Grooming Supplies For New Arrival
Regarding food your best bet is to follow your breeder’s initial recommendations for the first 6 months to a year of your dog’s life. Your breeder is the one who best knows his/her line and on what food the line best thrives. In my opinion the minimum base line food is Purina Pro Plan large breed formula. Royal Canin, Iams and Eukanuba are generally accepted as the “best” foods with Nutro and Pedigree being the intermediate level. Each company offers a variety of formulae and you should choose the one appropriate for your dog’s age and condition. Large Breed puppy formulae are specifically balanced to give the energy and nutrition a growing puppy needs without promoting too rapid a growth rate, which could lead to bone and joint structure and strength being compromised. Since Mike’s pup will be a pet one doesn’t need to be concerned about keeping the undercoat. Indeed removal of the undercoat would be beneficial in reducing the amount of grooming necessary and minimizing how much the dog will matt. Under these criteria I view the absolute basic tools to be: 2 large oval head pin brushes. (My brand choice is Hindes as they have long been a good standard with strong pins, a good long lived supple pad and a comfortable wood grip. There are other brands but I think it is best to avoid those with plastic handles, hard pads and square or rectangular shapes.) The pins need to be approximately 1 inch long and straight ended. Don’t get those with balls or “heads” on the end, they pull out too much coat, both undercoat and guard coat. Buy two and keep one in reserve as they will wear and need replacement. When the first is life expired open the second and buy two more. That way you always have a good one in use and at least one good reserve brush. 1 long tined coarse dematting comb. (I have both Twinco and Resco combs and find the lighter and contoured “spine” of the Resco much more comfortable and less fatiguing to use. It is also substantially lighter.) These combs are about 7 inches long with 8-9 tines per inch, each tine being about 1 ¾” long. 1 Slicker. The subject of slickers can be “touchy” as some groomers find them to be overly harsh and sharp against the dog’s skin. Indeed if used incorrectly and too vigorously a slicker can literally shred a dogs skin with hundreds of tiny scratches. (The individual pin ends are quite sharp as they are simply cut wire that is only superficially/minimally smoothed.) Used properly slickers can readily remove small matts and strip out undercoat. I have found the convex shaped “Universal” brand of slicker to be relatively easy to use and effective in removing matts. As I keep my boys in full coat I am very careful that it’s use not effect a general stripping of the undercoat. 1 Grooming Table. In my opinion there is no greater Godsend when grooming than a good, sturdy, proper height grooming table. It sets the mood that it is grooming time and no other activities will take place, provides a dependable surface which is safe, slip resistant and capable of supporting the dog’s weight and occasional shaking/protests and provides prevention of backaches from leaning over while grooming on the floor, a bed or even the sofa. While a significant up front expense a good grooming table will last for at least 10 years and be well worth it’s expense. (I still have our original table from almost 30 years ago. Well at least the legs are original as the plywood top was replaced after about 15 years of service.) A grooming arm and noose is a very nice addition as it helps secure the dog while completing final grooming, especially around the back end when grooming alone. If you get a grooming arm I recommend those that affix to the table with a clamp and hence can be totally removed when not in use. I find tables with a fixed arm base fitted on their surface to be limiting and a potential danger to the dog. I have never used one like this and NEVER will. 1 pair of nail trimmers. There are a wide variety of nail trimmers available. Most are good but as with all grooming tools quality is reflected in price. It may be of value to buy an intermediate priced pair at first and use them for a while to determine if this is something you will be able to do yourself. Some people are fine with trimming nails, others never get comfortable with it and defer to a professional groomer. I have two strong recommendations here, the first is to avoid clippers where the nail is places through a loop and is cut by a “guillotine” blade as I feel these are prone to twisting when used and could harm the dog by pulling the nail or cutting more deeply than intended and secondly to never use the “trimming guides” fitted to some trimmers. Always determine for yourself how much trimming is necessary, if the nail has not grown to the extent the guide indicates than you can cut the toe tissue itself and if it has grown more than the guide indicates the nail will still be too long after trimming. Nails that are too long are just as problematic as nails that are too short. Also remember to get a styptic powder such as "Quick-Stop" to dab onto any nails which happen to be cut too short and end up bleeding. 1 pair long bladed scissors. As you will be trimming the fantail relatively frequently a good pair of dedicated grooming scissors are another essential. If you have a beauty or barber supply house nearby check there. Their scissors are often identical to those sold at pet grooming supply houses and can be substantially less expensive. Certain specialty curved bladed scissors such as those for poodles are exclusive to pet supply houses but we in the OES world rarely if ever use those. Scissors are very much like knives in terms of quality for price. They must be made from a good carbon steel to allow for repeated sharpening so while you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars for a pair you also need to avoid the “bargain $19.99 specials”. Scissors with blades in the range of 7 – 8 ½” long and about $60-85 should be good for extended service use by most home groomers. Try holding and “air cutting” with a variety of pairs when selecting a pair of Scissors. Check for weight, ease of closure and general comfort. I am always amazed at the variety available even at a given price point. I personally prefer a lighter pair with longer blades and “crisp” closing action. Beyond these basics there exists a wide choice of tools. As originally queried a good set of clippers are essential for home clipping to maintain a puppy cut, unless of course you are sufficiently good with scissors to do it that way. As with a good grooming table this is a high “buy-in” cost item but when properly used and maintained will serve for many years. The biggest maintenance cost is blade sharpening. Dog dryer. Please see my post in the dog dryers topic thread for my thoughts and experience with these. In summary though, while it is a very high “buy-in” cost item a good dog dryer is worth every penny spent and will serve for many thousands of service hours. Remember to amortize these items over several generations of dogs and they aren't really that expensive. Combs. In addition to the coarse de-matting comb there are a variety of others available for specialized uses. I have a very fine toothed comb which I use around our boys' eyes to remove the “eye boogers” – Michele just gets them with her nails but I just can’t do that so the fine tooth comb comes in handy. I also use it very judiciously in the beard to remove food debris, and on the inside of the ear flap leathers to remove any fine knots or dirt from the ear flap insides. On very rare occasions I will use it to finish cleaning up a “dirty butt” after a bout of diarrhea . I also have a “poodle comb” which is a combination fine and course toothed comb about 9 inches long (4 ½ inches fine comb, 4 ½ inches course comb) with tines about 1 ¼ inch long. This is also judiciously used around the face and ears to removed food/dirt debris as well as remove fine knots wherever they are found. De-Matting Rake. This is a very coarse, sharp, multi-bladed rake used for breaking up large matts. This is another of the items I have but rarely use. By the time you need a matt rake you are way behind the grooming requirements curve and it is a “last ditch” attempt to save the matted area before clipping it out. Matts requiring a de-matting rake often also require that the matt be cut to break it into smaller matts to be removed in a less “dramatic or intense” manner. Some people use a de-matting rake on a well groomed dog to strip out undercoat. This is not my preferred method but as with many grooming topics everyone develops varying techniques suitable for themselves and their dogs. As already mentioned in a few of the other threads general items such as a fine corn starch, Milk of Magnesia and grooming chalks/powders are good for whitening the coat. I’ have already addressed shampoos and conditioners in another thread. Finally while many people don’t think of it as grooming, dental care supplies can be added in as initial supplies for your puppy’s arrival. Get him used to having his/her teeth done at a young age. I use an electric toothbrush (Crest Spinbrush) and a poultry flavored “dog toothpaste” available at any good pet store. Both the teeth and gums are brushed to reduce plaque build-up and should be done at least weekly. For more periodic treatments you can buy tooth scalers to remove plaque build-up. If you are careful and get a demonstration you should be able to remove most plaque from your dog’s teeth until they enter middle-age at which point plaque is usually so stubborn that it needs to be removed by a vet under anesthetic. Hope these thoughts help Cheers and good luck with your soon-to-arrive Bobtail Baby Carl |
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| Thank you Carl and all those have contributed to this forum.
MikeT |
| Another great post Carl...
Diane gave me a list of grooming tools she recommends. The list is split into "Essentials From Day One" and "Get Them When You Can" and "Nice To Have" LOL I keep it handy and am gradually aquiring things... the high quality ones make such a huge difference, in how the dogs coat turns out, and in how enjoyable the grooming session is for the person and the dog. Grooming with the right tools makes things easier, faster, and look better in the long run. |
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