Essential Pre-Winter Grooming Checklist

As the days grow shorter and temperatures drop, you may notice that your dog is shedding more heavily than usual. This is perfectly normal. Lighter warm-weather coats depart to make room for the thicker fur many dogs grow to stay warm. Here are some great tools to help remove that shedding hair:

Smooth-coated breeds- German Shorthaired Pointers, Doberman Pinchers, Beagles, Pugs, and their brethren seem to shed all the time. But, during seasonal changes, it can seem overwhelming. Here are two tools to the rescue:

• The Equigroomer Shedding tool works wonders. Fine teeth set in a metal blade neatly pull out tremendous amounts of dead hair.
• Another hard-working tool is the KONG Zoom Groom. You can use this brush can during a bath or on a dry coat. If you have never used one, prepare to be amazed.
  

Double-coated breeds- Your Labrador and Golden retrievers, Australian and German Shepherds, Huskies, and Pomeranians, along with their many double-coated relatives, may be looking a little clumpy this time of year. As lighter undercoat comes out and is replaced by thicker winter undercoat, tufts of fur get stuck in the longer topcoat before falling out to create janitorial problems around the house. Try these tools to get all that fluff under control:

• The first line of defense is a great slicker brush. Choose one with teeth long enough to get through the type of coat your dog has, (shorter tines for shorter coats, long tines for longer coats.)
• The next step is a good rake. It will find shedding places your slicker skipped over. Arronco rakes have a comfortable grip and beautifully finished tines that glide through even thick coats.
• Finish up with a comb. Choose longer teeth for longer coats, and correspondingly look for shorter teeth for shorter coats. The comb will catch anything the slicker brush and rake missed. If you find it difficult to comb through one area, go back with your brush, then rake, and check your work with the comb.

Pampered Paws- Seasonal changes can cause some dogs to have cracked, irritated paws. To help soothe them, consider Tropiclean Paw Pad treatment. Simply rub this onto the pads, let sit for 3 minutes, and rinse. You can go one step further and use Blissful Dog Paw Butter. This leave-on lotion is soothing and smoothing at the same time.

Dry Skin- For dry paws or other localized patches of dry skin, IGroom Pet Skin Rescue is an easy to use topical treatment that soothes skin with moisturizers made from all natural, organic ingredients.

The cooler weather may bring on some challenges when caring for your pets skin and coat, but you can count on Cherrybrook to have the tools you need to tackle seasonal changes.