Grooming Shedding Dogs

Most people want non-shedding dogs groomed. These are Yorkies, Shih-tsus, Malteses, Havaneses, Poodles, Bichons, Wheaten terriers, Lhasa Apsos, and others. But some people ask for shedding dogs to be groomed. These are King Charles Cavaliers, English Toy Spaniels, Pomeranians, Rat Terriers, Chihuahuas, Miniature Pinschers, Dachshunds.

The problem with grooming shedding dogs at home is that a lot of lose hair comes off the dog while bathing, drying, brushing, and combing. There isn't much that can be done about this except to limit it to a small room. Also, remove as many things as possible from the room so the hair can be cleaned up easily. I do it in the bathroom with the door closed, keeping the dog in the tub as much as possible. The easiest cleanup is rinsing the tub with water and removing a clump of wet hair from the drain trap. The hair that flies around, gets on walls and floors and in between things is the tricky part of the cleanup. Vacuum, sweep, and wipe down but hair floating in the air will take a day to settle. Most of these clients seem to prefer to bring their dogs to my home.

A rubber curry is used in a circular motion on dry short haired shedding dogs to remove lose hair. This is good for the skin too and it seems like dogs like the way it feels.

Longer haired shedding dogs, like a pomeranian, need a good brushing and combing, down to the skin, to remove all lose undercoat which can cause mats. Brushing in the opposite direction of the way it grows works best. I brush a small area at a time working methodically over the entire dog. Before brushing a new area, I comb the area with a greyhound comb. If someone asks for a haircut on one of these longer haired shedding dogs it can be messy due to the dense coat. Also not that the coat of a Pomeranian or Chow Chow may not grow back 100 percent if it is shaved short.