Brushing the Dog

 Doing this before bath will pay off

Brushing the dog before bathing is a must thing. A Dog cannot be sent to the bathtub with matting and tangles. If it isn’t brushed out you won’t get the dog that clean and also will not get the nice finish on the dog.

Always start brushing with the line brush at a rear foot. Push the hair up. Part the hair and brush from the skin outwards. It will be pat and pull motion. Try to take a few lines of hair at a time and do a small area.

Don’t brush the dog with top brushing. Pins on the slicker brush are too small. The coat is thick and needs to be brushed out from the skin. Always push the hair up and then brush it back.

When you are done with an area use a comb to test what you have brushed. You can see if there is any little snag left out. Go back to that spot and brush it. All of this has to be done before the bath, don’t take any tangles to the tub.

Always brush from underneath first if you have a long dog or a dog with huge coat. Brush little strokes and use one hand to support the skin and continue this till it’s done. Doing this before bath will pay off. If there is a small tangle you can loosen it up with your fingers. You can save the coat and time too. 

Go at the back in the same manner. Do not scrap the dog’s skin with the brush. A Slicker brush can do quite a damage if in wrong hands. Use it carefully and do not hurt the dog by stretching his skin to remove the tangles. Use your hands and fingers for opening small tangles and then comb it.

Another technique to remove the tangles is by thinning shear.  Never push the skin up with the mat. You can cut the skin if you push it up and in a moment blood will shed all over the place. When there is an area you are trying to de-mat, Put the finger under the mat, take the thinning shear and give it one quick slice. Comb it. It usually comes out. This technique is not for the mat all over the dog but just for the isolated ones. It is a time saver.

Don’t go to a heavy mat with a mat splitter. You might cut the coat or damage the coat and the damaged coat is more likely to get matted then a healthy coat.

Pay Special attention to the armpits. It is shocking that armpits are overlooked by most of the groomers. Dogs are beautifully brushed and combed and de-matted, will have a lovely finish and then you get into the armpits and get tangles all over that friction area. While In a competition, take a #10 blade and clip them off.

If the dog is a competition dog keep it in a good condition. Make sure it doesn’t have any opportunity to mat in the armpits or between the back legs etc.

Underneath the ear is also a problem area. It is a frictional area. In Order to work on each side of the face, always grasp the dog from the side face near nose and muzzle in a gist so that you can get in hair and brush.

It is good to have different sizes of brushes. For smaller dogs use smaller brush and for larger dogs use larger brush.

Always be careful while working on the face because you don’t want to scratch the eye of the dog. Do the tail but try not to forget it. As we brush the tail at the end and is possible to forget.

The dog is now fully brushed and is ready for a bath.

Check out the video for same on our YouTube channel. Share you brushing experiences in the comment section and also let us know what all tools you use while grooming.