The Importance of Grooming | The German Shepherd :
A way to keep your German Shepherd's under-coat healthy is by “blowing” the coat, a seasonal molting of the dead hairs on the under coat. This happens within just a few days or weeks, and the German Shepherd dog can shed enough fur to fill a whole trash can. When you groom your dog during the blowing period, an extreme amount of hair will fall out. Do not panic! Your dog is perfectly healthy and safe! However, you should take care to keep your German Shepherd off any particularly valuable pieces of furniture during this time period! Regular grooming of both the top and the bottom layer of your German Shepherd dog's fur is integral to keeping the coat clean and healthy and to minimize the amount of shedding in your German Shepherd Dog.
If you brush your dog's hair daily or at least weekly, the amount of shedding that your dog does will be immeasurably reduced – a small price to pay for vastly decreased hassle. Grooming your German Shepherd dog on a regular basis is also desirable for other reasons. You will be better equipped to make sure that your dog has no ticks or fleas or other parasites, and will be able to catch signs of any infection or health problem early on in the process. Be sure to also feed your dog properly and healthily; a balanced, appropriate diet can do wonders in terms of cutting down on the amount that your German Shepherd dog sheds.
A "Double Coat" | The German Shepherd :
In order to understand how to groom your German Shepherd Dog, you should probably begin by learning about the kind of coat your German Shepherd Dog has. German Shepherd dogs have a special “double coat.” This means that there is one undercoat of fur next to the skin, with the consistency of soft down, alongside a second coat – with longer “guard hairs” that are coarse and even rough, serving as a kind of outer shells.
In general, you will have to only worry about brushing this outer layer regularly and giving your dog an occasional bath when he or she gets too smelly. But this is the layer that will shed, and any potential owner will have to deal with the consequences of that. As for the second layer, the under-coat, is “blown” twice a year (more on that later). That said, it is not “care”-free – you still need to make sure that this undercoat does not mat. Matting can lead to bald spots, hotspots, rashes, and other skin problems in your German Shepherd dog. If you let the clumps of fur build to excess underneath the outer coat, the coat and skin will not be able to breathe properly and this could lead in turn to some quite serious health problems for your German Shepherd dog.
In general, you will have to only worry about brushing this outer layer regularly and giving your dog an occasional bath when he or she gets too smelly. But this is the layer that will shed, and any potential owner will have to deal with the consequences of that. As for the second layer, the under-coat, is “blown” twice a year (more on that later). That said, it is not “care”-free – you still need to make sure that this undercoat does not mat. Matting can lead to bald spots, hotspots, rashes, and other skin problems in your German Shepherd dog. If you let the clumps of fur build to excess underneath the outer coat, the coat and skin will not be able to breathe properly and this could lead in turn to some quite serious health problems for your German Shepherd dog.
Bathing your Furry Friend | The German Shepherd :
Remember, you should never clip your German Shepherd dog for cosmetic reasons and you should never bath him or her too frequently. In general, German Shepherd dogs do not need to be clipped, and while you may wish to make your dog's hair fluffier or fuller, there are far better, healthier, and safer ways to achieve this objective. Consider brushing your dog's coat in the opposite direction of its hair growth and then lightly brush the coat in the opposite direction. If you do this a few times a week, you can do this whole process from start to finish in as little as a quarter of an hour. However, this number is not standard; different German Shepherd dogs have longer or shorter coat, naturally, and these natural differences might require you to adjust your expectations somewhat.
When it comes to baths, you only have to worry about bathing your German Shepherd dog once in a while. As long as you feed your dog high-quality food and brush and groom your dog on a regular basis, you don't need to give your German Shepherd dog a bath more than once or twice in a given year. In fact, it's not a good idea to give your a dog a bath more often than this, because you essentially end up stripping your dog's skin of its healthy natural oils. Use a shampoo made specifically for dogs, the pH of the dog's body is different from that of humans, so shampoos made for people are an unhealthy choice for your German Shepherd dog. If you have a flea problem, however – if your German Shepherd dog is suffering from fleas – you might have to up the number of baths that you give your German Shepherd dog as part of a flea-battling program. Lastly, when you bathe your German Shepherd dog, be sure to put cotton in his or her ears in order to stop water from being able to enter the dog's ear canal, which in turn limits the likelihood of future ear infections.
When it comes to baths, you only have to worry about bathing your German Shepherd dog once in a while. As long as you feed your dog high-quality food and brush and groom your dog on a regular basis, you don't need to give your German Shepherd dog a bath more than once or twice in a given year. In fact, it's not a good idea to give your a dog a bath more often than this, because you essentially end up stripping your dog's skin of its healthy natural oils. Use a shampoo made specifically for dogs, the pH of the dog's body is different from that of humans, so shampoos made for people are an unhealthy choice for your German Shepherd dog. If you have a flea problem, however – if your German Shepherd dog is suffering from fleas – you might have to up the number of baths that you give your German Shepherd dog as part of a flea-battling program. Lastly, when you bathe your German Shepherd dog, be sure to put cotton in his or her ears in order to stop water from being able to enter the dog's ear canal, which in turn limits the likelihood of future ear infections.