How Often Does My Dog Need Grooming?

I’ll give the long and the short answer. 

Short answer:  Ideally, every month, but most common is 4-6-8 weeks. 

Long answer:   Some of you will be surprised by the idea of having your dog groomed every month, but you will understand why after reading this.  

Humans have hair on their bodies, but not nearly as much as the majority of dogs. For this reason, human skin is thick, with many layers. In contrast, a dogs’ skin is thinner than a humans’ and thus has fur to help protect it from temperature variants, injury, allergens, pollutants and the like.  When a foreign body like a burr or an allergen like poison oak gets on a dogs’ fur, the fur is their main defense from being scratched and getting an infection or having an allergen result in an itchy spot that can become infected. Keeping fur clean and free of potential problem causing environmental factors is important to your dogs’ health.  It is also important to maintain a preferred length of 1” of fur on dogs that get haircuts to give them as much protection as is required. The fur on dogs that get haircuts is different than on dogs that do not. It is important that they have it. 

Also important is clean skin. Dog skin is coated with a layer of protective sebum. When that sebum gets dirty, its effectiveness at protecting the skin is compromised. In fact, it could actually be holding a toxin that is causing a skin condition on your dog! 

Short fur dogs (beagle, chihuahua, lab. etc.) should come in monthly as they have less protection. Dogs with longer coats can push it out a little longer. 

Now you have a better understanding of how important regular bathing and brushing is for your dog. Regular maintenance of their skin and coat helps to prevent a variety of possible health issues. Plus, they feel, look and smell better! That’s a win-win in my book!