How To Groom Labrador At Home?
Lucky for you, your Labrador has a wash-and-wear coat, but there is still a need to groom your dog regularly. Most new Labrador owners have a question in mind: how to groom a Labrador at home?
Grooming your Labrador improves your bond with it and keeps your dog away from worms and parasites. Additionally, grooming is an effective and easy way to spot problems before they get out of hand.
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Grooming is not only about washing and bathing your pup, but it also involves cleaning its teeth, ears, and feet.
Moreover, proper care of your dog’s eyes and coat is another way to groom it. In this way, you can easily judge the presence of any medical issues.
Following excellent grooming tips for your furball will reduce the chances of skin infections, and there will be fewer trips to the vet.
Yes, bathing a puppy or a heavy Labrador of 60 to 70 pounds is not an easy task, but you are lucky to own a water dog which makes bathing them easier.
How often should a Labrador be groomed?
When it comes to shedding season, grooming your Labrador four times a week is a good approach. On ordinary days, grooming twice a week will suffice. It’s important to note that grooming involves more brushing than bathing.
Bathing is another crucial part of grooming that is time-consuming, so decreasing its frequency to twice a month is enough.
Trimming your Lab’s nails will depend on their growth. If your pup is not resistant to having its nails cut, you can do this weekly. Otherwise, wait for excessive nail growth to avoid causing pain and irritation.
While some parents may assume their Labrador doesn’t need grooming due to their attractive appearance and short hair, Labradors require low maintenance compared to other dog breeds.
How to groom a dog that bites?
Grooming can be made easy and fun with several different methods. However, a biting dog can be a problem during the grooming session. By following proper methods, you can make the overall process easy and effective.
The redirection method gets positive reviews; let’s look at it.
1. Take your Labrador outside
Firstly, take your pup outside the home to pee and poop before starting the overall grooming process. In this way, you can calm your Labrador, and there will be no disturbance during the process.
Even during the process, you must give your dog a pee break and notice if it’s coming back for grooming or not, so your dog won’t be bored while you groom it.
Make sure not to irritate your pup by forcing it; otherwise, your Labrador may become aggressive, and you’ll be unable to groom it in the future.
2. Select the appropriate location
Select the best spot in your home, turn on soothing music, and adjust the lighting according to your dog’s preference. There should be no distractions for your dog so that it will not run away from you.
3. Praise your Labrador
If your dog is behaving and allowing you to groom it without biting, make sure to praise it and give it treats. This way, your dog will associate good behavior with getting treats.
If it starts to become distracted or turn around, gently divert its attention to something outside or turn on some gentle music or TV. By redirecting its attention, it will have something else to focus on besides the grooming.
4. Talk to your Labrador
Keep your tone down no matter what your pup is doing. Try to engage and talk to your dog during the grooming process so that it won’t get distracted and it will feel a stronger bond with you.
Praise your puppy’s behavior to motivate it for future grooming sessions.
5. Make it fun
Try to be creative and entertaining when you groom your dog to prevent biting. The grooming session should be rich in breaks and playtime to keep your dog interested.
Be gentle with your Labrador to make the overall process fun and quick.
Do Labradors need a haircut?
No, Labradors don’t need haircuts because of their low-maintenance coat. The regular shedding patterns provide the dogs with complete protection from the weather, eliminating the need for haircuts.
Therefore, haircuts are never included in a Labrador’s grooming session.
Labrador grooming needs
The following are the essential grooming points related to Labradors:
1. Inspection
Before each grooming session, you should inspect your Labrador from head to toe by giving a massage. This way, you can feel the presence of any lumps, bumps, hair loss, or dry patches, if any.
2. Brushing
After inspecting your Labrador, the next step is brushing. As mentioned above, Labradors need brushing twice a week to remove dry skin and loose hair.
3. Bathing
The next step is bathing, which is required twice a month. However, the frequency of bathing can change depending on the presence of dirt on your Labrador’s skin.
4. Cleaning the eyes
If there is any regular discharge or irritation in your Labrador’s eyes, you should increase the eye-cleaning frequency.
Moreover, this inspection will help you remove the dead hair and skin, which you can brush away in the next grooming part.
Labrador grooming tools
The royal breed of Labradors requires a specific type of equipment or tools when it comes to grooming. Most of the top-class brands offer high-quality tools to groom Labradors. The best tools are the following:
Furminator
This tool is recommended by vets for dog grooming. By using this tool, you can groom your dog safely.
Slicker brush
This tool is getting a lot of positive reviews from dog parents.
