Home Dog Grooming Tips.
Grooming is an important part of a dog’s care and health. When grooming your dogs at home, be aware that they can be sensitive to handling and restraint.
Make sure that grooming is introduced very slowly to a dog and always make it a fun experience. Make dog grooming sessions very short and very rewarding initially. As your dog gets more accustomed to it, you may start to lengthen the sessions.
If your dog starts to get stressed at any time during the dog grooming session, you should stop and pick it up at another time.
Never force grooming on your dog, or he will grow to hate it, and it will be unpleasant for everyone involved.
We present four key areas of home dog grooming:
Be aware that your dogs can be sensitive to handling and restraint.
Home Dog Grooming 1 – Nails
Use a nail grinder and save your eardrums.
Most dogs hate nail trimming. Nail trimming is scary, unpleasant, and can often be painful when you cut into the quick of the nail. Most dogs will whine, mouth, wiggle, and try to stop you in any way they can. As a result, nail trimming can be very stressful for the dog groomer and this, in turn, will stress out your dog even more.
To save your eardrums, your sanity, and your dog’s sanity, I highly suggest using a nail grinder. I currently use the Dremel Minimite because it is cordless (do not have to worry about your dog chewing the cord) and small (this allows for better control while grinding and shaping a nail).
I really like nail grinding because you take the nail down slowly, and there is little danger of hitting the quick, unlike nail clipping.
Dog grooming Shiba Inu Sephy's nails.
The two times I clipped my Shiba Inu’s nails, I got his quick and made him very sensitive towards handling. After much counter conditioning, he is better now, thanks to the grinder. You can also shape the nail better with a grinder, i.e. no cracks or sharp edges.
On the down side, it will take you longer to get your dog’s nails groomed. Also, do not work for too long on one nail because too much heat may be generated and it can get uncomfortable for your dog.
As a result, nail clipping may be more effective for larger dogs and dogs who are less sensitive to handling.
Here are the steps I used for grooming my dog’s nails -
- I start by making my dog lie on his side.
- Let your dog smell the grinder, treat, and praise. Repeat for several sessions.
- Turn the grinder on and let your dog get used to the sound of it. Treat and praise your dog for remaining calm. Repeat for several sessions.
- Once your dog is fully comfortable with the sound of the grinder, work briefly on one nail, and feed him something really good (e.g. cheese, mackerel). Make sure to praise him well.
- Initially, just groom one nail in each session.
- You can slowly increase the length of the dog grooming sessions as your dog gets more accustomed to the nail grooming process.
You may use the same process for nail clipping. First, get your dog comfortable with the clipper, then tap the clipper gently on his nails, then slowly clip a little of one nail.
Home Dog Grooming Tips - While grooming my dog's nails, I start by making my dog lie on her side.
Home Dog Grooming 2 – Brushing
Brushing about once or twice every week is sufficient to remove dirt in your dog’s fur.
Brushing is also necessary to remove any loose or dead hair. Some double coated dogs, such as the Shiba Inu and Siberian Husky, blow their coat twice a year. It may be necessary to brush every day during those times.
When you start brushing your dog, first use a soft brush. Get your dog to lie on his side, and let him smell the brush. Then lightly brush his body, treat, and praise. Repeat a few times but make sure to keep initial dog grooming sessions short, and end on a positive note.
Make sure to stop the dog grooming session before your dog starts getting agitated. Once your dog is comfortable with light brush strokes, you can slowly increase the pressure.
Ultimately, you may want to switch to the Furminator dog brush. It is highly recommended by many dog owners and it works really well at getting out loose fur especially for double coated dogs.
Home Dog Grooming 2 - Brushing.
Home Dog Grooming 3 – Bathing
Home Dog Grooming 3 - Bathing with the Water Hose Game.
Time for a wipe-down.
Use bath wipes, and play the water hose game.
Unless you are planning to show your dogs, it is unnecessary to give them too many baths.
Try not to bathe your dog more than once every month. Too many frequent baths will wash away necessary oils from their coat and make it rough and brittle.
My dog really hates baths and he gets extremely stressed being in the enclosed bathtub area. Instead of giving him a traditional bath, we play the water hose game with him.
Set your water hose nozzle so that it shoots out a jet of water, then move the jet around for your dog to chase. Make sure you spray it on him from farther away so that the force of the water is not too great.
Stop from time to time and do some obedience training to make sure your dog is not overly excited. Make sure he doesn’t jump on you or the hose during the game. Naturally, if your dog does not enjoy water, then this game may not be for you.
By playing the water hose game, bathing becomes a fun experience.
You can also give your dog a wipe-down with a wet rag or with bath wipes when he has a lot of surface dirt or mud. I usually give my dog a wipe-down after he has been to the dog park, or dog daycare.
Dogs often get grabbed in the neck area by other dogs, so it gets dirty with saliva and dirt after a vigorous play session.
By playing the water hose game, bathing becomes a fun experience.
Home Dog Grooming 4 – Dental Care
Home Dog Grooming 4 - Dental Care.
I brush my dog’s teeth 3 times per week.
This is the process I use to brush my dog’s teeth -
- I get my dog to lie down on his side before brushing his teeth. He fidgets less when he is lying on his side.
- Put some toothpaste on your finger and let your dog smell it and lick it. Try to find a toothpaste flavor that he likes. I am currently using the Petrodex Poultry Toothpaste. Repeat this for several sessions.
- After my dog gets accustomed to the taste and smell of the toothpaste, I try putting my finger in his mouth and lightly touch his teeth. I treat and praise him for letting me do this. Repeat over several sessions until the dog is comfortable with this exercise.
- Once my dog is comfortable with the finger touch, I put some toothpaste on a very small brush and lightly touch the brush to his teeth. I treat and praise him for letting me do this. Initially just touch one tooth per session.
- Always start with a small brush. You may try different brush sizes later on to see which one your dog is most comfortable with.
Most dogs prefer a smaller brush because that is less intrusive. If you are using a smaller brush, you may need to brush multiple times to get rid of all the stains. - If your dog clamps down and refuses to open his mouth, it may be difficult to properly brush his back teeth. One trick that may get your dog to open his mouth, is to get your brush ready, feed him some food, and then brush while he is chewing on the food.
Home Dog Grooming Tips - Most dogs prefer a smaller brush because that is less intrusive.
An alternative to using a regular stick toothbrush is to use a finger toothbrush.
A finger toothbrush can give you better control. However, the plastic, thimble-like, finger toothbrush keeps falling off my finger.
A glove toothbrush (Petrodex Finger Toothbrush Gloves) is a better alternative. However, the bristles of finger toothbrushes are not very deep so the regular stick toothbrush does the most effective cleaning job for me.
I also give my dog a Greenie every night before he goes to bed. Make sure to get the right Greenie size for your dog based on his weight.
When you first introduce Greenies to your dog, please supervise closely and make sure that he chews properly and does not try to swallow any big pieces. It is also a good idea to bring your dog to the vet to get his teeth professionally cleaned once every year.
Dental care is crucial if you want your dog to enjoy a long and happy life.
Home Dog Grooming Tips - Dental care is crucial if you want your dog to enjoy a long and happy life.
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Hmmm, I would definitely check with your vet. I have not seen that with Sephy or Shania, although their gums do sometimes bleed from toy chewing.
I use the Petrodex toothbrush for Sephy. It has two ends – one with a big brush and another with a small brush. I do the small one for Sephy, and use the bigger one for Shania.
WOW! That is totally amazing. Looks like we have another Super Shiba! Did you take pictures? It would be great to have one with him wearing the graduation hat!
With Sephy, I wasn’t sure if he would graduate – lol. He did win a little toy ball from doing puppy olympics tho – I was really proud of him.
We’re just starting to brush Reptar’s teeth. He’s taken to the brush well and isn’t skiddish of it. We’ve had to use the toy or food technique and brush while he is chewing a few times as he won’t lay still all of the time. However, brushing his teeth seems to cause a little bleeding. I know it’s normal with some humans that have sensitive gums, is this the same case for dogs? Perhaps we need to try a different brush. Thanks for the tips.
Also, I might as well update here. Reptar did fantastic in his level 1 obedience! 190/200. He had perfect sit stays and lay stays. a few points off for heeling.
Thanks for the follow-up! Reptar hasn’t been “bathed” yet and by that I mean a real bath with Shampoo and all. He keeps himself pretty clean and with regular brushing he’s never been very dirty…YET. But I can see once the snow starts melting it could get pretty messy and would still be too cold for the hose game. I have a feeling giving a Shiba a bath will be an experience like none other. Reptar doesn’t even like the rain.
Thanks again for all your tips and advice! It’s wonderful to read and share experiences!
Hi Colleen,
My breeder says that she uses -
#1 All Systems Professional Whitening shampoo.
She also says that she doesn’t bathe her dogs too often unless they are being shown – once every six months.
I don’t bathe my dogs very often either. Brushing removes most of the surface dirt and the water-hose game gets rid of the rest
Hi Colleen,
In the past I used a green-tea dog shampoo because I really liked the smell, but more recently, I have just used water and no shampoo at all.
I haven’t noticed any change in smell or dirt level
In general, I prefer not to use chemicals when I don’t have to because Sephy is pretty sensitive from an allergy standpoint.
I will ask my Sibe breeder what she uses. She is always showing her dogs and will know more about grooming products.
Do you use dog shampoo with bathing? If so, what do you recommend for Shibas, or any dogs with double coats for that matter?
Good tips. Thanks
Thanks juliheck. Welcome to HubPages
Very nice! Loved your dogs, so adorable!
Martha, Thank you for your wonderful comment. When I got my first dog, I had a lot of problems trying to groom him at home. I think a professional groomer would not have accepted him anyway, and I really didn’t want to have to sedate him in order to groom him. After much trial and error, I wanted to summarize the things that worked for me, so that hopefully, it can be of help to others.
I am glad you found it useful. Please let me know if there are new things you tried that worked well, so that I can keep updating the page. Thanks!
Your tips are fantastic! I have been searching the web to find a common sense approach to home dog grooming, without great expense.
Thank you so much!!