you work on your dog’s bath.Your dog may enjoy getting washed outside the house but the water might be too cold for him. A dog tub or your bath tub is a better option when giving bath inside the house. Use dog shampoo for dog baths. Medicated shampoos are recommended if your Retriever has fleas and psoriasis. Conditioner helps prevent tangle hair on your dog. Let it sit in for few minutes before rinsing thoroughly. A towel will make drying easy.
Grooming Tips For Golden Retrievers
The Golden Retriever is a very handsome dog noted for its intelligence, trainability and loyalty.
It has a wonderful coat which needs regular brushing and occasional washing, dependent on how many times it manages to get very mucky on one of its adventures when out on mucky walks!
As their coats are long, keeping your Golden Retriever well groomed can be challenging.
We recommend that you maintain the quality of their coat with regular brushing and washing of their lower legs with water, and then a dry off with one of our Mega Absorbent PVA Dog Towels .
On occasions, they will require a full shampoo and wash, but please be sparing with these as too frequent washing can result in loss of oils in the coat making it appear dull.
We would also recommend a visit to your local Grooming Parlour for trimming of coat and clipping of nails when required.
So, to keep your Golden Retriever in tip top condition we recommend the following.
Before you start your shower and grooming sessions, give your Golden Retriever a good brush and then make sure you have all tools and materials required:
Shampoo Make sure you use a Dog Shampoo, not made for humans. This will ensure that the fur stays in a great condition as human shampoos have different formulas not always compatible with dogs.
1 x Good quality dog brush We recommend Rosewood Soft Protection Salon grooming Slicker Brush
A good supply of treats
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How To Groom A Golden Retriever
This article was co-authored by Terryl Daluz. Terryl Daluz is the Co-owner of Wash My Dog LLC Pet Grooming, a pet grooming business based in the Los Angeles, California area. Terryl, along with co-owner Andrea Carter, has over three years of pet grooming and management experience. Wash My Dog and its certified pet groomers and bathers specialize in providing both a safe and welcoming environment for all animals they service.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 93% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 378,035 times.
As its name implies, the Golden Retriever is best known for its flowing, golden coat of thick, soft fur. It’s easy to keep the breed’s medium-length coat shiny and beautiful with regular grooming. In addition, this beautiful canine is also known for its loyal, easy-going temperament and love for the people who care for it.XResearch source Since Golden Retrievers are so easy-going, and their coats are so easy to care for, grooming a golden retriever doesn’t have to be a chore but instead can be an enjoyable bonding time for you and your canine companion.
Maintaining The Fur On A Golden Retriever
Once you have that beautiful golden fur washed, youre going to want to keep it looking healthy and beautiful for as long as possible. Caring for your Golden Retrievers fur takes a little extra work, but youll see great results.
Although a dull-looking coat can begin with their diet, so if you see that their coat is beginning to look dull even after brushing, take a look at the food that they are eating. It may not be a balanced diet for the age of your golden.
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Finishing The Dog: Tools And Finish Grooming
The coat should be light, straight, and stand off of the body with no loose hair. ;Any loose hair or fuzziness to the coat should be carded. ;Everything about the finish should be natural. ;The feet and the outside edges of the ear are trimmed with thinning shears. ;In the warmer months, many pet owners try to keep the dog cooler by shaving the coat. The Golden Retrievers double coat is designed to protect them during any season. ;If you are trying to keep the dog cooler, you should elect to remove the undercoat with a good bath and blow out. When you shave this breed, you are exposing their skin to the elements and take away their ability to stay cool.
How Often Should You Wash A Dog The Difficulties Ive Faced
It always gets a bit difficult when were thinking about the best products to use. You never know exactly whats going to work.;I end up just buying lots of them and seeing what ones are better than others.
Then I make a review on it each time on this website.;You can check out some of the products ;I am currently using in the next section. It is specifically for Golden Retrievers, but Im sure if you have another breed then you can find some useful information there too.
Keep reading to see exactly what those products are.
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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.
Why Should You Bathe Your Golden Retriever
Golden Retrievers have wavy hair, straight hair, or some combination of the two types. Feathering on the chest, back of the legs, paws, and tail are also prominent coat features in this breed. While these qualities make for a beautiful canine, they also result in fur that gets tangled and matted easily. If those mats and knots are not taken care of quickly, they will become larger and make life uncomfortable for your dog. Careful bathing allows an owner to locate these problem areas and untangle or remove them.
A Golden Retriever should have a bath once every 6 weeks, but that time frame is flexible depending on the dogs lifestyle and environment. Goldens who regularly swim, play in grass or dirt, or roll in the mud will need baths every week or two as needed. Environments that are muddy, swampy, or are breeding grounds for parasites like ticks and fleas mean even more baths for your dog. However, there is a limit to how much bathing your Goldens coat can take.
Washing your Golden Retriever too much strips those natural oils from the fur, leaving your dogs coat dull and her skin unprotected. Skin infections and dandruff may result. Using mild and gentle shampoos can still cause these medical issues; therefore, its best not to bathe your dog too often.
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Tips: Bathing Your Dog
1. Find a suitable place to give your dog a bath.We have a spacious indoor bathroom that is used for Sugars emergency bath. If the weather is nice, Sugar gets an outdoor bath. Most of the time, Sugar goes to a local doggy self-wash establishment.2. Water temperature is critical to your dogs bath time enjoyment. Make sure its warm but not too hot.3. Choose the right water nozzle. It plays an important role for;bathing your dog.4. Make sure to use a shampoo made for dogs. There are several dog shampoos on the market; use a good quality shampoo that best suits your dogs need.Sugar uses several kinds of shampoo; depending on the weather and her skin condition. Sugars most recent bath, she used PL360 foaming oatmeal shampoo. 5. Drying a wet dog can be stressful. A super absorbent dog towel is a must. We are a big fan of Soggy Doggy Super Shammy. Weve been a consumer of Super Shammy since 2013. It is so great that weve recommended to our local;doggy self-wash establishment.
Below is a fun BATH video from Soggy Doggy featuring their two best products the Doormat and Super Shammy.
Super Shammy is also great to use for a wet dog on rainy days and doggy beach adventures. We invite you to check Soggy Doggy: Super Shammy; Winner of Dog Fancy 2012 Editors Choice.;Connect with Soggy Doggy on , , and . Our friends from Soggy Doggy is providing one of our readers/fans a Super Shammy. Follow the giveaway tool instructions to join.
This Groom Can Be The Perfect Answer For Golden Retriever Owners Who Want A Cut That Will Keep Their Dogs Cool In Hot Summer Weather
- Anne Francis
There has long been debate about cutting Golden Retrievers coats, and we;try to educate our clients as much as possible about all sides of the argument.;Still, many owners have made up their mind and want;their dogs shaved down. In these cases, we compromise and use a snap-on comb and shears to do what we at our shop call the Golden Teddy Cut.;
This months subject, Rory, has been groomed at our shop for eight years.; During colder times of the year, he is kept in a traditional Golden trim, but Rory is a big swimmer and enjoys a short do during warmer months. When we catch up with Kata longtime coworker of mine who is performing this groomRory has already been washed, dried with a high-velocity dryer and set under a room-temperature blower.
Step 1: Finish Drying
Use a high velocity dryer to blow out excess hair and damp spots.
Step 2: Remove Dead Coat & Detangle
Using a slicker brush and undercoat rake, move through the coat to make sure the coat is dry and tangle-free and all dead coat is removed.
Step 3: Trim Nails
Clip the nails and file smooth.
Step 4: Trim Pads of Feet
Clip the pads of the feet with a #30 blade.
Step 5: Sanitary Trim
Clip sanitary areas.
Step 6: Clip Body
Using a size O snap-on comb, clip the entire body of the dog, leaving the back of the front and rear legs, which will be scissored.
Step 7: Blend Clipper Lines
Use a carding knife to help blend any clipper lines.
Step 8: Trim Tail
Step 9: Trim Rear Legs
Step 10: Trim Hocks
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Where To Wash Your Golden Retriever
Owners of small breeds of dogs have an advantage over you they can plop their pooch in a laundry tub or sink. But, since Golden Retrievers arent small, you cant just fit them in the sink. Instead, youll have to get in the shower with your pooch and clean it using a detachable nozzle. Another option is to use a portable doggy tub. Some tubs are heavy, but others are collapsible so you can easily take them outside. There are also pet supply and grooming stores rent out towels and dog tubs.
Some people use a garden hose for cleaning their dog. You could occasionally use the same to clean your dog, especially if your pooch is really filthy. But dont make this a habit as dogs dont like having a powerful hose shot right at them.
How To Clean Your Dogs Ears
An essential part of bathing a Golden Retriever is cleaning her ears. This breed is highly prone to developing ear infections which are often caused by bacterial growth in the ear canal due to moisture, wax, dirt, or parasites.
Because Goldens have floppy ears, dampness and debris become trapped with no way for the ears to dry out. When you bathe your Golden, that is a perfect opportunity to clean their ears as well.
My recommendation for ear cleaner is Virbac Epi-Otic Advanced Ear Cleaner.
To clean your Golden Retrievers ears, follow these directions:
How to Clean Your Dogs Ears
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How To Dry Your Golden Retriever After A Bath 11 Different Ways
Goldens need regular grooming, and this includes regular baths. Its necessary to give your dog a bath every once in a while to clean their coats and keep them in top conditions.
Its also important to clean them after they get dirty from playing outside or after they have spent sometime swimming. After giving them a bath, its crucial to dry them the right way, and while it may sound too easy, its actually very important to get this part right.
Drying all this hair can take too much time and effort, so here is how you should do it.
So, how to dry your golden retriever after a bath? You can dry your golden retriever after a bath with a large absorbent towel, or you can use the blow-dryer to speed the process but make sure to keep the dryer away from them at least 6 inches to avoid split ends and to prevent burning and brush them while youre blow-drying them.
That was only the short answer, to learn how to dry your dog quickly, efficiently, and effectively after the bath, keep reading