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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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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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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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.
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How-to
How to Groom a Goldendoodle at Home: Brushing, Mats and Trims
Curly and wavy doodle coats shed little and mat close to the skin, so brushing has to reach the roots. Here is the section-by-section routine, the spots that mat first, face, ear and foot care, bathing and drying, nails, and how often to book the groomer.
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How-to
How to Groom a Golden Retriever at Home: Brushing, Baths and Nails
A Golden’s double coat and feathering need at least a weekly brush, a daily one in a heavy shed, and a full brush-out before every bath. Here is the routine zone by zone, how to rinse and dry to the skin, nails, ears and paws, and which trims to leave to a groomer.
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How-to
How to Clean a Dog’s Face: Eyes, Muzzle, Beard and Skin Folds
Face care, step by step: wipe eye gunk from the inner corner outward, soak a food-caked beard clean, clean and fully dry wrinkles, wipe the ear flap but never the canal, and spot the signs that need your veterinarian.
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How-to
How to Clean a Dog Brush and the Rest of Your Grooming Kit
Lift the hair out after every session, wash pins and edges in warm, soapy water about once a month and dry them completely. Step-by-step care for slickers, de-shedding tools, mist brushes and nail grinders, plus shared tools, skin problems, a cleaning schedule and when to replace a brush.
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How-to
How to Brush a Long-Haired Dog: Line Brushing, Section by Section
Brushing over the top leaves knots at the skin. Line brushing fixes that: part the coat into thin rows, brush each one out from the skin and check it with a comb. Here are the steps, the friction spots to check daily, what changes for double, silky and curly coats, and how to split the work across the week.
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How-to
How to Get Tree Sap or Pine Pitch Out of Dog Fur Safely
Pine pitch won't wash out with water, but a few drops of kitchen oil usually soften it enough to slide off the hair. Here's the step-by-step method, sap between the toes, washing the oil out, when to trim or call a groomer, and who to call if your dog licked sap or a solvent.
