Dog grooming is generally a regular occurrence for most dogs, especially the fluffy ones or long haired ones!

It’s important to keep the dog’s hair from getting matted, or covering their eyes and mouth. While you can trim your dog's hair yourself, this can be super frustrating and time-consuming. Professional dog grooming at a spa for animals and can offer them plenty of other wellness benefits, less stress on you and high end dog grooming products such as shampoos.

How Often Should I Take My Dog To The Groomers?

The amount of time you visit a dog grooming service depends on a couple of factors. Since every dog is unique, so are their grooming needs and schedules. How often they need their hair brushed, trimmed, and washed will depend on:

• Length
• Texture
• Density

Short Haired Dogs

It will not be surprising to learn that short-haired dogs need to be groomed less frequently. This is mostly because debris, dirt, and harmful oils won’t get caught in their hair.

Sometimes a groomer might suggest that the dog doesn’t even need a haircut unless requested by a vet for medical reasons. This is because cutting a dog's hair too close to the skin can irritate the skin and cause more harm than good.

The best thing to do for your short-haired dog is to get it brushed often, especially if they have an undercoat. This is because loose hairs left in the undercoat can cause irritation. This is common in Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, and Boston terriers.

However, just because they have short hair does not mean they don’t need a visit to the groomers. Short-haired dogs can have oilier skin that requires a good tub bath every 4-6 weeks, while less oily dogs can go longer between 6-12 weeks. Also, pet groomers are not only for haircuts and baths, if you have a short haired dog, a visit to the groomers is always recommended to keep up with preventative care such as dental cleanings, nail clippings, or ear cleanings.

Long Haired Dogs

Dog’s with long hair need their coat brushed once a day at least. Now we know no one is going to bring their dog to the groomers once a day, so it’s important to find an effective brush that gets all the tangles, especially the ones that form close to the skin.

If too many tangles go unattended in a long-haired dog’s fur, it can form mats. These can be super painful for dogs as they can cause severe skin irritation as the skin cannot breathe under the matted hairs. These skin irritations will require a visit to the vet and sometimes require prescribed medication, which can all be covered with the right pet insurance plan.

When it comes to grooming visits, we recommend a long-hair dog be bathed every 4-6 weeks, and get a haircut every 8-12 weeks. The more you brush your dog's hair at home the less you need to visit the grooming salon.

Getting these routine visits to the groomers covered by a wellness plan helps not only cut the cost but keeps your dog looking and feeling their best.

Why We Should Trust Our Groomer

One of the main reasons we recommend getting your dog professionally groomed is that groomers use all the right tools, as well as know-how to handle dogs.

It can be important when cutting a dog’s nails that they are done right and with the right-sized clippers. If a nail is cut too short it can damage a nerve and cause the dog a lot of pain. Groomers are also equipped with non-toxic shampoos and gentle soaps. They know exactly what to use on a dog with skin allergies and irritation, or a dog with a flea infestation.

Many dog groomers are also experts at keeping animals calm. Even the anxious or aggressive dogs leave the doggy salon relaxed and looking their best.

Additional Benefits Of Dog Grooming

Professional dog groomers know what to look for and how to spot any health issues. Going to the groomer regularly offers our dogs so many health benefits:

• They detangle and reduce the risk of mats
• Brushing the dog gets rid of harmful oils and dead skin
• Nail trimming reduces the risk of nail tears and cracks, and in severe cases prevents from damaging the nerve if they get too long and begin to curl
• Their handling/massage allows them to feel for bumps and skin irritation
• Teeth brushing and ear cleaning are usually offered at most dog spa’s as well and always a good idea to get this type of full service done on occasion
  

Groomers see hundreds of dogs every week. While most are not veterinarians, they can spot potential health issues that you might have missed, or not known to look for.

We’ve Got Grooming Covered

With a Wagmo Wellness plan, you get up to $200 a year towards grooming costs. This is a no-brainer for many pet owners as they would be spending money on grooming anyways. Our plan covers the added benefit of flea/tick/heartworm coverage, dental coverage, and routine care such as fecal and blood tests, vaccinations, and vet office visits.

Wagmo is in the business of offering pet owners peace of mind. Get your free quote today for your tailed pet health insurance or wellness needs.