Pets are a life-saver, they keep us company when we are lonely, cheer us up and generally improve the quality of our lives. In return, we are supposed to return the favor by ensuring that they are well-groomed.

Pets require grooming for various reasons including; controlling the shedding of their hair, to socialize with their owners, to maintain a good appearance, to ensure they have good dental hygiene and last but not least, to avoid any medical problems that may face the pets because of neglect.

Together with the best retractable dog leash in your neighborhood and good grooming, your dog will be the envy of many. A pet that is not well groomed is an unhappy pet. It, therefore, begs the question, how often should your pet be groomed?

1. Type of pet

You first of all need to consider the type of pet that you own. Is your pet a dog, a cat, or a guinea pig? Different types of pets will require different grooming procedures, hence different schedules in their grooming. Pet grooming includes: brushing or trimming of their fur, clipping your pet’s nails, cleaning their teeth, cleaning out your pet’s ears and many more.

Generally, you should ensure that you groom your pet at least once every month. Some pets require more frequent grooming than others, for instance, a horse needs to be groomed at least once every week, or after every race, they take part in.

In the case of dogs, grooming depends on factors such as; the breed of the dog, the type of coat that your dog has and the length of your dog’s hair. You should groom your dog at the very least, once every month. Your pet is your responsibility. It is disheartening to see many dog owners at the parks holding the fanciest and best retractable dog leashes and casually walking their dogs at the park every other day in the week, but not taking off time to properly groom their dogs.

You need to clip your dog’s nails at least once every month. This will ensure that your dog doesn’t endure any discomfort or pain while walking and also, that the dog doesn’t harm itself or others with those long nails. For this, instead of choosing nail clipper you can also consider best dog nail grinder.

2. Length and type of hair

You should pay attention to the length of your dog’s hair. In doing this, you will be able to know how frequently to groom your pet’s fur. Short-haired dogs will require baths every once in a short while and will not need to be brushed ever so often. There are also short-haired dogs which have a double layer of fur.

These need to be groomed four times a year to remove the dead undercoat. The third type of dogs has a double-coat of long hair. These dogs shed their fur seasonally, and thus should also be groomed seasonally, they also have soft hairs around areas such as their ears, bums, and bellies which tend to get matted. When your dog develops these mats, you can take the dog to a groomer to cut them out.

Another category of dogs are dogs with thick hair; they have thick hair that should be groomed every season, failure of which usually leads to matting of the dog’s fur, which necessitates shaving. Shaving off the fur may prove detrimental to your dog as she may develop sunburns which will irritate their skin.

Our next category of dogs are dogs which have silky fur coats. These have a single coat, which grows continuously. This type of dogs should be groomed every month, to a month and a half to stop their coat from ending up matted. We also have terriers who have wiry coats that are least likely to mat. These should be groomed at least once every two to three months. Last but not least, we have dogs which have coats that are wavy and also curly. These are the most prone to matting and require grooming every month to a month and a half.

3. Dental grooming

Your pet’s dental health is significant. You should ensure that you take your dog to have their teeth cleaned professionally at least once every year, or better still twice. The innovation of dog toothbrushes and the availability of special dog toothbrushes and toothpaste have also really set a pace for pet grooming. Taking care of your pet’s oral hygiene will ensure that they are not prone to infections and diseases that may pose a high risk to their health.

From what we have learned it is crucial to groom your pet as often as you can. When your dog is well- groomed and clean it will not be far reached to reward them, with the best retractable dog leash in the market, to appreciate their cooperation and also their great companionship.