It is important that you understand the type of coat that your dog has. This will have an impact on the type of grooming that you do and the type of brush or scissors that you need. The German Shepherd, as an example, has a dense, fairly coarse coat that requires daily brushing with a special brush for double coats, but tend not to need their fur to be clipped.

With the double coat of a German Shepherd for example, you would be looking at a double coat brush. This will drag all the thick under fur out meaning that they will shed less fur in the long run. Particularly if you give your dog a good brush every day will eliminate the problem of excess fur shedding.

For dogs with smoother, finer coats such as Springer Spaniels, you can use a softer type brush than you would with a dog with a thick heavy coat. Springer’s can get quite long fur which becomes feathery if left untrimmed, and this in turn can mean that the fur holds a lot of dirt and debris in it which can irritate the dogs skin and cause problems at a later point if left untrimmed. Use a medium type brush for the body and a very soft flexible brush for their face and head.

If the feathery type fur they tend to get when their coat gets long needs a trim you can either buy thinning scissors to get rid of it, or regular straight scissors, but make sure they are specifically for dog grooming and not household scissors as they won’t be sharp enough. Thin out the fur on their hind legs, along their tail, under their belly and along their chest.

With dogs with long ears such as a springer, you will need to be on top on grooming and hygiene as dogs with these types of droopy ears can be prone to problems and infections in the ear area. Brush the long fur on their ears daily, getting rid of any matted clumps which can appear. You may need to carefully cut these out.

If you are confident and able to, you should always clip their nails, even if you walk them regularly on concrete which will keep them short. You must only clip dogs claws once you have been shown how to by the vet or a professional as you can make your pet bleed otherwise. Other kinds of dogs with have different grooming requirements.

Once you have got the basics and hang of dog grooming at home you will find that the more you do it, the easier it becomes, also taking less time as there won’t be so much to do!