Your dog’s health and hygiene are closely tied together, and it’s important to understand how regular grooming contributes to keeping your dog healthy and active. Here are several health benefits your dog receives from bathing and grooming services at our Mechanicsburg location:
Regular dog baths help your dog maintain a healthy coat and skin. Hair mats can be painful for your dog, and in some cases may cause odors or lead to other skin problems. Fortunately, they are easy to remove when a professional bathes your four-legged friend. We don’t simply pour some shampoo on your dog and spray them down. Our pet care specialists gently massage the shampoo into your dog’s coat, then rinse it out and brush the coat. If we find mats in the dog’s fur, we carefully remove them, then comb through any tangles to prevent future mats from forming.
Good grooming reduces the “shedding problem.” Most dogs shed, even those with short coats. Dogs with longer coats may shed even more, especially in the warm months. You may have resigned yourself to living with these little pieces of your dog’s hair floating around, but you can still reduce shedding by caring for the dog’s coat health. It’s helpful to understand that most dogs have several layers to their fur, and often when pet owners brush a dog, they only reach the top layer. At Greenlin Pet Resorts, our groomers use professional brushes and other tools that extract loose hairs from the deepest coat layer. As a result, your canine friend will have a healthier, thinner coat with less hair to shed.
Trimming those nails makes your dog healthier and more comfortable. When a dog’s nails grow too long, this can cause your pet a lot of pain when all they’re doing is walking around. Worse, it can affect their posture and balance as they try to stand on long, wobbly nails. After a little more time goes by, your dog could even experience changes to the bones in their feet and joint pain. Some dogs’ nails grow faster and longer than others, but most dogs benefit from getting a trim whenever their nails just about touch the ground as they walk. Puppies often need more frequent nail-cutting as they’re experiencing all-over growth spurts. One hint is if you hear your dog “clicking” as they walk on hard surfaces - that’s a sign that their nails are too long and they need a trim soon.
Grooming is an opportunity to look out for your dog’s health. Our pet specialists are trained to examine your dog’s hair, nails, and skin as they work. This allows us to observe any changes in the hair or skin that you may want to see your vet about, such as skin rashes or irritation, patches of hair loss, or other issues. Often these conditions may cause your dog discomfort but can be easily treated once your veterinarian diagnoses the problem.