What Does Dog Grooming Involve?

A visit to Dogsbody means much more than simply shampooing for your dog, we offer a range of services at our spacious new salon.

On arrival for his/her appointment your pet is greeted and his/her general condition assessed. This means we can discuss how best to groom, trim and tailor his/her coat according to their breed, features and lifestyle.

Individual file cards record each dogs details, likes and dislikes, trimming and style details and owner details and contact telephone numbers.

Everything is agreed before your leave, including a collection time. As it can be damaging to a long haired dog to bath a matted coat, we will first examine your dog all over for tangles, external parasites (fleas, ticks or lice), warts, lumps beneath the skin, overgrown nails or skin/ ear problems.

De-tangling/de-matting coats can take anything from 5 minutes to several hours. Bathing a matted coat will result in the hair becoming more tightly entangled. This means it can become stressful and unkind to subject your pet to hours on the grooming table, in which case we may suggest a shorter trim to make the day at the salon much more pleasurable for fido and more practical to maintain at home.

All dogs who visit Dogsbody are bathed and fluff dried thoroughly by professionally trained staff with shampoo that best suits the coat. This means Tea Tree Oil shampoo for irritated and inflamed skin, insecticidal shampoo for dogs affected by fleas, conditioning treatments for dry or damaged coats, or perhaps veterinary prescribed shampoos for more serious skin problems.

Then it's off to the finishing table where each dog is skilfully clipped, scissored and styled according to his or her breed. Alternatively in the case of full coated pets the coat is carefully combed and turned out to show standard if their owners prefer.

Show dogs involve a little more time and usually several visits prior to a show date. For this reason owners are asked to book show dogs well in advance of any shows planned.

By the time your pet is due for collection, in addition to all coat care, he/she will have had a complete pedicure (including all dew claws, eyes and ears cleaned, thorough de-matting, anal glands expressed, skin check and shampoo. We will report anything we feel you or your vet should know at this stage.

A Dogs Guide to Dog Grooming