How to groom a puppy?

A big topic, and this thread has "wandered" since the original post. So I'm going back to the first questions, I hope.

A 4 and 5 month old Sheltie needs minimal grooming. At this age, you are mostly trying to get them used to the "process" of being groomed. This means frequently holding and squeezing their paws, same with the ears. Laying them down on their sides and sweeping their body with a brush. Any brush will do, but make sure that you spray them either with water or coat conditioner to avoid breaking hair.

They have to be conditioned to lying still, being sprayed, and being handled.

As they get older, real grooming comes into play. Takes longer and sometimes more "dominance". You are in control.

I groom using either my lazy susan grooming table with the grooming arm, or sometimes on my bed with the boy's semi-asleep. Sometimes, just on the floor when I want to give them a quick brushing. But when grooming begins, I'm in charge (as opposed to other times the dogs rule me).

If necessary, even with my grooming table which I normally put on the floor, I use my legs to hold the dogs into position.

p.s. Lightplum raised the question as to whether or not the pictures posted were actually 4 and 5 months old. I've the same question.....
 
I was wondering if I was brushing my 5 month old too much. I think I've damaged his fur :( because I had been using a slicker, misting him and brushing the fur against the grain and then back with the grain to clean out any dirt or loose fur. But now his fur is kinda curling upwards at the ends...probably because it's damaged now. Check out the pin brush I just bought--is it okay? I've been told not to get the one with the balls on the ends but I didn't know that before I bought it. What do you think? I handle him a lot, and he's very patient with me (especially with the whole ear fiasco). He doesn't bat an eyelash when I do his weekly nail clipping.
 
We expect 5 month old pups to take the whole routine. I use the slicker brush or a Mason Pearson brush on pups at this age. I brush the whole puppy's fur going the wrong way. A pin brush just doesn't make enough of an impact on the dense puppy coat. They need to understand the table, head trimming, feet trimming, and chaulking. I will say, when dividing up the grooming, Tofu Pup and I, each try to grab the puppy first, because they are smaller......unless they are renowned for being bad on the table. Then the last groomer standing gets that one. :lol: Lightplum and Sheltieholic have witnessed this tug of war!
 
While many of us have spent alot of money investing in good quality brushes, you don't need these do to a decent grooming job
on your pups....it just makes it easier.

What you really need is to learn how to groom a Sheltie. I highly recommend you purchase the Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming by Barb Ross. Unfortunately, she only gives illsutrations and not actual pictures but her descriptions are very good.

You can also buy Silver Shelties CD on grooming. I use it alot as reference.

When grooming companion dogs, you need to thinks that "less is more".

I've had my boys groomed by people who did not know how to groom Shelties, and it will now be 6 more weeks or more before Bacca gets his guard hair back.

Truly, for companion dogs, you really just want to learn the art of line brushing, then nails/paws and finally ears.
 
The very first pin brush I brought when I first got a sheltie was one with balls on the ends and yes it yanks out the coat. :(

If you have one with the balls return it. I have not found a good pin brush at one of the big box stores as they all have the balls. Other then that brand does matter, it is a matter on personal preference. #1 all systems and Venus are good low priced brands and Madan(I personal favorite) and Chris Christensen are great upper end ones.

As a puppy I just get them use to holding still and enjoying being fussed over. I rarely use anything more than the pinbrush and a slicker as babies. I do start them getting used to trimming of the feet and ears too.
 
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Can someone just give me a general explanation of what chaulking and line brushing is? I hear this mentioned a lot. Thanks for the tips on the literature! Definitely need to get a few books. I thought I knew so much about grooming and stuff---I'm in over my head right now lol. Good thing they're still puppies and I have time to learn! I do want to post some pics up tonight or tomorrow of Claussen's coat so you can tell me if it's damaged or not. I'll take some close-ups of the curled up fur.
 
DanteBella85 said:
Can someone just give me a general explanation of what chaulking and line brushing is? I hear this mentioned a lot.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about chalking - it's only done to show dogs, and only done when they're being prepped to go in the ring. It involves applying a conditioner (like Kolesterol) to the legs/ruff and then brushing in a layer of powdered white chalk. You are almost guaranteed to never have to know how to do it. :wink2:

You will, however, absolutely need to know how to line-brush! Line-brushing is your most basic, most vital skill in keeping your Sheltie's coat and skin healthy. You'll need a pin-brush and a spraybottle filled with water and set to make a nice mist. A slicker and/or a steel "Greyhound" comb are useful, too, but the pin-brush and water are the must-haves.

Basically, you're going to part the hair in lines along the dog's body. As you make each part, you mist it with water to keep the coat moist, and brush up and down along the part to take out any dead undercoat and to let air get to the skin. You can use the comb and/or slicker to pull out the little knots and dead hair, too. I do it in sections:

1. The body: your first "line" is from the dog's shoulder to his hip. Mist it with the water. Brush this line out completely, then make a line below it. Continue brushing and parting and misting until you get to the dog's belly, and then line-brush the belly, too.

2. The flank: your first line in this section is from the hip to the base of the tail. Make parts downward until you get to the fluffy "pants", and then turn your lines ninety degrees so that your final line is along the back of the dog's hind leg.

3. The ruff: Start at the top of the neck and work your way down and around the ruff.

4. The tail: make lines along the length of the tail, and work your way down and around it.

You can tell your dog needs a good line-brushing if you can feel little knots down against his skin. The coat will often look clumpy and unkempt, too. Once he's been completely line-brushed, the fur against the skin will feel smooth.
 
Ok, that's what I thought about the chalking! As for the line brushing--very good simple instructions-thank you! I doubt I will have to do this for a while yet (I only have puppies and I think i've over-groomed them so far).
 
Lightplum said:
I think they posted the wrong pic..that is not a 5 month old puppy, more like almost 2 years old. It has its full adult teeth and is wayy too mature looking.
Anyway the grooming tools I use regularly is a greyhound comb, pin brush and slicker. I mist them and brush away.
This is Noah's coat at 2 months shy of being 2 years old
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=32326403&l=0fa903b237&id=1467473653
Click to expand...

Linda...Brian and i are wondering what you feed your dogs?
 
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