Ultimate DIY Dog Grooming Guide for Beginners

Dog grooming is expensive, and while some tasks are best left to the professionals, you can learn to do most basic dog grooming at home. Learn everything you need to know about DIY dog grooming to keep your pet looking fresh, clean, and healthy.

If you want to lower the cost of owning a pet, this ultimate guide to DIY dog grooming can help. Many of us rely on professional groomers to take care of all of our dogs’ grooming needs, but some of the most common dog grooming practices can be done at home, for free!

Should you groom your dog at home? What are the benefits of DIY dog grooming?

While it can be convenient and time-saving to outsource this job to a professional, dog grooming services can come with a significant price tag. Dog grooming services can range from $15-$40, depending on the service, and can even verge into the $100 plus territory for premium services! Yikes!

Typical dog grooming needs to be done every 4-6 weeks, making the total yearly cost of grooming add up very quickly.

You can minimize this cost by learning to do some of your dog's regular maintenance at home. Things like regularly brushing your dog, trimming his nails, and the occasional bath can help to reduce how often your dog will need professional grooming.

Benefits of DIY Dog Grooming

Grooming may seem like a luxury or preference, but regular dog grooming plays an important role in your dog's overall skin and coat health. Even the most basic home grooming for dogs can help keep them in good health, strengthen your bond, and reduce unwanted dog odour. 

Here are a few of the biggest benefits of DIY dog grooming:

• • Regular monitoring of your dog's physical condition
  • Grooming can be done at your and your dog's pace
  • Save money on basic grooming services
  • One-on-one bonding time with your pet
  • Less stressful experience and environment for anxious dogs
  • Can keep your house cleaner and reduce dog odours

DIY dog grooming is something that any pet owner can try. It's important to start slow and do a bit of research before you get started, but even just simple things like daily brushing or the occasional bath can help to improve your dog's skin and coat health and reduce the frequency or cost of routine grooming services.

You don't need to take on all of your dog's grooming needs at once. Only do what you're comfortable with. You know your limitations and some things are just best left to someone with the proper training and skills to do the job right.

If you think grooming your dog is complicated, you aren't wrong, but it gets easier with practice. Here are a few of the most common challenges of DIY dog grooming:

• • You'll need to buy a variety of grooming equipment
  • Some practices, like nail trimming, can lead to injury if you don't know how
  • At-home grooming can be time-consuming
  • Many pet parents fall for the sad puppy eyes and give in too easily

While these challenges can sound off-putting for budding DIY groomers, the pros often quickly outweigh the cons. Start with simpler tasks, and slowly work your way up to some of the more complicated procedures.

Brushing and deshedding are a good place to start for beginners, while things like nail trimming and ear cleaning may be easier and less intimidating once your dog has become accustomed to being handled and fussed with.

How to Groom Your Dog At Home

If you’ve avoided dog grooming because you imagine it to be too difficult to get a handle, you’re not alone. It can certainly feel intimidating if you don't know where to start.

That’s why we recommend you first arm yourself with some expert advice. To help you out, we’ve put together this handy guide of DIY dog grooming tips for bathing, brushing, and trimming your dog.

In addition, we will answer these common questions for pet owners: How often should I groom my dog? What grooming do dogs need? What do I need to get my dog groomed?

DIY dog grooming at home can be something that both you and your furry friend look forward to. This is especially true if you make the experience something that your dog enjoys by including things like dog massage, lick mats, or even your dog's favourite natural chew.

Use these simple training tips to keep grooming sessions positive and stress-free for both you and your canine companion.

Choose the Right Grooming Tools

What tools do I need to groom my dog? This is a common question that pet parents might ask before getting started. Having the right tools will not only make dog grooming much easier, but it will also make it safer. 

Here's a quick list of the basics to get you started:

• • Dog Shampoo
  • Pet Wipes
  • Dog Brush
  • Deshedding Tool
  • Nail Clipper

If you are brand new to dog grooming, then this is a good list to help get you started on your at-home dog grooming journey. Start with just a few options to learn how to use them properly and get your dog comfortable with each DIY grooming practice before moving on to the next.

As you learn you may find that your dog's unique grooming needs require different tools, but the above list is just a general starting point for most dogs.

Reward and Praise Often

Keep a variety of your dog's favourite snacks on hand while you are grooming. These include little bits of things she loves, such as bits of chicken, freeze-dried liver bites, or even just their kibble if your dog is a food junkie.

Here are a few of our favourite, super tasty dog snacks that you can try:

• • Tilted Barn Bacon Treats
  • Crumps Sweet Potato Fries
  • Benny Bully's plus Blueberry
    

By praising and rewarding during grooming of dog sessions, you are teaching your dog to associate the grooming ritual with a pleasurable experience where she gets some extra good stuff.

This will help her not only look forward to the next dog grooming session but also help your pooch overcome the fear of all these new scary-looking tools and practices.

Avoid Correcting Your Dog While Grooming

Along the same lines of reward and praise, avoiding harsh verbal corrections during your sessions will go a long way toward keeping the tone positive. Correcting your dog while he is already a little bit stressed out only makes things more stressful and scary.

It is unlikely to be effective at stopping any fear responses and may even make them worse. Just ignore behaviour that is not ideal, such as when he yanks his paw away from the nail clipper, and instead focus on rewarding the good and calm behaviour.

Eventually, the undesirable moves will decrease in favour of the behaviour you have rewarded. Take a look at these Force-Free Dog Training Tips to help you find safer and more effective methods of teaching your dog. 

Bring Patience and Calmness to the Table

Your dog is tuned into your emotional state of mind. When you start to get frustrated, whether or not you show it, your canine feels it. If you notice that you are starting to feel frustrated, it is better to end the session than to press on.

Ultimately, you want your dog to experience grooming as a positive experience. If you can’t provide that by staying calm and positive, you may contribute to your dog’s anxiety about being brushed, bathed, trimmed, or clipped.

While it may not be a problem now, you can accidentally create a problem down the road if you try to groom your dog when you are not in a positive frame of mind.

Use a Grooming Table

Are you wondering, “What do I need to get my dog groomed?” The answer is a grooming table.

Most of us don’t have a proper area to groom our dogs at home, so we make do with a makeshift area. If you’ve made the switch to dog grooming, it’s well worth buying a well-designed dog grooming table to get the job done properly.

A dog grooming table will help perfectly position your dog so you can give them the support and comfort they need during your grooming session. Using a grooming table is the easiest way to groom your dog accurately and efficiently.

De-shed Your Dog’s Coat

If your dog is prone to shedding, you should make de-shedding a regular part of your dog grooming routine.

“If you’re sick of constantly cleaning up your dog’s excess hair, you should learn to de-shed them with a de-shedding tool,” says Angela Stringfellow from Pet Life Today. “These tools are designed to be easy to use, so you’ll quickly pick it up. Your dog will look smarter with their well-groomed coat, and you also won’t need to waste so much time cleaning up after them.”

Try a de-shedding tool like the Furminator. These brushes are best for shedding dogs because they are designed to safely remove dead fur that is loosely attached and can reduce shedding by up to 90%.

Don’t Forget the Nails!

With all the focus on grooming your dog’s coat and skin, it can be easy to forget about their nails. After all, their nails aren’t as visible as their hair, so it’s no wonder they sometimes grow a little too long.

Clipping your dog’s nails prevents them from suffering any pain or infections too. We’ll go into more detail with tips for clipping your dog’s nails below!

Start Spot Grooming

Leaving all of your dog’s grooming to the last minute will mean that you have a lot to take care of at once. It’s far better to break up regular grooming routines into daily or weekly habits and clean little messes as needed.

For example, full bathes are not only time-consuming, but over-bathing can damage your dog's skin and coat. Spot cleaning your dog with wipes and daily brushing can reduce odours and keep your dog cleaner in between longer grooming sessions.

Quick grooming jobs like tear stain removal or dog ear cleaning are another great way to keep your pooch healthier and cleaner. Regular and frequent spot cleaning can help you and your dog become more comfortable with at-home dog grooming.

How to Bath a Dog

Bathing your dog is an important part of dog grooming as it helps to remove any excess debris and hair they may have. In turn, bathing keeps their coat clean and silky and also minimizes any unpleasant odours.

Bathing your dog properly can help reduce shedding and promote skin health. Here are a few tips to make the most of this dog grooming ritual:

How Often Should I Bathe My Dog?

How often you bathe your dog will depend on several factors. The length of their fur, how dirty they get (city dogs tend to need fewer baths than country dogs who spend more time rolling around in the dirt), and your tolerance for “dog smell” are all important considerations.

Your dog has natural oils in its skin that protect both the skin and the hair from drying out. It takes 2-3 days after these oils are stripped from a bath time for them to restore throughout the coat. Therefore, it is quite possible to bathe your dog too much.

Too much bathing can be bad for your pet’s skin and encourage shedding. Keep baths down to once every 4-6 weeks, and spot clean with wipes to manage dirt and odours in between.

Unless your vet makes recommendations for your dog to the contrary, bathing more than a few times a month is probably overdoing it.

Bathe Your Dog with the Right Products

Many dogs are sensitive to certain chemicals used to make shampoo smell good or act as stronger detergents. It is important to stick to dog shampoos made with natural ingredients designed to be gentle and moisturizing for your dog’s skin health.

Also, it is important to make sure you are using a dog shampoo that is made specifically for dogs. Human shampoos have different pH and can dry out your pet’s skin further. They also can contain dyes and perfumes that could cause irritation in sensitive pets.

We recommend selecting a well-reviewed dog-safe shampoo such as Earthbath’s Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo. You’ll also need a soothing dog conditioner, such as Skout's Honor’s Probiotic Dog Shampoo + Conditioner.

Using high-quality products will ensure your dog gets a thorough clean and can enjoy a luxurious bathing experience to boot. Dog dry skin and shedding can occur if you use a shampoo that is too harsh for the coat.

Use a Probiotic Shampoo

If a persistent foul odour is a problem for your dog, more bathing with strong detergent soaps may even make the problem worse. Instead, choose a gentle probiotic shampoo with Omega-3, which deeply moisturizes dry skin and promotes the good bacteria your dog needs for healthy skin.

Don’t Forget the Conditioner

If you are wondering how to moisturize dog coat, then a high-quality dog conditioner can help. Use a pet conditioner after shampooing, or use a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner.

Make sure to let the conditioner sit on your pet’s coat for a few minutes to absorb into the skin. Look for natural shampoos, coconut oil, and conditioners, like the Kin + Kind line. Harsh chemicals or dyes found in conventional bathing products can further dry out the skin.

Adding essential fatty acids or a skin conditioner like coconut oil to your pet’s food can moisturize the skin and coat and reduce shedding.

Try Waterless Bathing

Does your dog object to bath time? You might wonder, what do I need to get my dog groomed if I can’t use water? You can try either dry shampoo or handy pet wipes.

If your pet needs a refresher, but you don’t want to bathe her and potentially worsen her dry skin, there is an alternative. Waterless dog shampoos, like Tropiclean Papaya and Coconut Waterless Shampoo, or pet wipes, such as Earthbath Hypoallergenic Pet Wipes, can keep pets clean and fresh in between regular baths.

A Note About Puppies

Unless instructed by your veterinarian, avoid bathing puppies under the age of 12 weeks. Very young pups can’t maintain their body heat efficiently, making them very susceptible to catching a chill after a bath time which can lead to other illnesses.

In addition, their skin tends to be very sensitive, so allowing their natural oils to do their job to protect their skin is recommended.

How Often to Groom a Puppy?

Just like their adult counterparts, a puppy needs bathing. It's important to give your pup a bath time in their early months so they get used to being groomed and start enjoying the process young. However, excessive bathing can cause dry skin, so you’ll need to find a balance that meets the young dog’s coat needs.

Between the ages of six to 12 months, puppies have incredibly soft baby fur that is different from an adult's harsher coat. Baby fur lacks the abundance of natural oils found in older canines. Too much washing can disrupt the coat's natural oil production.

Ideally, you should only bathe a puppy once a month, less if possible. If your pup should get extra stinky or dirty, then it is okay to provide an extra bath.

Routine bathing can help your puppy learn to accept and even enjoy the bathing experience, but make sure you don't overdo it.

Tips on Bathing Your Puppy

Below are a few tips on how to bathe your puppy:

• • • Invest in a fragrance-free or gentle puppy shampoo that won’t dry out your pup’s fur.
    • Bathe your puppy in the tub or sink.
    • Always use warm water that is not too hot or too cold.
    • Take great care to rinse the soap out completely to prevent the skin from drying out.
    • Use a towel for drying.

How to Cut Dog Fur at Home

With these free dog grooming instructions, you can learn the dos and don'ts of cutting dog hair, like how much to cut dog hair and which dog breeds shouldn't ever get a dog haircut. 

Short Growth Breeds

There are two basic kinds of dog hair. Short-growth hair is fur that gets to a certain length, dies, and then regrows. Most breeds have this type of fur.

Examples include Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Irish Setters, and German Shepherds. You know your dog has short-growth hair if they maintain a certain fur length without needing to have a haircut.

It is important to understand that if you do have a short-growth breed of dog, you should never cut their hair or shave them unless instructed to do so by your veterinarian.

Many people mistakenly believe that shaving a dog, such as a German Shepherd, down will help them stay cool in the summer months. In fact, the opposite is true. By removing their fur, you are also removing their protection from both the heat and UV rays of the sun.

Instead of trimming their fur to cool them down, try some cooling gear like a dog cooling vest or bandana. 

Long Growth Breeds

The second type of dog hair is long growth. For long-growth breeds such as Poodles and Shih Tzus, the hair will continue to grow indefinitely until it is cut.

Many so-called “hypoallergenic” dog breeds actually have this type of long-growth hair. Since the hairs don’t die and shed as regularly, these canines leave less hair behind to get stuck in carpets, drapes, and furniture.

For dogs with long-growth hair, haircuts are a required grooming practice. Depending on the style of cut that you prefer, as well as the speed at which your dog’s hair grows, you may need to give her a trim every 4-8 weeks.

Use the Right Dog Clippers

The best way to trim dog hair is to make sure you have the right tools. You can save a great deal of money by learning how to clip your dog’s hair at home.

The most important key to success is to start with high-quality, professional-grade dog clippers. Cheap gear is a recipe for frustration.

They will require more blade changes, they can heat up and burn your dog, and the motors will burn out quickly. It costs less, in the long run, to invest in top-quality clippers right from the start.

Start Off Easy

Start with easy cuts, such as a puppy cut. This style uses only a few different blade changes and keeps the process very simple. Once you have the hang of using your clippers, you can graduate to fancier styles.

Be Extra, Extra Careful

Use dog safety shears to do the delicate areas around the eyes and ears. The blades are very sharp in order to cut hair cleanly, but they have a rounded tip to prevent accidentally harming your dog with the pointy tip found on most scissors instead.

Only professional groomers should use clippers in the face area since one wrong move can have disastrous consequences.

How To Brush A Dog

Brushing serves three important functions. First, it helps to remove dead hairs, which can drastically decrease shedding inside your home. Second, it helps move the natural oils of your dog’s skin throughout the fur, keeping it glossy and healthy. Third, it keeps small tangles from turning into mats that can require clippers to remove.

How Often Should I Brush My Dog?

If you’re wondering what grooming do dogs need? The answer is that all dogs, whether short-haired or long-haired, benefit from daily brushing.

There’s a reason why dogs who sport a luscious coat appear to be so healthy. As DogTime points out, brushing their coat regularly serves a number of purposes. For starters, it removes excess hair. It also helps to distribute the natural oils in your dog’s fur and skin.

Brushing regularly gives you the chance to look for signs that something is not quite right with their coat, such as matted or tangled fur, or if you find anything worrying on their skin, like lumps, ticks, fleas, and cuts. Get in the habit of brushing your dog's coat regularly with a reliable dog comb or brush.

So if you are asking how often to brush dog fur? Most medium to long-haired dogs will benefit from being brushed at least once a week, but daily is better.  Longer silky breeds, such as the Bearded Collie, may require daily brushing to keep their coats tangle-free.

Short-haired breeds, such as Pitbulls, may not require brushing to detangle, but can still benefit from daily brushing with a gentle bristle brush or rubber brush. This will smooth the coat and help to stimulate natural oil production on the skin.

Use the Right Brushes and Combs

Specialized brushes and combs made just for dogs are important for being as effective as possible when brushing your dog. Well-designed dog brushes allow you to reach through both the topcoat and the downy undercoat without scratching her skin.

There are many options for dog brushes, so check out this chart to get an idea of which dog brush might be appropriate for your dog's coat.

A good quality dog brush can decrease the amount of time you spend brushing and reduce pet shedding. Using the right pet brush can make sure you are getting all the shed hair you can from your pet.

Undercoat rakes, slicker brushes, rubber brushes, and shedding blades are just a few of the different tools you can use to reduce shed pet hair in your house. 

A Note About Double-Coated Breeds

Many double-coated breeds, such as Huskies and German Shepherds, develop a thick downy undercoat in the winter months. These breeds will generally have a large shed in the spring when the weather turns warm. When they start to shed this undercoat, you will need to brush them as much as twice a day for a week or two until the undercoat is gone.

Specialized tools, such as the Furminator Deshedding Tool, make this heavy-duty job much easier.

Checking for Fleas

Regular brushing will allow you to easily check your dog for fleas. Fleas and ticks are small, dark insects. Favourite locations for fleas include the armpit and groin area. Gently part the dog’s fur so you can examine the skin.

Look for evidence of flea dirt or the fleas themselves. A flea and tick comb can be used to remove pests.

Look for the following signs:

• • Red skin
  • Bumps
  • Scratching
  • Adult fleas may jump off the dog or scurry through its fur
  • Larvae
  • Flea dirt, which appears as small black specks

Learn more about dealing with fleas in A Complete Guide to Treat and Prevent Fleas On Dogs.

Looking for Ticks on Your Dog

If you regularly take your dog hiking or to dog parks, then the pooch is susceptible to ticks, which are a problem for canines and humans alike in North America. 

Regularly run your fingers through your dog’s fur, looking for any small bumps. If you find a tick on your dog, then you can safely remove the tick from the pet using a pair of fine-point tweezers or a tool specially designed for tick removal.

Check the following areas on your dog for ticks:

• • Head and ears
  • Toes
  • Tail
  • Eyelids
  • Groin
  • Armpits
  • Under the collar

How to Deshed a Dog

No amount of sweeping or vacuuming seems to affect the endless wave of pet hair that attaches to every surface in your home. Try as we might, shed happens!

Shedding season brings even more pet hair tumbleweeds, and while these seasonal transitions aren’t fun for anyone, it’s a natural and healthy part of your pet’s skin and coat health.