Spring Cleaning
Ahhh! The smell of spring is in the air, the birds are singing, and I've seen some flowers poking up through the soil. Maybe it’s just me but I've been impatiently waiting for this season to arrive for a very long time. When we get a nice mild day and the sun is shining, I get in the mood to spring clean the house and all the pets in it!
Unfortunately, so does everyone else and my phone has been ringing off the hook so my pets will have to wait. For all of you “do it yourselfers” out there who groom your pets at home I thought maybe I'd go over a few things to help you get your pet spring cleaned.
We all know with springtime comes mud, and naturally our four-legged friends are bound to bring some of it in on our freshly cleaned floor, so here are a few hints to help you out.
(Ideally any trimming should be done on a freshly bathed and dried pet to save your equipment. Nothing dulls a clipper blade or scissor faster than dirt or oil from your pet’s coat.)
If your pet has long hair especially on the bottom of his feet, trim that off either with scissors carefully, or clippers and be sure to get between the paw pads and make sure there are no mats, burrs or rocks hiding in there. Now brush up the hair on the top of the foot, and it should pull up the hair in between the toes, and you can trim that off too.
This will keep the mud down substantially.
While you are working on the feet, don't forget to trim your pet’s nails. Long nails will hurt your dog’s feet, and scratch up your floor. Use a nail file, emery board, or Dremel® type tool to smooth off the edges.
Since the days are getting longer, you'll notice more hair shedding in most breeds so make sure you brush and comb your dog or cat thoroughly to the skin and get that dead coat out of there. Be sure to pay attention to any lumps or unusual bumps or boo boos you find and take note of them. It won't be long until ticks are out, and it’s very important to make sure you get them off of your dog. Lyme disease is common around here and you should talk to your vet about prevention.
Be sure to check under your dog’s tail and trim any hair that tends to gather “cling-ons”. Yeah, I know not a pleasant job, but necessary. This is a good time to do a “sanitary” trim and clipper off the underside of your pet so you have less trouble with matting and soiling.
Don't forget your dog’s ears. If you have a pet ear cleaner squirt some in your dog’s ears and squish it around while your dog enjoys the ear rub. Then let him shake it out and you can take a tissue or paper towel and wipe out the ear canal with your finger and get rid of any debris. There are numerous things you can use for ear cleaner, but it depends on the condition of your dog’s ears as to what you want to use. If you have a dog with inflamed and sore ears, rubbing alcohol is going to hurt. Your vet may have some ear cleaner that fits the bill.
If your dog has a lot of hair around his ears, be sure to slide a comb under any matting before you cut the hair out! I've found wounds on dogs that the owner innocently tried to “pre-trim” before going to the groomer. It’s easy to do if there are mats, so be careful.
One of the very first signs of spring I'm told is not robins, but skunks! I've had several calls lately from desperate owners whose dogs have gotten skunked, bad for the owner and dog, but hey if that means spring has arrived, I'll take it! Here is the recipe for ridding your dog of the skunk odor. Be sure you are wearing clothes you don't mind destroying if needed.
1 quart of hydrogen peroxide (available everywhere)
¼ cup of baking soda
1 Tbsp. of Dawn® dish soap.
Mix this up in a non-metallic bowl and do NOT cover it, it can explode! Apply it to your dog on his dry coat and let it sit for 10 – 15 minutes. Be careful you don't get it into his eyes, if you do be sure to flush them with water for several minutes. If you've covered the right spots on the dog you should notice a difference in the odor soon. Then rinse and repeat if necessary, then bathe as usual and be sure to put conditioner on the dog, this is a very caustic mixture but it has to be to get rid of the skunk odor. Skunk musk is oily and you have to degrease it in order to get rid of it. Use it all up, you can't save this mixture at all, but it is very effective. Tomato juice is not going to cut it, trust me.
If your dog has a collar on, don't try to save it, it’s not worth the effort! Skunk musk is practically impossible to get out of fabrics and nylon collars. Do yourself a favor and buy a new collar. Besides, now that your pup now smells nice and spring cleaned, you’ll want him to look good with a new collar as a finishing touch.
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