Brushing your Golden Retriever regularly will help prevent shedding (especially important if you have allergies) and matting of his fur. Matting is not only unattractive, but it’s uncomfortable for your dog as well. Brushing also helps you remove burs and other foreign matter that could threaten his health. Regular grooming will help maintain a shiny, healthy coat and enhance your Golden Retriever’s quality of life.
Grooming your Golden Retriever is a time-consuming process. Grooming should be done at least once, preferably twice, ever week. You can expect to spend about one-half an hour in the grooming process. The first step in the grooming process is a good brushing. Brush the entire body, from head to tail. When you’ve finished brushing, you can use a comb to remove any remaining loose hair and help distribute oils evenly throughout your Golden Retriever’s coat. While you’re accomplishing hair removal, you can also inspect your pet’s roots and skin for ticks and fleas or skin irritations. This will also be a good time to inspect his ears to be sure they’re clean and healthy and trim his nails.
You should give your Golden Retriever regular baths, too. Though it’s a little complicated, the path will keep his coat and skin in good condition and reduce your exposure to allergens. After brushing to get rid of tangles and loose hair, bathe your Golden Retriever with a shampoo designed specifically for dogs. Human shampoos are too harsh for a dog’s sensitive skin. You’ll find that two baths a month will be sufficient to maintain your Golden’s coat. If you do it consistently, your Golden Retriever’s coat will be easier to brush and clean.
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Dog Fleas – How To Handle This Parasite At Home
Do you own a pet dog? Apprehensive about fleas? Worry no more. This article is all about dog fleas. Its causes, symptoms to watch out for and a couple of helpful home treatments that you can try.
If there is one thing pet owners dreaded the most, it is dog flea. Fleas are yucky. It can trigger mild to severe itching and scratching to its host. They are not easy to eliminate. They measure approximately 1.5 to 3.3 mm long. They do not have wings. They suck on blood. There are about 2,000 species of fleas, but the most common is the Ctenocephalides felis, also known as the cat flea. Dogs are their linchpin prey.
Causes of Dog Fleas
Did you know that a dog can still fall victim to fleas though it stays at home all the time? Yes, your pet can get fleas particularly in a hot and humid weather. Since fleas are so miniscule, they can come into small screens or windows. But the most common way of transmission is via direct contact with other pets.
Fleas are generally found in dogs and cats. Tragically, human beings are not spared. When a pet is out or is already gone, fleas can plague humans. Without pets at home, fleas are in a hunt for a new host and this is when they begin to attack humans. They normally bite humans at the waist area, ankles, and armpits.
Symptoms To Lookout For
Can you identify if a pet is suffering from fleas? In fact, you can tell right away if the dog is suffering from flea infestation with just one look. First, you will see your dog itching and scratching. Then the affected skin of your canine friend may turn red and inflamed as a result of flea bites and the continual scratching and biting. Also, flea dirt is evident on your pet’s skin, on its sheets and bed-dings, or in other areas where your pet frequently hangs out. Flea dirt looks like little dark specks. Flea dirt is a mixture of desiccated blood and flea fragments.
To check if your dogs have fleas, get your pet’s comb and carefully run it through your little friend’s fur. If you spot tiny black insects finding its way back to your dog’s fur then it is confirmed. Your dog is infested with fleas.
Home Treatment For Dog Fleas
After confirming that your dog has fleas, do not lengthen your dog’s agony. Do something about these infuriating little critters. Following are some of the most common household treatments for dog fleas.
Avon Product – Skin So Soft
According to one analysis conducted in the University of Florida in Gainesville, this extraordinary bath oil, is an excellent flea repellent product. Basically cleanse your canine friend in the solution of Avon’s Skin So Soft. Your dog will surely be relieved in an instant.
Rosemary
Rosemary has anti-inflammatory property. It also helps stimulate the growth of hair. With constant scratching and biting, your dog can experience mild to severe hair loss. Restore your dog’s natural fur and use rosemary consistently.
Brewer’s Yeast
This commercial product is not yet proven nonetheless according to many pet owners this product can help keep fleas away.
Seeing your pets suffer because of flea infestation is very sad. Yes, fleas in dogs are very common. On the other hand there is something that you can do to deal with the condition. Follow the tips above and your pet will be relieved from fleas in no time.
Control ticks with Frontline for dogs. Frontline for Dogs treats all types of fleas and ticks and kills them quickly.
Grooming Your Golden Retriever
Grooming your Golden Retriever is a never ending process. The entire process should be down once or twice a week, and will take you around a ½ an hour of time. Brushing your dog while he is shedding will help to control shedding quite a bit. While outside, if your Golden Retriever manages to get burs or other defects in his hair, you should instantly take a few moments of your time and get the burs or other matter out of his coat.
When you groom your pet, you should always start with a good brushing. Brush his entire body, then once you have finished brushing you can switch to a comb to get out any loose hair that remains in the coat. While you are getting out the hair, you can also inspect your pet for ticks, fleas, and other types of skin ailments. If you wish, you can also check his ears and trim his nails as well.
Bathing your Golden is essential to grooming, and can be somewhat complicated. Before you attempt to give him a bath, you should always brush him first, to get rid of tangles. During shampooing, you should always use shampoos that are specifically for dogs, since human shampoo can dry a dog’s skin out. You don’t need to bathe your dog often, once every other week is good enough. If you properly maintain your Golden’s coat, you’ll find it’s much easier to clean.
To prevent matting, which is very common with Golden Retrievers, you should always make sure that you brush your pet on a daily basis. Metal combs and brushes work extremely well, and will help you to get a great deal of the hair out. Although some people choose to use scissors and cut the mats, you can easily injure your Golden Retriever if he happens to move or jerk. Scissors aren’t recommended, as brushing and proper bathing will help to prevent matting of the hair better than anything else.
When you cut your dogs nails, you should trim them a great deal, all the while avoiding going down into the quick. You should never let the nails of your Golden Retriever get too long, as long nails can easily take the shape of the dog’s foot, resulting in a splay. Therefore, you should always check your Golden Retriever’s nails and trim them every few weeks. If you trim them just right, you’ll have at least 2 weeks before they need to be trimmed again. If you do happen to trim the nails past the quick, bleeding will occur. To stop the bleeding, always keep some styptic powder on hand to make sure that you are prepared if you do make a mistake.
With other types of grooming, you should also make sure that you clean your Golden’s ears as well. They can get ear infections quite easily, if you don’t clean their ears on a regular basis. To get the best results and protect your pet from ear infections, you should clean his ears once a week using a quality cleansing solution. This way, you can rest assured that your Golden Retriever has healthy ears.
Grooming is an essential aspect to the health of every Golden Retriever. All it takes is a little bit of time from your day to groom your pet and keep him healthy. If you don’t have the time to groom your Golden, you can always take him to a professional. Whether you do it yourself or take your Golden Retriever to a pro – grooming is something that simply must be done.