Even if your dog doesn’t look particularly scruffy, grooming provides many health benefits for them which may not be immediately obvious. Brushing your dog ventilates their coat, helping it grow healthy and strong and takes away old and damaged hair. Grooming also ensures that your dog’s skin can breathe and keeps down the level of grease in their coat. Too much grease can block pores and cause irritation and all sorts of skin problems. Running a brush through their coat acts as a nice massage which promotes healthy blood circulation. Grooming is a great bonding time, the more regularly you do it, the more they’ll get used to it and it should become a soothing relaxing experience for you both.
When a dog moults, the loose hair can get tangled which causes matting, which if not brushed away regularly can become worse and worse, pulling on their skin and creating painful sore patches. It has been known to get so bad, huge sores are created which can then get infected, and this is all hidden underneath their fur, so if you aren’t closely checking your dog on a regular basis, it may be missed. Dogs can’t tell us where it hurts, so it is important to keep on top of grooming as it gives you the opportunity to give them a basic health check, you ought to check for matting and sores, between their toes where mud and grass seeds can clump and gather, which can cause a lot of discomfort. You can check for any sores, fleas, or general lumps, bumps, scratches, and the condition of their eyes, ears and feet.