Grooming & Shedding
Short, regular sessions do more than an occasional marathon. Find your dog's rhythm in how often to brush a dog, by coat type, then pick the right tool with slicker brush vs deshedding tool.
When hair starts drifting across the floor in spring and fall, dog shedding season explains what is happening and how to keep up. Cat owners will find a brushing schedule and a gentle plan for cats who resist the brush here too. The brushes, de-shedding tool and nail grinder these guides mention are in dog and cat grooming tools.
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Buying guide
What Size Slicker Brush Do I Need? Matching Head to Coat
Buying a slicker by the dog’s size gets it wrong about half the time, because the head size should match the area you are brushing and the pin length should match the coat. This covers both, plus the pressure trap on large heads and when a multi-pack makes sense.
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How-to
How to Bathe a Long-Haired Dog Without Making Mats Worse
Long coats are won or lost in the drying. This guide covers brushing out before water, getting shampoo down to the skin, rinsing until it squeaks, and the brush-and-dry technique that stops mats forming.
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How-to
How to Use a Cat Grooming Bag Safely
A grooming bag is a restraint, which makes using it properly a safety question rather than a convenience one. This guide covers choosing a size, introducing it over days, running a session, and the signs that mean stop.
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Comparison
Flat vs Curved Slicker Brush: Which Shape Suits Your Pet
Flat and curved slickers are the same tool in two shapes, and the shape decides where the pins keep contact. This comparison covers which suits which coat and body, and why technique matters more than either.
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Guide
Why Do Dogs Roll in Smelly Things? How to Stop It and Clean Up
Nobody knows for sure why dogs roll in poop, dead fish and worse. The leading theories and their holes, the signs a roll is coming, the leash, leave-it and recall habits that prevent it, a cleanup plan for the walk, the ride and the bath, and when to call your veterinarian.
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Buying guide
Types of Dog Brushes: Which Brush Suits Your Dog’s Coat
Slicker, de-shedding tool, pin, bristle, rubber curry, comb or rake: what each type of dog brush does, a coat-by-coat table of the ones your dog needs, the three tools we stock and the ones we don’t, and the signs a brush is wrong for the coat.
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Comparison
Should You Shave Your Dog in Summer? What to Do by Coat Type
A shaved double coat doesn’t cool a dog and can grow back patchy. See which coats can take a summer trim, when a shave-down is the right call, a hot-weather brush-out routine, what to do if your dog is already shaved, and how lion cuts work for cats.
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How-to
How to Use a Slicker Brush Without Scratching the Skin
A slicker scratches when it is gripped hard and pressed in. Here’s how to hold one, test your pressure on your own forearm, brush in sections down to the skin, ease out a small tangle, handle thin-skinned spots and cats, and spot brush burn early.
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How-to
How to Use a De-Shedding Tool on a Dog or Cat Without Overdoing It
Use a de-shedding tool on a dry, detangled double coat, in light strokes with the grain, on the body only. Here’s how to pick a size, run a session step by step, which areas to skip, how often to de-shed, the signs you’re overdoing it and how to use one on a cat.
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Guide
Does My Dog Have a Double Coat? How to Tell and Why It Matters
A short coat can still be double, and a long one can be single. Learn the part-and-look test, the clues that mislead, examples from Labradors to Maltese, where doodles and mixes fit, and why the answer changes brushing, shedding and drying.
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How-to
How to Groom a Yorkie at Home: Brushing, Baths, Nails and Trims
A Yorkie’s silky coat keeps growing and knots close to the skin. This routine covers a misted brush-out with a comb check, baths every week or two, eye, ear and teeth care, nails every two weeks, and which trims to do at home or leave to your groomer.
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How-to
How to Groom a Labrador Retriever: Sheds, Swims, Ears and Paws
A Lab’s short double coat needs a weekly brush, daily combing through the two big sheds, and a fresh-water rinse after every swim. Here is the routine, plus drying a dense coat, checking dropped ears, nails every few weeks and trimming the hair between the pads.
