Hi Planned Property Management pet owners! With April showers, brings May flowers… and spring cleaning! Spring Cleaning is not just for your apartment, but also cleaning your dog. Grooming is not just about maintaining your dog’s level of hygiene, and it is not just about keeping your dog adorable.

Grooming is about maintaining both your pets’ physical health as well as his/her appearance. It’s not just for the shaggy dog – all dogs benefit from regular grooming, whether it is a short-haired breed or a pup with a lot of extra fluff. What areas do dog owners need to pay extra close attention to when either doing home grooming or having their pets groomed?

Dog Bathing

While bathing your dog will certainly help with odor and dander, but most dogs don’t need to be bathed too often. In fact, bathing your dog too often can cause dry, irritated, and itchy skin. If you have a puppy or a dog with sensitive skin, check with your vet before committing to a bath schedule. For most dogs, bathing every 4-8 weeks depending on the breed of the pup. Be diligent when selecting a pet shampoo and never use shampoo meant for human hair. pH levels range from 5.5 to 7.5 for, tending toward a more alkaline concentration in contrast with their human owners (pH levels ranging from 5.2 to 6.2). Shampoos that are made for humans that are used dogs, will risk a disruption of the dog’s acid, thus creating an environment where bacteria, parasites, and viruses can thrive.

Teeth Brushing

Brushing your dog’s coat not only keeps your pet looking sharp, but it helps with removing dead hair, dirt, dander, reduces shedding, stimulates blood flow to the surface of the skin. Regular brushing also helps to bring out the natural oils found in your pet’s fur. Brushing helps spread your dog’s natural oils giving the coat a healthy sheen.

Nail trims

The dreaded at-home task of dog moms and dads everywhere! No one wants to cut that vein! Whether you trim the nails at home or entrust grooming to a professional, there are important reasons to keep Rover’s nails trimmed diligently. Trimming your dog’s nails will prevent germs from accumulating inside of them. Gotta keep watch over that vein! The vein inside the Nail grows in length WITH the nail, making a nail trim pointless if the vein has grown too long – then you can’t cut much off unless you get a vet to sedate the dog in order to cauterize the vein once it’s been trimmed. This is a very painful procedure. Nails that have grown long and overgrown are at risk of getting ripped off – ouch! If the nail snags on something (carpet, plants, etc) and it begins to bleed, the bleeding will be difficult to stop, and an infection can thus set in. If the nails grow far too long, they begin to curl under and into the paw pads or the sides of the other toes. Severely overgrown toenails can deform and cripple the dog’s feet and legs.

Ear Cleaning

Ear cleaning is one of the simpler at-home cleanings owners can do on a routine basis. Removing excess dirt is easy – check the inside of the ear flap, then cleanse with damp cotton wool (or cotton balls and ear-cleaning solution made for dogs). Don’t go too deep! Deep probing can sometimes perforate the ear drum. Healthy pet ears have little to no brownish-black wax, the skin is a light pink, the hair at the opening of the canal is thin or non-existent, and the ear has no odor. If you see any abnormalities, check with your vet.

Teeth brushing

This is something I struggle with my dog on a routine basis. It’s not fun for either of us, so my fellow PPM residents, I feel your pain. In a perfect world, your dog should have his/her teeth cared for just like people – getting its teeth brushed each day like mom and dad (hopefully) do. You can buy dog toothpaste at one of several stores listed below. Do not use human toothpaste!!!! Because dogs don’t spit like we do, they will swallow the toothpaste! Obviously, human toothpaste is not meant to be swallowed (do you eat YOUR toothpaste). The fluoride and a pH balance is meant for a human mouth, not a dog’s mouth. Rawhide bones and rope toys will assist flossing action. The most obvious sign of not keeping up with canine oral hygiene is bad breath. Other more extreme cases can include: weak teeth falling out, gum disease and heart disease. If the dog’s mouth is unhealthy, they can ingest bacteria into their system and might get sick.
If you’re like many other working professionals, you might not be able to commit to a routine grooming schedule for your dog.

Below are some PPM resident tried and tested grooming facilities by PPM buildings near you! Happy spring!

•Pet-a-Cure (petacurechicago.com) – 2949 W Diversey Ave

•Kriser’s – For Your Pet’s All-Natural Life (http://www.krisers.com )

2 locations – 1033 W Belmont and 2055 N Clybourn

•The Bark of the Town Pet Groomery (http://www.thebarkofthetownpetgroomery.com/) – 2950 N Lincoln Ave

•Paws-A-Tively (http://pawsatively.org) – 109 W North Ave

•Happy Hounds (http://www.happyhoundsgr.com/) – 2521 N Lincoln Ave

•Pet Friendly Grooming Salon – 2748 N Southport Ave

•Happy Tails – 3335 N Broadway St

•Barker & amp; Meowsky, a Paw Firm (http://www.barkerandmeowsky.com/) – 1003 W Armitage Ave

To help keep your apartment clean make sure to check out our blog on Spring Cleaning The Green Way!