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Grooming your Golden Retriever is a never ending process. The entire process should be down once or twice a week, and will take you around a ½ an hour of time. Brushing your dog while he is shedding will help to control shedding quite a bit. While outside, if your Golden Retriever manages to get burs or other defects in his hair, you should instantly take a few moments of your time and get the burs or other matter out of his coat.

When you groom your pet, you should always start with a good brushing. Brush his entire body, then once you have finished brushing you can switch to a comb to get out any loose hair that remains in the coat. While you are getting out the hair, you can also inspect your pet for ticks, fleas, and other types of skin ailments. If you wish, you can also check his ears and trim his nails as well.

Bathing your Golden is essential to grooming, and can be somewhat complicated. Before you attempt to give him a bath, you should always brush him first, to get rid of tangles. During shampooing, you should always use shampoos that are specifically for dogs, since human shampoo can dry a dog’s skin out. You don’t need to bathe your dog often, once every other week is good enough. If you properly maintain your Golden’s coat, you’ll find it’s much easier to clean.

To prevent matting, which is very common with Golden Retrievers, you should always make sure that you brush your pet on a daily basis. Metal combs and brushes work extremely well, and will help you to get a great deal of the hair out. Although some people choose to use scissors and cut the mats, you can easily injure your Golden if he happens to move or jerk. Scissors aren’t recommended, as brushing and proper bathing will help to prevent matting of the hair better than anything else.

When you cut your dogs nails, you should trim them a great deal, all the while avoiding going down into the quick. You should never let your Golden’s nails get too long, as long nails can easily take the shape of the dog’s foot, resulting in a splay. Therefore, you should always check your Golden Retriever’s nails and trim them every few weeks. If you trim them just right, you’ll have at least 2 weeks before they need to be trimmed again. If you do happen to trim the nails past the quick, bleeding will occur. To stop the bleeding, always keep some styptic powder on hand to make sure that you are prepared if you do make a mistake.

With other types of grooming, you should also make sure that you clean your Golden’s ears as well. They can get ear infections quite easily, if you don’t clean their ears on a regular basis. To get the best results and protect your pet from ear infections, you should clean his ears once a week using a quality cleansing solution. This way, you can rest assured that your Golden has healthy ears.

Grooming is an essential aspect to the health of every Golden Retriever. All it takes is a little bit of time from your day to groom your pet and keep him healthy. If you don’t have the time to groom your Golden, you can always take him to a professional. Whether you do it yourself or take your Golden to a pro – grooming is something that simply must be done.

Grooming Your Golden Retriever courtesy Dog Articles.

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1. Water. You probably already know that dogs need fresh, clean water at all times. All of us do. But if you want to remove as many toxins as possible from your dog’s water and do everything possible to keep him healthy, think about using a water filter. Tap water can contain many unhealthy chemicals such as lead and low levels of prescription medications. A water filter or purifier can help remove as many toxins from the water as possible and make the water healthier for you and your dog.

2. Food. There are an amazing number of dog foods on the market today. Unfortunately, many of them are not made from very healthy ingredients. They may technically pass government standards but they can contain ingredients that you wouldn’t want your dog to eat. You can choose healthier food for your dog by doing some research and learning to read dog food labels. Look for foods that contain more meats than fillers. Most of the better foods contain much less corn and other cereal products. It’s not necessary to go completely grain-free but you should look for foods that have named meat sources, such as lamb, lamb meal, chicken, chicken meal, and so on.

You should also avoid foods that contain the preservative ethoxyquin. This same ingredient is used in making tires. It’s not something that you want your dog to eat. Instead, look for natural preservatives such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C, citric acid and rosemary. These natural preservatives all have antioxidant properties and are healthier for your dog.

3. Vet care. Good vet care is, of course, important for your dog’s long term health. This means flea control, heartworm prevention and receiving the necessary vaccinations. However, all of these issues are the subject of some debate. Flea control and heartworm prevention often involve using strong chemicals. Some people feel that pets are being over-vaccinated. You should familiarize yourself with these issues and discuss them with your veterinarian. We are not advising you to leave off topical flea control or chewable monthly heartworm prevention. Heartworms can kill dogs and flea infestation can make a dog’s life (and their human’s) miserable. Vaccinations are necessary, at least at some intervals. We are recommending that you do further reading and talk to your vet about what is necessary for the health of your dog.

4. Exercise. It’s very important that your dog gets the proper exercise. As much as 40 percent of the dogs in the United States are considered to be overweight or obese. This is often because owners overfeed them, give them too many treats and table scraps, and because the dogs don’t get enough exercise. Taking your dog out for a daily walk is a good way to help your dog stay in shape. Add a weekly run and your dog will be a much healthier dog.

5. Spend time with your dog. All of the other things you do for your dog’s health — providing him with good water, food, vet care and exercise — will be meaningless if you don’t spend time with your dog. Enjoying your time together can do more than almost anything else to keep your dog healthy and happy. Dogs have been shown to have a beneficial effect on human health. The same is true of humans and dogs — we have a beneficial effect on their health. Just petting a dog can improve the way he feels and acts. Spend time with your dog and he will be a happier, healthier dog throughout his life.

The Top 5 Things You Can Do To Keep Your Dog Healthy courtesy Dog Articles.

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