How Often Should You Take Your Dog To The Groomer?
Bringing your pup to their grooming appointment isn’t just a luxury, it’s also a necessity for supporting their health, happiness and longevity. But how often should you be bringing your pup into House of Paws for a grooming session?
The frequency you bring your dog in for appointments depends on a few factors, including the type of dog you have, what kind of environment your pup lives in, your dog’s specific health needs, what type of coat they have and the activity it does on a day to day basis.
Consistency is Key
Maintaining a consistent grooming schedule is the most important thing when it comes to maintaining your pup’s health.
When groomers see your pup on a consistent basis, they are able to keep track of any changes in your dog’s behavior, skin, or body and notify you right away if they notice anything unusual (especially in older dogs). Should anything concerning arise, they can notify you right away and help you bring the change to the attention of your veterinarian.
Health Factors
Skin allergies and other health factors can have a big impact on how often your dog needs to be bathed. Dogs with pollen allergies, for example, may need a bath with a gentle shampoo every 2-3 weeks to wash off any pollen or irritants that fall on their sensitive skin.
Your Pup’s Coat and Breed
In general, we recommend that pup’s come in on a 4-6 week routine schedule depending on their breed & coat. This allows the groomers to check the dogs skin, ears, clip the nails and touch up their haircut if needed.
Dogs with longer haircuts, double coats, or long smooth hair should come in every 4-6 weeks, while dogs with shorter haircuts can go for longer with a sanitary trim in between haircuts.
In terms of breeds, short haired breeds like Boston Terriers should also follow this 4-8 week schedule, and breeds like Maltese, Schnauzers, and Shih Tzus can come on a 4-6 week schedule.
Ultimately, though, it is best to ask a groomer how often your pup should be coming in since every hairstyle is different.
Home Environment & Lifestyle
If your dog tends to stay inside most of the time and has relatively low activity, then they will not need a bath as often as a dog with a more active lifestyle. For less active dogs, we suggest they come in for a bath every 6-8 weeks. More active dogs that often play outside, swim, get into mischief, or accompany you on runs and hikes should be coming in every 4 weeks (or once they start to get stinky).
Age
The age of your dog also has an impact on their grooming needs.
Puppies should start coming in between 10 weeks and 4 months of age. We'll initially want to see them every 4-5 weeks so we can help them get used to our clippers, dryers, nail clippers, and other tools that might initially be scary for your little buddy.
Coming at this frequency also helps us keep up with their rapidly growing bodies, which shed more than young adult or adult dogs. Once they reach maturity, we can space out their appointments. Once again ask your groomer for frequency based on your dog's coat and schedule.
Senior dogs may also need to come in on a more frequent, 4-5 week basis since their physical and mental needs change as they age.
Like humans, dogs can experience conditions like dementia and mental decline as they age. This is often noticeable when they start staring at walls, have sleep disturbances, become confused more often, or become less social than before. All of these things can make once simple things like a routine bath difficult.
Physical changes and challenges may also prompt you to move from handling routine grooming tasks yourself every couple of months to having a groomer help with your pup’s monthly grooming routine. Conditions like hearing loss, blindness, or arthritis can also change a routine monthly nail trim into a trial that causes your pup to nip and bite out of discomfort, so extra care from a professional is needed.
Need a little help with your pup’s grooming routine? Book an appointment with House of Paws today.