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Home Coat Care Between Grooming Appointments

Writer's picture: Matt HeikkilaMatt Heikkila


Hello Diablo Dog Clients and other pet owning non-clients. We've done a couple of training blogs (helping with things things like reactivity and pulling), but I was excited to put together our first blog on grooming, or specifically coat care.


I asked our groomer Sydney if there was anything she would want to communicate to our grooming clients or really any grooming clients to make dog's grooming experience more positive, so she wrote this blog.


Beyond explaining what a between the grooming appointment regimen should be, she wanted to give some info about why letting it fall by the wayside makes grooming appointments tougher for a conscientious groomer and can make it more painful for the dog, and often it can make it necessary to shave out mats, making your dog look a little less beautiful than you may have hoped for when you scheduled them for that grooming appointment. She also touched on a couple of coat types that may require a little more care.


Sydney worked in the veterinary care for a number of years, so even more important to her than making your dogs look nice, is helping them being healthy, so she talks a little about the health concerns dogs can experience when their coats don't get the attention they need, and how to avoid those issues.


The quoted portions are Sydney and the non-quoted parts are me chiming in.-Matt


Coat Care


Sydney says


Maintaining your dogs coat health in between his or hers grooming appointments is essential to preventing matting, tangling, coat compaction, excessive oil buildup, skin infections and irritation, etc. Some breeds or mixed breeds of dogs require much more frequent maintenance, requiring daily brushing and combing with grooming appointments at a minimum of every six weeks.

Before Sydney grooms a dog she tries to get as much info from their human as possible about their coat, any issues they may have with grooming, matting they may have, and things to look out for.


Betty the Bernedoodle before
Betty after



When a dog gets groomed Sydney will let owners know how their coat is doing, what she did during the grooming process, offer advice on coat maintenance between grooms, and suggest how long it should be before their next appointment. This is a little bit more general advice, but definitely check in with your vet or your own groomers.

Poodles and poodle mixes have very high maintenance coats, ranging from curly to wavy types. These are the dogs I most frequently see who tend to have tangled or matted coats in between their appointments. They require daily or every other day brushing and combing. It’s essential to be able to comb straight through their coat down to the skin on every part of their body, especially after swimming or getting wet and rough playing with other dogs.

Diablo Dog provides off-leash group hikes, so we sometimes inadvertently make groomer Sydney's job much more difficult. The dogs who hike with us get to run around in all weather, sometimes on a daily basis and can pick up all sorts of burrs, mud, or just get matted thanks to getting wet out there. Our walkers are asked to do their best to pick clean spots, and do coat checks throughout and after a hike to make sure they're not taking the forest home with them, but there's only so much we can do. Many of our walkers carry a brush to use as needed. Not all of our hiking dogs get groomed by us, but it is a good portion. Which is also why it's nice to have a grooming salon within the company.



At least Tatum is enjoying himself


Matting is a major health hazard to your dog, and can cause many different health issues including skin infections (ranging from hot spots to serious fungal and bacteria infections), skin irritation and pain, bruising, cutting off blood circulation in the skin, ear hematomas, and allowing parasites like fleas and ticks to more easily hide and reside on your dog’s body.

I should note that as a pet care company we do require certain vaccinations and preventative medications beyond the legally required vaccines such as the Rabies vaccine; including canine flu vaccination, and bordatella vaccine, and we strongly encourage flea and tick medication, heartworm, and leptospirosis vaccines, as these are things that dogs can get from hiking outdoors.


It becomes more risky to groom matted pets because it requires the sharp tools to come into closer contact with the already irritated skin to get underneath and remove the mats, risking small cuts or clipper irritation. Because poodle mix dogs have a mixed breed coat type, it continues to grow and curl like a poodle coat but behaves like a double coated breed, so it tends to be thicker and denser and also sheds (even if not heavily), which leads to needing to be maintained by brushing and trimming frequently. Slicker brushes and stainless steal combs made for dogs are perfect tools to take care of your pup’s coat health in between their groom appointments!


This video shows a variety of the dogs Sydney sees in our grooming salon, and with that the numerous types of coats. And with those variation in coat types, it changes how she approaches each dog breed for grooming, and how owners should approach care between grooms.



Finn the husky
Heavily double coated breeds, like huskies, malamutes, samoyeds, Bernese mountain dogs, golden retrievers, Australian shepherds, collies, etc. have coats that are continually growing and shedding throughout the year, with some seasons having more heavy shedding than others. It’s recommended to groom these types of dogs at least twice every quarter of the year to help with the removal of shedding fur and prevent compaction, and to brush them multiple times a week.


When we have new dogs come in, Sydney likes to give as much info as possible to their humans on coat care between grooms, and just general coat health, so that they can better take care of their dogs. One thing that heavily factors into not just grooming of dogs, but general care, is the breed type or coat type of the dog.

Coat compaction is when the soft, cotton-like undercoat (that continually grows throughout the year) doesn’t shed itself correctly and becomes trapped within the rest of the growing undercoat and present top coat (the silky longer hairs on top). When this happens, it becomes a thick padding of dead fur that traps the continually growing fur underneath it and prevents air flow to the skin. With a proper deshedding treatment at the groomers, this can usually be treated and removed to promote healthy coat and skin conditions going forward. Frequent brushing at home with slicker brushes of the already shedded and shedding undercoat in between deshedding treatments at the groomer maintains a healthy double coat. You can use a Furminator brush or rake only after brushing out the majority of the shedding coat and if it’s easy to get through the coat (making sure it doesn’t snag or get caught within the fur) or you risk damaging the healthy coat that’s not currently shedding.

Even shorter coat dogs can benefit from good regular brushing. I have a lab named Maggie, and it's good for her on multiple levels. No, she's not going to get matted, but she may feel itchy and shed a lot. The more I brush her, the less she sheds, and she sheds a lot. And it also gets out those dead hairs and makes her more comfortable and less itchy. Our other dog is a cattledog/pyrenees mix named Roo and while she really doesn't shed at all, she just enjoys getting brushed because it feels good and it also will get anything she may have brought home from the trail out of her coat.



Maggie
Blue Roo


Sydney grooms dogs in our salon Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM by appointment. Give us a call, or create an account with us to get onto the schedule soon. You can see all of our prices and grooming services here.


We do have some grooming supplies such as different types of brushes in our store at 725 Alhambra Ave, Martinez. You can see our selection here or visit us Tuesday-Sunday 11AM-5PM.


Additionally we provide dog training and walking, which you can learn more about on our website.


Please leave any questions or comments you may have below, and follow and share this blog if you found it useful.


Matt Heikkila

Sydney Maise

Diablo Dog


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