Dog Grooming For Dummies E-Book

Margaret H. Bonham

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 539

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Handle grooming yourself to save money and bond with your dog Brush, bathe, and clip your dog like a pro! Whether your dog is destined for a career in the show ring or a spot on the living room couch, good grooming is important. This friendly guide shows you how to develop a grooming routine that will keep your dog clean - and strengthen the bond between you. It includes detailed, step-by-step grooming instructions for all types of coats. Discover how to * Train your dog for grooming * Care for nails, teeth, and ears * Use clippers and scissors * Groom specific types of coats * Prepare a dog for the show ring

Leseprobe

Dog Grooming For Dummies

by Margaret H. Bonham

Dog Grooming For Dummies®

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2005939201

ISBN-13: 978-0-471-77390-0

ISBN-10: 0-471-77390-5

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

1B/TR/RQ/QY/IN

About the Author

Margaret H. “Maggie” Bonham is a four-time award-winning professional dog, cat, and science fiction and fantasy author who lives in Colorado. She has worked as a vet tech, grooming dogs for clients. She also has groomed various dogs as pets and for show. She has trained more than 50 dogs in sledding, agility, packing, obedience, weight pulling, and conformation, earning multiple titles on several of her own dogs. She has written educational coursework (dog agility and activities) for dog trainers with Thomson Education Direct. She also is a professional member of Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).

Maggie has been a professional writer since 1995, writing novels, nonfiction books, short stories, courses, educational materials, and articles. Her books include Having Fun with Agility; A Dog’s Wisdom: A Heartwarming View of Life; The Complete Guide to Mutts: Selection, Care and Celebration from Puppyhood to Senior; Bring Me Home: Dogs Make Great Pets; Bring Me Home: Cats Make Great Pets; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Labrador Retrievers; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dog Health and Nutrition; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Designer Dogs; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Golden Retrievers; Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers; An Introduction to Dog Agility; Northern Breeds: The Simple Guide to Getting Active with Your Dog; Cancer and Your Pet: The Complete Guide to the Latest Research, Treatments, and Options; Your Siberian Husky’s Life: Your Complete Guide to Raising Your Pet from Puppy to Companion; and Prophecy of Swords. Her work has appeared in various national publications including Dog Fancy,Dog World,Dog and Kennel,Pet Life,Pet View,The Dog Daily,The Daily Cat,Catnip,Natural Pet,Contract Professional, and Mushing magazine. She has been a columnist and contributing editor for Dog and Kennel and PetView magazines, and she was a frequent contributor to Pets.com and Vetmedcenter.com Internet sites. She is editor of Merial PawPrints, a newsletter that covers topics about dogs and cats and is distributed to veterinarians for their clients.

Maggie currently trains various breeds for agility, sled-dog racing, obedience, and conformation. She lives with many purebred and mixed breed dogs, and one cat.

Dedication

To Larry and the Malamutes. And to Hailey, who is pretty much self-grooming.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank the following people who made this book possible:

Jessica Faust of Bookends

Stacy Kennedy, acquisitions editor at Wiley

Alissa Schwipps, senior project editor at Wiley

Larry Bonham, my husband, who puts up with my crazy schedules

Kodiak, Kira, Haegl, Hailey, and Mishka, who constantly amuse me

Sue Johnson, who taught me how to groom for show

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

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Special Help Danielle Voirol

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Introduction

Do you consider your dog a family member? Chances are you said yes before you finished reading the sentence. You’re in good company. Most pet owners consider their dogs as important as other family members or even a child. According to the Association of Pet Products Manufacturers, every day some 44 million households wake up to the loving licks of humankind’s oldest and dearest friend.

Dogs have served people as protectors, workers, friends, and partners throughout thousands of years. And yet the role of the dog is changing. A few hundred years ago, not many people would be reading a book about grooming their dogs. Back then, dogs for the most part were outdoor animals that were kept in a doghouse or kennel and treated perhaps a little better than a tool or at best a type of livestock. With the exception of the pampered lap dogs and the few working dogs that shared the master’s home, most dogs had a pretty tough life, usually hanging out in the backyard (if there was one) or running around on the farm.

How times have changed! Dogs have moved from outside to inside and wiggled their way into the hearts (and even onto the couches and beds) of their owners. But now that they’ve arrived — so to speak — pet owners want their dogs to be presentable. A dirty dog is no joy; a clean dog is pure happiness.

And that’s what this book is all about. You’re no dummy for wanting a clean and presentable dog. A well-groomed dog usually is one that goes places and is better socialized than one who isn’t. You don’t mind having a well-groomed dog around, and you’re friends and neighbors are likely to think how wonderful your dog is because he’s well-groomed.

About This Book

Many books about grooming dogs are on the shelves of libraries and bookstores, so you may be wondering what makes this one different than the others. Well, first of all, you don’t have to be a grooming expert (or an expert with dogs) to read and understand this book. I explain everything in easy-to-understand language that someone who’s never groomed a dog can understand.

And you can read this book any way you’d like. I’d prefer that you read it cover-to-cover, but quite frankly that isn’t what this book is about. This book is set up in a modular fashion where you can pick your topic and start reading about it right away. You don’t need to wade through text to find out what the best remedy is for de-skunking a dog (and trust me, you don’t want to when your dog is skunked) — just flip through the table of contents or the index to find the section you’re looking for and then read it.

Although I talk about aspects of dog grooming that you may never use with a pet dog — preparing for a dog show is one — I have plenty of information about how to groom the everyday pet. Who knows? The next dog you get may be a purebred you’ll want to show. I go into different coat types and what you need to do with them, even if your dog is a mixed breed, all so you can figure out which section applies to your dog and get useful information.

You’ll love being able to go to the section that’s most appropriate to you and your dog. Whether it’s simple weekly grooming, choosing a professional groomer, clipping a dog, or getting rid of fleas, this book is for you.

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you navigate through this book, I’ve set up a few conventions:

Italic is used for emphasis and to highlight new words or terms that are defined.

Boldfaced text is used to indicate the action part of numbered steps and to highlight key words in bulleted lists.

All Web addresses appear in monofont for easy identification.

Many different books treat dogs as objects rather than as beings. I consider dogs to be “he”or “she,” not “it,” so you’ll see me refer to dogs in this manner. Dogs aren’t objects, they’re companions, and I know they’d be offended if they knew I referred to them as “its” in a book.

Likewise, many books don’t capitalize dog breeds, which I think is very wrong, so I do and so do my contemporaries — and with good reason! The American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club both capitalize dog breeds. What’s more is that many of the breed names actually come from names of ancient peoples and countries. For example, the word, “Malamute” is an Anglicized name of a tribe of Inuit people in Alaska. So a dog isn’t an Alaskan malamute, a golden retriever, or a komondor. The dog is an Alaskan Malamute, a Golden Retriever, or a Komondor.

I also lean toward colloquial words to describe things. Dogs have legs not limbs (isn’t a limb on a tree?), and they pee and they poop, rather than urinate and defecate. I use the words paws and nails and puppy dog tails. Because that’s what I use and that’s what I’m comfortable with. I hope that’s okay by you.

What You’re Not to Read

You don’t absolutely, positively have to read every thing in this book, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t read it all. Instead, it means that if you’re in a hurry, you can skip some topics and still not miss the important stuff you need. The skipable text includes:

Text in sidebars: Sidebars are shaded boxes of text that appear throughout the book. They’re crammed full of interesting information and personal insight that you may find useful, but they’re more in-depth and more technical than the regular text.

Anything with the “Technical Stuff” icon attached: This icon (see the “Icons used in the Book” section later in the Introduction) gives you a more in-depth explanation of what I’m talking about, but it isn’t really necessary to read these paragraphs.

The copyright page, the acknowledgments, and the dedication: You really don’t have to read these pages unless you’re bored or you’re looking for a cure for insomnia.

Foolish Assumptions

I thought a lot about you, dear reader, while writing this book, and here’s what I assumed about you:

You own a dog and you’re wondering how to keep him clean, nice looking, and sweet smelling.

You want to groom your dog at home to save the expense of professional grooming, but you don’t have much time to wade through pages of grooming texts to figure out how to get your dog looking his best.

You may have a dog that has a coat that requires a little more time- consuming grooming and care than you expected, and you want some time- and hassle-saving tips to keep your dog’s coat in great shape.

You want to know whether you can really groom your dog or if you perhaps need to take him to a professional groomer.

Maybe you know quite a bit about dog grooming, and you’re considering grooming for show or professionally.

How This Book Is Organized

To make this book easy to read and understand, I’ve grouped Dog Grooming For Dummies into five easy-to-manage parts. Each part covers a different aspect of grooming.

Part I: Getting Started

In this part, you discover the basics of why grooming is important and how to get ready to groom your dog. I cover why you need to groom your dog (some reasons may surprise you!) and whether you need perhaps to hire a professional groomer to help get you started (or do the job instead). I cover the basics when it comes to coat types and anatomy — the stuff you need to know before breaking out the brushes and combs. I also cover how you can train your dog for grooming. As odd as that may sound, if you can’t get your dog to stand still for a brushing, it’s tough to keep him clean. Lastly, I talk about buying quality equipment and supplies for grooming your dog — including what works and what doesn’t.

Part II: Making Your Dog Look Good: The Basics

In this part, you get all the basics for grooming a dog. I cover everyday grooming techniques and basic clipping — stuff you need to know for every dog.

Part III: Grooming by Coat Type: Beyond the Basics

In this part, I give you the scoop on the basic coat types — what breeds have them and how to go about grooming each particular coat. I also provide you more-advanced coat-specific tips for grooming for the show ring.

Part IV: Grooming Specialties

In this part, you discover the intricacies of grooming a dog — from dealing with skin and hair problems to turning professional and opening your own business. Whether it’s handling serious hair disasters (like sticky gum in the fur) or recognizing a hereditary or congenital problem with your dog’s coat, I cover it. I also cover emergencies that I hope you never run into while grooming your dog, and I tell you about the dog show scene — what’s it all about and how important grooming is when showing your dog.

Part V: The Part of Tens

In this part, I cover some interesting facts that can help make you a more knowledgeable groomer and take some of the hassle out of the grooming experience for you and your dog.

But wait — there’s more! Turn to the handy dandy Appendix at the end of the book to find dog grooming Web sites, the names of grooming magazines, and other stuff that helps you discover even more about grooming and get the equipment and supplies you need.

Icons Used in This Book

The icons used in this book help steer you to particular kinds of information that may be useful to you:

You see this icon any time I suggest time- or hassle-saving advice that makes grooming your dog easier or more comfortable.

This icon appears when I explain important information that you shouldn’t overlook and that sometimes bears repeating.

This icon appears when I’m explaining topics that include the potential for harming you or your dog. Don’t ignore this icon!

I’m a geek at heart, so you’ll see several of these icons with interesting information that may be a little more technical than most people want to know, but it’s helpful if you want a fuller picture.

Where to Go from Here

Where do you want to start reading? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. Try these hints:

If you want to know what tools you need to buy for grooming, look in Chapter 3.

If you want to know how to do basic grooming on your dog, check out Chapters 5 and 6 for starters.

Need to get rid of a mat in a dog’s coat? Chapter 5 can help you.

You can find out how to get rid of really nasty stuff in a dog’s coat (including skunk spray) by perusing Chapter 15.

Check out Chapter 16, so you can recognize possible health problems associated with the appearance of your dog’s coat.

If you want to show your dog, Chapter 18 explains dog shows and helps you prepare your dog for the show ring. Then you choose a chapter in Part III that pertains to your specific dog’s coat.

If you’re looking for something that I haven’t mentioned here, check out the table of contents or index or peruse the Appendix for other resources.

So now you’re ready to begin grooming your dog. I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I do, and I know you’ll find this book a helpful guide.

Part I

Getting Started

In this part . . .

G rooming your dog is an important part of dog ownership. In this part, I cover why you need to groom your dog, or whether perhaps you need to hire a professional groomer instead. Part I also covers the basics when it comes to coat types and anatomy and how easy or difficult it is to groom dogs with various characteristics. I also explain how you can train your dog to be groomed, and I provide insight on what grooming equipment and supplies work best.

Chapter 1

What Good Grooming Is All About

In This Chapter

Understanding why grooming is important to your dog’s health

Tallying up the costs of grooming

Determining which dogs (and coat types) need the most and least grooming

Figuring out when to do it yourself and when to hire a pro

I know that when I think of grooming, the vision of the froufrou doggie beauty parlor springs to mind, complete with bows, silly hairstyles, and nail polish. I’ve got news for you: I’ve never put a bow in my dogs’ hair, and my dogs would protest mightily if I even suggested painting their nails.

But grooming’s important. No one likes a bad hair day. Your dog certainly doesn’t; he feels just as uncomfortable as you do when his hair is all ratty and snarled. But grooming is more than just having him look and feel good; it’s vital for his health. And it’s more than just a bath — it includes brushing, combing, keeping his teeth and ears clean, clipping his nails, and keeping him in top shape.