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Grooming your long-haired dog takes a lot of time and work, despite their attractive appearance. You’ll need to follow a strict home grooming routine and regular excursions to the grooming facility to keep their flowing hair healthy and matt-free. This article will tell you all you need to know about long-haired grooming, so you’ll know what to anticipate from your grooming appointment and how to keep their coat in control at home.
Caring your canine accomplice clean might work on both your and their pleasure. It is trying for a long-haired canine. Tracking down canine hair on each household item or in each niche and cleft of the house is horrible. While you’re tidying stuff up, it seems like a perpetual undertaking. There are a couple of basic ways to prepare your long-haired canine that can make your occupation more straightforward.
Definition of a Long-Haired Coat
A long-haired coat is long and flowing, and in certain breeds, it may almost reach the floor. Their coats come in various thicknesses and textures, with some having a delicate silky smoothness and others having a thicker, coarser texture. As with all dogs, how much their hair is combed impacts how healthy and shiny their coat is, but home grooming is always necessary with long-haired dogs, and a trip to the groomer every 6 to 8 weeks is advised.
You’ve seen certain long-haired breeds at Crufts or other dog events, with their hair bouncing about the arena and hiding their eyes. Even though this is the breed standard for many long-haired coat breeds, owners who do not want to display their dogs may prefer a more practical shorter form. In these cases, we’ll aim to keep their individuality while making their hair simpler to care for in-between groomings. Even yet, proper house grooming and upkeep are always required.
Benefits of Being a Long-Haired Dog
Depending on your lifestyle, the weather, and grooming habits, the benefits of many long-haired dog breeds might also be considered drawbacks. Let’s have a look at how it all works.
Looks
Let’s get the crucial thing out of the way first: long-haired dog breeds look fantastic when they’re in good form. Their hair moves with them, gleaming like a model in a shampoo commercial. They will appear picture-perfect if you keep a solid home grooming regimen and see the groomer regularly.
On the other hand, if you neglect their coat upkeep, things may quickly spiral out of control. Without frequent brushing and washing, their coats can get dull and matted, causing pain for your long-haired dog. Muddy walks will destroy your dog’s coat if you don’t bathe them often if your dog has long hair that drags on the floor.
Warmth
In the winter, your dog will not require any additional coats. Many long-haired dog breeds come from frigid climates where they were expected to do a lot of outside labor. They’ve been bred specifically for this purpose. Their thick, dense fur will keep them warm at all times.
Summer months, on the other hand, can be oppressively hot. Long walks can quickly tire your dog out, resulting in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. To avoid this, if your dog has an active lifestyle, you may wish to trim its coat back.
Protection
Their long coat can provide an extra layer of protection from various things, including rain, snow, and sharp items that they may come into contact with on extended treks. Cuts and scrapes are less likely as a result of the increased fur. Unfortunately, because of the thick texture of its coat, it can attract bugs and parasites, making treatment more difficult. A long-haired dog may gather up more debris as it wanders down the ground or grabs onto brushes.
It’s also more challenging to identify ticks or concerning lumps and bumps because it covers their frame. You should examine their skin frequently for anything that could be problematic. Due to their coat covering most of their surface area, it’s also simple to miss any weight gain or decrease.
Grooming Your Long-Haired Dog
Regular grooming trips to the groomer, backed by a firm and consistent home grooming practice, are required for proper long-haired dog grooming.
Shampoo
All long-haired dog grooming sessions will begin with a smoothing conditioning shampoo exclusively for long-haired breeds. Conditioners are also necessary for maintaining strong, lustrous, and smooth hair. Before brushing, you might apply a spray to decrease matting and static.
Drying
Wrap a towel over your long-haired dog. Apply a rapid drying microfiber to eliminate the excess moisture in your long-haired dog’s hair. It will cut down on the amount of time spent under the blow dryer, making the procedure quicker, more enjoyable, and less harmful to the hair. You may either blow dry or let your dog air dry. Follow either procedure with a fluffing by brushing their coat backward and then forwards for the ideal do.
Brushing
When brushing your dog, be sure you use a brush made for long-haired dogs. We’ll start by gently untangling the hair and removing any dead hairs from the coat with a curved slicker brush. To further smooth and untangle the coat, you may use a regular poodle comb on the hair. Depending on the dog’s size and the type of groom, you can use a conventional pin brush or a wooden pin brush.
Cutting
It all boils down to personal preference, lifestyle, and the time of year to groom your long-haired dog. If you’re going to a dog show, keep your dog’s hair long and focus on combing and washing it often to keep it from matting. However, for many owners, the breed standard cut is impracticable. Thus a shorter coat is generally chosen.
If you merely want to straighten up their coat, use thinning scissors to take the weight out of it and even out the hair dragging on the floor or getting in the way of their vision. Some owners want their long-haired dogs to have short hair in the summer, and depending on the breed, you may remove a lot more weight from their coat or even clip it straight back.
NOTE: The long hair also protects your dog from the summer sun. If you shave him, shield him from sun burns. He may need to remain inside during the hotter parts of the day, usually from 10am to 4pm, to avoid getting overheated or sun burnt.
Trimming
Indeed, even lengthy-haired canines require preparing now and again. Keeping their nails and hair flawless on their feet keeps them agreeable and keeps them from collecting soil. A few varieties might require facial managing, and regardless of whether your canine won’t the show ring, consider giving them a sterile trim to hold things overall quite clean down underneath. Scissors can likewise be useful in relaxing and cutting matting depending on the situation.
Finishing Touches
Bows, clips, and bands are excellent finishing touches for your long-haired dog, particularly for breeds with long hair covering their eyes and face. You may help children see more clearly by pulling their hair up, and it will keep their face cooler in hot weather.
Conclusion
To keep your dog’s hair matte-free, you’ll need to follow a strict home long-haired dog grooming routine and frequent grooming appointments with the groomer. To achieve this, you may wish to keep various brushes on hand, such as those listed in the previous section. Depending on how often you go to the groomer, you might want to invest in some shampoo for home use after muddy walks and conditioning and anti-static spray.
Brush your long-haired dog regularly, smoothing their hair all over first. You’ll need to pay more attention to some places if you find they’re becoming matted. Focus on freeing up the ends of the matted portion first to prevent irritation and tugging on your dog’s skin while removing matted sections from his hair. It takes time and attention to correctly remove mattes. Begin brushing more hair and working closer to the skin as the hair loosens and the ends loosen. Continue until the entire part is matte-free. Keep an eye out for matted areas beneath their tummy and legs.
Long-haired dogs require regular brushing and thorough combing with line brushing to ensure that the entire coat is rubbed down to the skin and matting is avoided. Except for breeds like the Powderpuff Chinese Crested and Afghan, which require special grooming for the show ring, they don’t generally have a breed standard cut.
Because it is not practicable for pet owners to maintain these dogs in “show coat” owing to the amount of attention necessary, they are frequently clipped into a style that is better suited to their lifestyle. However, they still require daily care at home.
