Dog Brushing

Dog brushing is an essential part of dog grooming.  Dog brushing helps boost the health of your dog’s coat and skin.  Brushing your dog increasing the blood flow throughout the area brushed.  The increased blood flow delivers needed nutrients to the skin and dog’s coat.

Dogs with longer fur need periodic brushing to avoid matting and tangling.  There are many factors to consider depending on your dog’s coat.  Brushing your dog can be pleasant for you and your dog.  It all depends upon how you go about it.  Dog brushing can be a way to communicate to the dog your love. 

Dogs have two layers of their coat, a top layer and the under layer.  The under layer can easily become caked with dirt and old fur.  The under layer can build up not allowing air to circulate to the dog’s skin.  It is important to have good air circulation to the skin to have healthy skin and a shiny coat.

The undercoat can be full of dead and loose hairs.  These loose dead hairs should be removed.  If this undercoat builds up it restricts the ability of the skin to adequately breath.  This undercoat build-up can be detrimental to the health of the dog.  It is easy to remedy.  The problem can be corrected by occasional brushing and regular bathing.

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Type of Dog Brushes

There are numerous brush types available to brush your dog.  Most of the brush types can easily be acquired from any major pet supply store.  There are basically 5 types of dog brushing brushes.

Bristle Brush

The bristle brush uses natural bristles designed to brush the skin and coat creating the best possible results.  The brush is available to multiple sizes.  This will allow you to acquire the best brush based on the size of your dog.  The larger the dog the larger the brush you can use.  Bristle types vary and are useful with dogs of varying coat length.  Tight bristles are best for short hair coats whereas  longer spaced bristles are more suitable to dogs with long haired coats.

Wire Pin Brush

Wire brushes are excellent for longer furry coats as they tend to be able to go through tangles easily.  Care must be taken when using this brush.  A vigorous brushing action can damage the skin and hurt your dog.  Be gentle and proceed through the dog brushing slowly. 

Slicker Brush

A slicker brush is best for removing mats and tangles.  They are ideal for dogs with double coats; a top layer and an under layer.  A slicker brush is often used with a wire pin brush to smooth the coat of long haired dogs.  Special care should be taken if using this brush on shorter single layered coat.

Undercoat Rake

This brush is designed to reach and remove the loose and dead hairs under the top surface coat of the dog.  This brush is needed if your dog has a double layer coat.  The dogs coat can be medium or long in length.  The deciding factor is whether the coat has a double layer where the under layer of loose fur can become trapped and build up.  This brush is designed to remove this dead loose hair.

Dog Comb

A dog comb is the one piece of equipment that is not restricted to the coat length on the dog.  It is used to smooth the fur and assist in problem fleas.  It can be used to remove tangles as well as smooth down the fur.

There is no one ideal brush.  The dog brush(s) you will need will vary based on the dog’s coat type and length.  It is advisable to have multiple brushes available to use as the situation and hair problem dictate.