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Pet Grooming: Mats, Tangles and Daily Maintenance

July 13, 2018 By [email protected]

One of the biggest problems I see pets owners face when it comes to grooming their pets has to be dealing with tangled coats of their long coated breeds. Given everybody’s busy schedule, what can we do? While I’m in no position to teach people how to manage their time (I think even the worst time managers are able to teach me a thing or two), I’m able to offer some advice on how to minimize the problem and make it less painful for you and your furry ones.

But what causes those tangles in the first place? Luckily, it’s not as mysterious as how earphones play boy scout knots in your pockets and there are only four factors:

  1. Moisture
  2. Pressure
  3. Dirt
  4. Friction

The one thing advertising is right about

Dog hair under microscope

I believe you’ve seen TV commercials for shampoos and hair treatment products and they’ll show you the difference between the damaged hair and healthy hair under the microscope. If you haven’t, imagine that our hairs are covered with fish scales, all pointing towards the tip (the fish head is at the scalp and the tail is the tip). So dog and human hair alike, when the hair shaft is exposed to the elements they will open up creating barbs and with a combination of the aforementioned factors, the coat sticks to each other, very much like Velcro fasteners.

Now recall the places where tangle usually forms on your pet:

  • Is it because it has not been dried thoroughly after the coat got wet (Moisture)? e.g. The overall body, feet, beard, paw pads.
  • Does it form on places where it has contact with resting surfaces (Pressure)? e.g. Neck, four legs.
  • Easily soiled areas (Dirt)? e.g. Beard, legs, between the legs.
  • Or does it occur on places where hair rubs against each other or against other objects often (Friction)?

Friction is everywhere this is usually the main culprit that brings all the factors together and makes it worse (it’s also the main reason why your earphones gets tangled in your bag). Therefore, it is imperative that your pet gets a good brush every other day to prevent mats from forming, paying extra attention to inside of the legs, armpits, behind the ears and neck. These are usually the areas where tangles form quickly, as well as areas we tend to neglect when grooming.

It’s too late…

So, if you are reading this but you pet is already in bad shape, what can you do?

Well, if it’s really in bad shape, please, have it groomed and use this opportunity to let you and your pet get accustomed to frequent grooming. More importantly, de-matting the pet is a very uncomfortable process. Always put humanity over vanity.

But if it’s only a 2-3 knots here and there, you could do the following:

  1. I would suggest getting a bottle of de-tangling spray from your pet store.
  2. Spray the matted areas and let it sit for half an hour.
  3. Try to loosen the mat with your fingers, separating it in all directions.
  4. Use a slicker brush and brush in all directions. Use small strokes to minimize damage to the hair and skin.
  5. It’s going to take a while, so be patient.
  6. Prevention is better than cure. Brush your pet every other day.

Maintenance

With the proper technique, your pet can maintain the look straight of a magazine every day. It’s not that difficult!

What you’ll need:

  1. Brushes (Pin brush for long coats >8cm. Slicker brush for coats between 1-8cm. Any shorter, use a grooming glove or curry brush and that’s all you need.)
  2. Metal comb (Choose a medium to wide toothed)
  3. Spray bottle filled with water (If you feel you pet deserves better, get a grooming spray preferably something lightly scented or fragrance free. I use Fabulous Grooming Spray from #1 All Systems. If your pet is suffering from skin problems, you can add a little of Zymox enzymatic rinse or Rejuvenating Bath from Chitocure into filtered/distilled water and use it as a grooming spray.)

The how:

  1. Lightly spritz the coat. Making the coat slightly damp will help reduce static and friction while brushing.
  2. Using one hand to control their limbs and body, hold the brush with the other hand. If you’re using a slicker brush, make sure the face of the brush is parallel to the skin to minimize abrasion. If your pet struggles, make sure you communicate what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Reward and reprimand accordingly.
  3. Brush against the lay of the coat, using short bouncy strokes, rather than one long pull. This will help reduce friction and prevent you from using too much force. The section of the coat is completed when you feel no resistance from the brush.
  4. Note that you should brush the coat layer by layer, using your hand to hold down part of the coat and only moving on when one section is completed. This ensures that the whole body and full length of the hair is covered.
  5. If you find a sizeable mat, follow the aforementioned instructions.
  6. Finally, go through the whole body with the metal comb. If the comb gets stuck (Girls would get this. Hurts doesn’t it?), comb out the tangle, then check with the comb again.
  7. You’re done and great job.

Well the whole thing sounds long because I want to get into the details of it. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll do everything like it’s second nature. Besides, it’s just brushing. It’s really not that hard.

Anyways, I’ll try to do a instructional video soon. It’s tough visualizing instructions like these isn’t it? Everybody has their own interpretation right?

So if you have any tips, questions or thoughts, do leave me a comment below!

 

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Cat Grooming, Dog Articles, Dog Grooming, Pet Articles Tagged With: brushing, daily, dogs, grooming, instructions, maintenance, mats, pet care, pets, tangles, the grooming table

Pet Grooming: Mats, Tangles and Daily Maintenance

July 11, 2018 By Sunny Lim

 

One of the biggest problems I see pets owners face when it comes to grooming their pets has to be dealing with tangled coats of their long coated breeds. Given everybody’s busy schedule, what can we do? While I’m in no position to teach people how to manage their time (I think even the worst time managers are able to teach me a thing or two), I’m able to offer some advice on how to minimize the problem and make it less painful for you and your furry ones.

But what causes those tangles in the first place? Luckily, it’s not as mysterious as how earphones play boy scout knots in your pockets and there are only four factors:

  1. Moisture
  2. Pressure
  3. Dirt
  4. Friction

The one thing advertising is right about

dog hair under microscope

I believe you’ve seen TV commercials for shampoos and hair treatment products and they’ll show you the difference between the damaged hair and healthy hair under the microscope. If you haven’t, imagine that our hairs are covered with fish scales, all pointing towards the tip (the fish head is at the scalp and the tail is the tip). So dog and human hair alike, when the hair shaft is exposed to the elements they will open up creating barbs and with a combination of the aforementioned factors, the coat sticks to each other, very much like Velcro fasteners.

Now recall the places where tangle usually forms on your pet:

  • Is it because it has not been dried thoroughly after the coat got wet (Moisture)? e.g. The overall body, feet, beard, paw pads.
  • Does it form on places where it has contact with resting surfaces (Pressure)? e.g. Neck, four legs.
  • Easily soiled areas (Dirt)? e.g. Beard, legs, between the legs.
  • Or does it occur on places where hair rubs against each other or against other objects often (Friction)?

Friction is everywhere this is usually the main culprit that brings all the factors together and makes it worse (it’s also the main reason why your earphones gets tangled in your bag). Therefore, it is imperative that your pet gets a good brush every other day to prevent mats from forming, paying extra attention to inside of the legs, armpits, behind the ears and neck. These are usually the areas where tangles form quickly, as well as areas we tend to neglect when grooming.

It’s too late…

So, if you are reading this but you pet is already in bad shape, what can you do?

Well, if it’s really in bad shape, please, have it groomed and use this opportunity to let you and your pet get accustomed to frequent grooming. More importantly, de-matting the pet is a very uncomfortable process. Always put humanity over vanity.

But if it’s only a 2-3 knots here and there, you could do the following:

  1. I would suggest getting a bottle of de-tangling spray from your pet store.
  2. Spray the matted areas and let it sit for half an hour.
  3. Try to loosen the mat with your fingers, separating it in all directions.
  4. Use a slicker brush and brush in all directions. Use small strokes to minimize damage to the hair and skin.
  5. It’s going to take a while, so be patient.
  6. Prevention is better than cure. Brush your pet every other day.

Maintenance

With the proper technique, your pet can maintain the look straight of a magazine every day. It’s not that difficult!

What you’ll need:

  1. Brushes (Pin brush for long coats >8cm. Slicker brush for coats between 1-8cm. Any shorter, use a grooming glove or curry brush and that’s all you need.)
  2. Metal comb (Choose a medium to wide toothed)
  3. Spray bottle filled with water (If you feel you pet deserves better, get a grooming spray preferably something lightly scented or fragrance free. I use Fabulous Grooming Spray from #1 All Systems. If your pet is suffering from skin problems, you can add a little of Zymox enzymatic rinse or Rejuvenating Bath from Chitocure into filtered/distilled water and use it as a grooming spray.)

The how:

  1. Lightly spritz the coat. Making the coat slightly damp will help reduce static and friction while brushing.
  2. Using one hand to control their limbs and body, hold the brush with the other hand. If you’re using a slicker brush, make sure the face of the brush is parallel to the skin to minimize abrasion. If your pet struggles, make sure you communicate what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Reward and reprimand accordingly.
  3. Brush against the lay of the coat, using short bouncy strokes, rather than one long pull. This will help reduce friction and prevent you from using too much force. The section of the coat is completed when you feel no resistance from the brush.
  4. Note that you should brush the coat layer by layer, using your hand to hold down part of the coat and only moving on when one section is completed. This ensures that the whole body and full length of the hair is covered.
  5. If you find a sizeable mat, follow the aforementioned instructions.
  6. Finally, go through the whole body with the metal comb. If the comb gets stuck (Girls would get this. Hurts doesn’t it?), comb out the tangle, then check with the comb again.
  7. You’re done and great job.

Well the whole thing sounds long because I want to get into the details of it. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll do everything like it’s second nature. Besides, it’s just brushing. It’s really not that hard.

Anyways, I’ll try to do a instructional video soon. It’s tough visualizing instructions like these isn’t it? Everybody has their own interpretation right?

So if you have any tips, questions or thoughts, do leave me a comment below!

 

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Cat Grooming, Dog Articles, Dog Grooming, Pet Articles Tagged With: brushing, daily, dogs, grooming, instructions, maintenance, mats, pet care, pets, tangles, the grooming table

How to remove urine odors naturally and effectively

August 23, 2013 By [email protected]

 

How to remove urine smells

If you’re unlucky enough to have your pet pee on upholstery and carpets, you’d realize that as much as you try to blot or
wash the fabric, you could never seem to remove the smell and even if you think you did, you’d still find your pet going back to pee at the same spot, even on easy to clean hard floors! The only thing I hate about their acute sense of smell.

And I hate that their skin seems to allergic to everything

You can try bleach, Dettol, Febreze for all you want, but it’s not going to do a thorough job and worse still the chemicals used might cause adverse skin reactions in pets with sensitive skin. On a side note, most pets are sensitive to synthetic phenols in detergents and disinfectants so if there’s a need to use surfactants on the floor, add a little dish soap into the water used for mopping the floor and mop as usual. Following that, add around 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a fresh pail of water and mop the floor again. This will neutralize the soap and at the same time deodorizing and disinfecting the floor as well!

Instructions:

  1. If the accident is on your your bed, carpet or sofa, first try to blot the fresh stain with dry cloth and continue until you’ve removed as much of the stain as possible.
  2. What I like to do with soiled fabric is to wash it with normal soap first. From experience, skipping this step and going straight to deodorizing agents wouldn’t work quite as well. Mix dish soap with water into a spray bottle and try this mixture on an inconspicuous area to make sure the fabric is colorfast. If the color doesn’t run, spray on the stained area and blot it up again. Do it a few times.
  3. All purpose enzyme cleaners, found in organic stores are usually great in removing smells. You can spray onto the stain and leave it to dry. Enzyme cleaners are also usually safe on fabrics, but as a general precaution, it’s always good to spot test. If your pet goes back to pee at the same spot, repeat steps 1 & 2, and proceed to step 4.
  4. Mix a solution of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda and again do a spot test first. Then spray onto the stain and let it do its work. The mixture works with the urine and releases oxygen which cleans and deodorizes, works very much like Vanish Power O2.
  5. When the surface has dried, you may want to spray a diluted solution of white vinegar to neutralize any leftover alkali and odor.
  6. With hard floors, it’s much easier as you’d only need to wipe up the stain and spray with deodorizing agents like Enzymatic cleaner, Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda mix or vinegar and leave it to dry. However, if you’re using a cloth to wipe up the stain, remember to soak the cloth with any deodorizing agents afterwards.

*Warning* 

Whatever you do, don’t be Kiasu and add whatever you can find together thinking that it’ll give it extra cleaning boost. Combining Hydrogen Peroxide and vinegar in particular produces a strong oxidizing agent known as Peracetic acid and produces toxic fumes which is harmful to the lungs with long term exposure. However, spritzing one after the next would not produce any harmful byproducts. Chemistry.

Here you go, no need to be spending $15 on a small bottle ‘urine odor removal’ or whatever from pet shops. Let me know how it’s working for you and leave me a comment if you have any questions!

 

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Dog Articles, Pet Articles, Tips Tagged With: cleaning, pet care, urine odor

About the blog

April 15, 2013 By Sunny Lim

Hi and welcome to The Grooming Table's page!

I hope this effort of mine is able to improve the lives of pets and animals

I’m excited that I finally found the courage and time to start writing about pet care. After working in the pet industry as a pet groomer for almost 3 years now, it's heartening to see people going great lengths to care for their own pets, as well as less fortunate animals.Yet on the other hand, there are so owners who wish to take better care of their but have no idea on how to do so, or worse yet, getting wrong or obselete information.

So often, I'll have pets that come in which are so mentally out of balance really gave me the urgency to start communicating to the masses. There is only so much I can do if I just educated my customers one-by-one. I’m really hyped up on the fact that this has the potential of being able to help more animals and their owners achieve higher levels of relationships, health and mental balance. So please help me to help them.

If you find my articles, tips etc. useful, please share with your friends and encourage them to share as well so that all could benefit and hopefully start them on a journey towards taking better care of their pets. If just a handful would do so, I would have served my purpose. But of course, I will continue to strive harder so that more than just a handful could benefit. In addition, please, give me your feedback regarding anything at all – content, layout, English, anything! I'm new to this and I would be very, very grateful.

Anyways..

This website has been created with the sole purpose to educate follow pet lovers on the different aspects on pet care focusing on natural and holistic approaches in an Asian context.

Though this journey has been  rewarding working as a pet groomer, it has also brought me great pain seeing all the animals who could have deserved better – and they all should deserve better. But I can’t blame the society, because I used to be one of them. That's why in the articles, I'll try to include numerous tips and tricks that I've learnt to help you save time and money (but please don't ever scrimp on quality food and products) while keeping your pet in tip-top condition.

“I really don’t have the time!”

It's a chore taking care of your pets – that used to be my excuse, and I agree it takes time and effort. But yet, our furry ones have continued to give us their 100% of their love (I’m writing this and my 2 years old Silky-look-alike-’Yorkie’ is jumping non-stop begging for my attention.) and that’s one of the main reason I joined the pet industry – it’s my way of giving back to them.

From then on, I started reading whatever I could on pet care and I realized that a lot of people can really benefit from the information out there! Just that there’s a small problem: I can only help that many pets as a groomer. I needed to reach out to more people.

Help me, help them.

So again, if you feel the same way as I am, if you feel that more animals deserve help, do me a favour would you? If you find this website helpful, let your friends and family know. Secondly, I’m still learning and I hope that this community should also be one that builds on each others’ knowledge. If you have a topic that you feel strongly about, do write to me and and I’ll post it up on this site (credited to you of course). But please cite your sources if you have made any references in your articles. It is just to help readers find additional information on the subject matter as well as to avoid plagiarism.

Help spread the word.

For the love of those who love us the most,

Sunny

P.S. If you're interested in knowing more about the pet grooming services we have to offer, please give us a call @ 9199 2024 or 9489 5882. Especially if your dogs have chronic skin problems, we'll love to see how we can use natural products to help. Looking forward to seeing you!

 

Filed Under: Featured, Home, Pet Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: pet articles, pet care, pet grooming, the grooming table

Pet Grooming: The Never Ending Struggle With Ticks

December 26, 2012 By Sunny Lim

In Singapore, ticks are just like mosquitoes. Even as the weather turns cooler, I’ve still been getting a lot of complaints about ticks lately. Inevitably, I’ve brought a few home from the grooming shop and passed it on to my poor dogs.

This.Means.War! 

Some of you who bring your dogs out for daily walks may often find ticks on them and you may have chosen monthly spot-on treatments as a form of convenient solution. However, based on personal experiences and feedback from customers, it’s effectiveness

on subsequent applications is questionable. Why? I really do not know and neither have I found any answers online. Instead of answers, I found more people complaining about the same problem on the internet.

Bio-X d-Bug Flea & Tick Spray

What I have realised that works though, is using sprays and switching around brands often. Although I do not know why spray works better, but it may be possible that some factors may be preventing spot on treatment to spread evenly throughout the body. So the most obvious advantage of using sprays is that you can make sure that the whole body is evenly treated. Secondly, be it sprays or spot on, the effects do wear out. So with sprays, you are able to give the protection a boost when ever needed with just a spritz here and there.

Resistance is Futile

It could be that some sort of resistance has been formed that made spot on treatments less effective as it should be. Also, I’ve experienced scenarios where I applied the spot on and the same brand of spray a week later, the spray did not work as effectively as before. Luckily, I had another brand of flea and tick spray with me and it worked quite well in the end.

Apart from having a different brand, it’s useful to note that you should have different active ingredients as well. Try switching around Fipronil, permethrins, Pyrethrins, as well as natural alternatives like Etofenprox. Neem and eucalyptus are more of a preventive measure than an insecticide. But if you have the patience and is meticulous enough to give your dog thorough checks, then of course I would recommend using natural alternatives.

I Will Find You, And I Will Kill You

Even after applying flea and tick products, it is still necessary to give your pets a thorough check to remove any dead creepers as well as to see if there’re still any live ones. It would really help if you pet has a short coat. If it doesn’t, I would recommend you bring it to a pet a stylist and get it trimmed short for ease of checking. Don’t give yourself too much credit for being meticulous. I even have problems finding those pesky ticks on my Maltese.  The animals’ health should be of top priority and it’s looks should come later.

If there’s really a lot of ticks on the body, you may request your pet groomer to remove the ticks for a charge. Just make sure the services includes the physical removal of the ticks rather than just soaking your poor dog in a chemical dip and just letting the ticks die attached to Fido. Worse still, sometimes they wouldn’t even die.

As a word of caution, do not let your pet groomer charge you by the number of ticks removed. It’s a good indication that the groomer is a rip-off. Charges for a small dog is usually $20-$30, maybe $40 tops (rarely), if the condition is really bad.

How to remove them

how to remove a tickOther than keeping a keen eye during daily grooming sessions, a particularly good time to groom for ticks is after bathing your dog and its body is still wet. The coat would stick would stick together and close to the skin, giving you a better view of the skin. If your dog’s coat is just a centimeter long, you can use a flea comb and by placing it almost flat against the dog’s skin, comb against the lay of the coat. Remove any ticks you have found on the flea comb with sticky tape.

Otherwise, you can use a strong hair dryer, set it to cool and use it to part the dog’s hair. Remove the tick  by holding the tick at the mouth and pulling straight up. Squeezing the tick or killing it whilst on the skin will risk releasing toxins and pathogens into your pet.

If you do find baby ticks crawling around your house, try to find where they hatched. But unfortunately, fogging your house is usually the solution.

Prevention is better than cure

Ticks usually wait on grasses for animals to pass by and latch on them. But I also have owners who let their pets roam around without having any tick problems. Similarly, I have also found that there are areas around my house where my dog commonly get ticks from. After I change the walking route, my dogs seldom got ticks any more.

For topical prevention, mix water, a few drops of dog shampoo, neem oil and eucalyptus oil into a bottle and apply over their body. Towel lightly and dry them as usual. This method usually lasts two days tops.

Remember, keep your pets away from grass, apply flea and tick spray every 3-4 days and check everyday.

—

If you find this article useful, please share it and if you like us particular grooming tips, please share them in the comments below!

 

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Cat Grooming, Dog Articles, Dog Grooming, Featured, General Dog Care, Long Live The Cat, Pet Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: cats, dogs, natural tick prevention, pet care, pet grooming, the grooming table, tick problems, ticks

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