The Importance of Brushing Your Dog
“Grooming” is an instinctive behaviour that all animals have. Simply defined, it is the mechanism to keep oneself clean and free from parasites and sickness. This can range in behaviours from licking, wiping, scratching, bathing, to more human behaviours such as brushing hair, shaving, nail clipping, and skin care. For dogs, they can take care of the basics, such as licking their fur to keep it clean and wearing down their nails (claws) by being active outdoors.
However, dogs are a particularly special case compared to other animals. Due to centuries of domestication and selective breeding, dogs have diversified into hundreds of breeds with hundreds of unique traits. And while some dogs can take care of themselves for the most part, many dogs require help.
I, myself, have been a dog owner (unfortunately my dog, Penny, passed a while ago, bless her soul) and I have also worked in a grooming salon and doggie daycare. I have seen cases where dogs are extremely well taken care of, and cases of extreme neglect. Now this is not always due to the owner being an awful person, even though that is most people’s reaction to seeing a dog in such a state. Sometimes, it is due to ignorance of the dogs needs. My dog, Penny, was German Shepherd-Border Collie mix, weighing in at 55 lbs and she had short, medium thick fur.
