Anal Glands
Your dog's anal glands are two small pouches or sacs situated at the 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock position around the anal opening.
The anal glands produce strong smelling runny toothpaste like secretion, which is deposited when the pet defecates. The function is thought to be a scent-marking device to mark out territories although in the present day environment, they are redundant.They are, unfortunately, a common cause of problems in our pets, particularly in dogs.
How do I know if my pet has a problem?
Bottom rubbing; Bottom Licking; Anal gland abscess, a very painful problem characterised by a swelling to one side of the anus - if your pet presents with this condition, he or she will need urgent treatment at your vets; Anal Gland Tumours, fortunately not particularly common and are seen as a swelling in the anal gland area often without discomfort. These should be dealt with promptly to give the best chance of a cure.
During bathing we will carry out an anal gland check as treatment can be broken down into four stages:
· Manual emptying: This is often all that is required to relieve your dog, which simply has blocked glands and a build up of secretions. Snoopies are fully trained to carry out this procedure.
· Manual emptying plus antibiotics: Where an infection is suspected, we will advise you to seek the advice of your vet.
· Flushing and ointments: Where the above treatments have failed, the next stage is to empty the glands and flush them out and to pack them with a special ointment. In most cases this is done under anaesthetic. Your vet will advise you.
· Removal of the glands: This is the final action when the above methods have failed. Your vet will advise.
Bathing & Drying
The way we bathe your dog depends on a number of factors - age, breed, type and length of coat, condition of the skin, etc.
We take all these into consideration when choosing the right shampoo for your dog. Our wide selection of animal shampoos ensures we have the right one suitable for your pet’s skin & coat type.
If you bathe your dog in between your salon visits, it is extremely important to use a pet shampoo, not a product made for humans. Even products that are very mild (such as baby shampoos), can show a difference in the "pH" of the products (this is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the products). The pH of dog shampoo is two points different to human shampoo, which is a huge difference. Using products made for humans can really dry out a dog's coat.
On average, bathing your dog once a month is plenty. Many breeds can go much longer than that.
We will advise what the correct interval should be for your dog.
All dogs are dried with conventional dryers. We never dry dogs in enclosed cabinet dryers.
Clipping
Your dog probably won't understand that being clipped is ultimately for its benefit and there is a possibility that during its first grooming experience it may be extremely nervous.
At Snoopies we will make your dog as comfortable as possible, with the tools and procedures, simply by minimizing the scary sides of grooming. We will slowly introduce the sound and feel of the clippers giving rewards and praise for behaving in the right way.
You can help by desensitizing your dog to some of the smaller grooming procedures before it’s first grooming session. Spend short periods at home petting your dog gently all over its body, touching its legs, the sides of the body, the face, the tail, and it’s rear end.
Give your dog small treats as you pet him.
If your dog shows signs of sensitivity or nervousness when you touch a particular area, don't push it. As your dog relaxes, you can try to go back to the sensitive area with a gentler approach.
Keep the petting sessions short, maybe only one or two minutes and gradually increase the length of the petting sessions as your dog relaxes and begins to enjoy them.
Get your dog used to grooming objects; for example, run a brush or comb through his fur and against his skin.
De-matting
Every pet owner who has a longhaired or thick-coated animal knows how difficult, time consuming and frustrating it can be for both you and your pet when dealing with matted fur.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how often you groom your dog, those large, tight knots of fur are just inevitable.
Matted fur is difficult to avoid in breeds such as the Chow, Rough Collie, Newfoundland and other longhaired types.
Thick matting can be very painful and uncomfortable for an animal, especially when those mats are located behind the ears, flank or rear end areas of the pet.
De-matting skills are developed with practice over time, much like scissoring and styling and a visit to a professional Groomer is usually required.
Mat splitting requires much care and attention and by teasing small areas of matting at a time, most coats can be saved.
Snoopies make every effort to save a matted coat and only in the most severe cases will the coat need to be shaved to resolve the problem.
With a little attention at home, in between salon visits, this can and should be avoided, as it’s a time consuming and sometimes unpleasant experience for the animal.
Hand Stripping
Not all groomers offer Hand Stripping of Terriers, Setters or Spaniels due to it being highly labour intensive and the fact that it takes twice as long as clipping.
Snoopies are fully trained in Hand Stripping and are keen to promote the advantages it brings; the coat remains weather proof, the skin remains protected from the sun, skin conditions/allergies are less likely to occur, it maintains the required breed specific texture and colour of the coat and is only required one or two times a year - usually early spring and autumn, when the coat begins to shed naturally.
It is advisable to have a Terrier puppy hand-stripped for the first time at around six months.
Once a coat has been clipped, it will never recover the hardness of a stripped coat and will be impossible to hand strip.
Many dogs quite enjoy the stripping process and will occasionally relax so much that they fall to sleep on the grooming table!
Clipping makes a coat woolly and is not beneficial for silky coated dogs such as Setters, Spaniels and Retrievers, who can suffer in the heat.
Nails
Nail trimming or nail clipping is essential to your dogs grooming routine.
Untrimmed nails leave dogs vulnerable to painful broken nails.
Ingrown nails are also a danger when nails are not properly maintained.
If when your dog walks it’s nails click against hard floors, they are too long.
Snoopies will routinely check your dog’s nails and trim as required.
Styling
We will discuss how you want your dog styled before grooming begins.
Many owners, regardless of breed standards, want their dog groomed in a particular way.
At Snoopies, we are happy to cater for your preferences, as well as producing the classical breed styles.
