Caring for Your Dog's Fur or Hair

Having a dog is a major responsibility and there are so many things you need to know about and keep tabs on. The dog's fur or hair is one of those things you need to keep an eye on. Depending on the breed of dog you own, you may have lots of fur or hair or not much at all. Regardless, however, you need to know the basics of caring for your dog's coat so that you and the canine can be happy!

Many dog breeds shed and that is no fun at all, especially to the homeowner who likes a vacuumed house. You definitely need to vacuum every other day, if not daily depending on the amount of hair your dog sheds. You can take small measures too to prevent some of that loose hair from getting on your sofas and in the carpet. To collect loose hairs, you can put your dog on an old sheet or towel before brushing. This method is also good because it requires you brushing your dog's hair and making sure that everything is okay on the hair side of the dog.

Dogs run outside and it's only natural that they collect debris in their fur. While kind of irritating, it is important to remove the sticks and burrs to ensure maximum hair health of your dog. You can simply pull out sticks and the like, but burrs are a little more difficult. To remove burrs, crush them with pliers or soak the tangles in vegetable oil and then just comb them out.

Dogs also sometimes get sticky substances in their fur. Pretty gross, but it happens and most of the time we don't even know! Fortunately though it's not too hard to get that sticky stuff—whatever it may be—out of the dog's fur. To get rid of sticky substances such as tar, saturate the fur with vegetable oil. After 15 minutes, apply dog shampoo; rinse immediately. With really sticky substances like paint or gum, allow paint or gum to harden and then snip off the hair that holds it.

You also need to know how to take care of the dog brush. A brush won't be effective without it being free of clogging hair. To clean a dog brush, all you have to do is move a toothpick through the rows. You could also take a rattail comb and use the point of that to extricate the excess hair from the brush.

Taking care of your dog's hair isn't hard—it just takes attention and time! Good luck with your dog's fur—it can be great!