As you know, Pet Waggin’ loves findin’ new partners in the Long Beach community to pal around with. One of our favorite friends is Signal Hill Pet Grooming, an award-winning salon with the rootinest tootinest groomers the west has ever seen!
As pet care specialists, we’re asked a lot of questions about pet grooming, so we decided to sit down with Signal Hill Pet Grooming and get the real scoop. As it turns out, they get asked a lot of the same questions! They know as well as we do how important it is to debunk myths around pet grooming and pet care, and wanted to share what pet parents really should know when it comes to grooming their pets.
Here are the top 5 questions groomers get asked with their associated answers, straight from Signal Hill Pet Grooming themselves:
1. What’s the difference between washing my dog at home and taking him to a groomer?
We admire people who take their pet’s hygiene into their own hands! However, there are a few things most pet parents tend to overlook. For instance, most people don’t dilute their shampoo with water before applying, and a groomer knows the right kind of shampoo to use from the start. Unfortunately, using the wrong shampoo or not diluting it can strip your doggie’s coat of the natural oils it produces, making it overly dry and flaky. Also, not fully or properly drying your pup afterward can exacerbate the problem.
2. How often should I bathe or groom my dog?
Depending on your dog, we recommend taking him or her to our salon every 4 to 6 weeks. Routine visits are important to maintain your pet’s hygiene, whether it’s for a bath and brush-out, or just to get their ears cleaned, nails trimmed, and anal glands expressed. Just like with us humans, hygiene and health go hand in hand!
3. What does it even mean to express anal glands, and why do we need to do it?
There’s a lot of misinformation about anal gland expression because, well…it’s kind of an icky subject! But pets have real needs when it comes to their anal glands, which are just scent glands between the muscles that make up their rectum. Anal glands are also your dog’s method of communication with other dogs. They naturally express (releasing liquid), which marks their territory.
A lot of dogs end up with impacted or infected anal glands because they haven’t been expressed naturally. Those secretions end up getting trapped in their glands and can create painful abscesses that could even lead to the need for surgical removal. To avoid that, take your pet to us! We will happily express your pet’s anal glands to ensure a happy and healthy life for him or her.
4. Should we use a nail clipper or a grinder?
Both! A good groomer will always cut your pet’s nails and then grind them smooth afterward. Oftentimes, pet parents who manage to get their pets to keep still for nail cutting won’t grind them—they’re just glad they got to clip them at all! But they’ll soon see that nails that are clipped but not ground smooth can be quite painful when your dog accidentally scratches their favorite human.
5. What if my dog isn’t friendly with other dogs?
Regardless of whether or not your pup is social, we believe each and every dog deserves a good groomer. We simply ask that pet parents inform us ahead of time that their dog isn’t friendly with others. We will not only accommodate his needs, but we will handle him with extra care and treat him separately from other pups. For dogs who are social, however, we offer a crate-free environment! At the end of the day, it’s our mission that each and every pet that comes into our salon has an experience that is as fear-free as possible!
And we at Pet Waggin’ Pet Care just love that about them! Thank you, Signal Hill Pet Grooming, for giving us such great information. The more we know, the better we can help care for the pets of Long Beach and Signal Hill!
You’ll love taking your dog to Signal Hill Pet Grooming for a bath after he or she has had a fun romp with us at Pet Waggin’! Especially during our Dog Park Play Days, when we take your pups to the Long Beach Recreation Dog Park for leash-free exercise and play. Give us a call at (562) 716-6544 or contact us here to book your pup’s visit today!