Bathing the Puppy
Today I woke up to some pretty smelly puppies. One of them must have stepped in poop. I absolutely had to bath them. I used baby shampoo rather than adult pet shampoo, because I wanted it to be extra mild. I was careful to have the temperature as comfortable as I would for any baby. I scrubbed each one well and rinsed their fur thouroughly being careful not to get any water in their ears or eyes. Then I dried them as thoroughly as I could with towels and used a blow dryer on a warm setting to blow warm air around them. I was careful not to get too close or to scare them since I wanted bath time to be a pleasant experience.
Clipping the fur on the Pads of their feet
It is important to clip the fur around the pads of the puppies feet. Long fur collects dirt and germs, plus it is prone to getting matted which can be rather uncomfortable. I gave the puppies their first foot fur trimming today.
Clipping Toe Nails
After clipping the fur, I was able to see the toe nails quite visibly. I used specially designed dog toe clippers to trim each toe nail on the front and back paws. When you take your puppy in for his first hair cut, you might want to ask him to show you how to clip the nails. Their are also a lot of good instruction on line. You have to be very careful not to clip the wick or you will cause the dog to bleed. today, I waited until the puppies were rather exhausted so they could dose in my lap as I clipped their nails, and they did not mind being held tight.
Trimming the Fur around the eyes
It is important for your puppy to be able to see, and we also don't want excessive fur to be a breeding ground of bacteria around your puppies eyes. Today I trimmed the fur that was at the corners of their eyes and cleaned away any goop that had accumulated. Using round nose scissors, especially for cutting fur, I trimmed the fur away from the corners of the eyes. It is important to do this every now and then so the puppies grow up use to the scissors near their eyes. Invest in a good pair of round nose scissors, you certainly do not want to risk injuring your dogs eyes.
This was all that was necessary for this stage of the pups life....but as he grows the fur will get longer and thicker and the routine will be more involved. It is important to start preparing your puppy for a routine that will be a regular part of his life. I would encourage you to begin your grooming practices with your pup as soon as you bring him home.
Grooming an 8 week puppy
Grooming a young pup begins by getting him use to being handled in all the ways that a groomer will need to handle him. Touch his ears and look inside. Take hold of his feet...do his claws need clipping? Hold his paws one by one in your hand and get him use to the fact that having his feet worked on. Take a brush and run it over his fur. Take a blow dryer and blow it around and over him. If you have a hair clipper, or something with that type of motor sound, turn it on every now and then and move it around him so that he is not startled by the clipper when he gets his first clipping.
Below is a list of supplies that you will probably want to acquire if you want to keep your pup clean and neat in between regular haircuts. If you plan to take your pup to the professional groomer, you needn't purchase a Pet clipper...but there may be times when you would rather shave him yourself. Just always be particularly careful when clipping the ears, as the edges are easily cut. And when trimming eyebrows be sure to use round nose scissors...this will avoid eye injury, should your dog shake his head abruptly. You won't need all these things immediately but they will be helpful later on. I keep a dog grooming box full of all these supplies.
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