Doing grooming yourself is a great way to bond with your German Shepherd Dog. Praise and reward your dog for being good while being groomed and many GSD's will even learn to enjoy the entire process with practice. Here are a few more basic grooming procedures to practice with your own German Shepherd dog or puppy.
Bath Time
Barring any encounters with foul smelling stuff, German Shepherds only need baths about twice a year. While this doesn't sound like much, you have to remember that your dogs hair is a barrier that is constantly keeping dirt out and keeping essential skin oils in.
Over bathing your dog will strip these natural oils and lead to dry skin and possibly skin issues and irritation. A dogs skin has a pH balance that is very different from humans, and as such requires a different type of shampoo to keep from disrupting that balance. When bathing your dog, remember to place cotton in th eir ears to prevent water from getting in the ear canal. (Water in the ear can lead to ear infections)
Nailing Those Nails
If your dog gets a lot of activity on hard surfaces their nails should wear down naturally, but if they're too long, or if they become chipped or broken, trimming will help keep your dogs feet healthy. The center of a dogs toenail is a very sensitive living tissue called the quick, and you want to avoid clipping into and/or too near the quick as this will cause your dog great discomfort, bleeding, and could lead to other more serious issues.
To ensure you don't trim into the quick it's best to remove very small amounts of nail at a time. Pet shops now offer nail "filing" tools that remove paper thin layers of the nail at a time and help round the surface as they do so. This is a great option for your pet and will help with nails that are too long and/or nails that are chipped or broken.
Ear Ye, Ear Ye!
Checking your dogs ears is very important and should be done weekly, and cleaned as needed. Some signs that your dog may have ear issues are: Ears that are sensitive, Swelling and/or redness of the skin in or around the ear, Head shaking and/or ear scratching, Discharges or odors coming from the ear, Hematomas (blood blisters) on the ear flap, or Melanomas (tumors).
If you think that your dog has any ear problems you should consult your vet immediately. One common issue is wax buildup. If your dog has wax buildup, your vet can give you liquid drops that will dissolve the wax and allow you to wipe it out.
Another common issue is ear mites. If your dog is doing a lot of head shaking and scratching at it's ears, it may have ear mites and you should see your vet to get medication to remove the ear mites. If your dog has ear mites, you may also notice the mites though they are small white specks in your dogs ear or earwax.
Say Cheese
To keep your dogs teeth healthy you'll want to make sure that brushing their teeth is part of your regular grooming schedule as well.
Remember to follow these grooming tips for your German Shepherd, all of which are very important. Grooming is much more important than many GSD owners believe it to be. Remember that even though German Shepherds are relatively maintenance free compared to many dog breeds your GSD will need a little grooming TLC occasionally as well. Please do not neglec t this important aspect of German Shepherd Dog ownership.
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