Grooming Your Labrador

Grooming a Labrador Retriever is fairly simple. Since they have a double coat, it requires some regular attention to keep them healthy and looking good.

It’s important to get your new Labrador accustomed to being groomed as soon as you bring it home. Don’t attempt anything too ambitious at first, a few seconds of brushing at a time just to get it used to the idea. Regular grooming not only makes your dog look terrific, but it will also help keep its skin and coat clean and healthy.

While a Labrador has short fur, shedding can still leave a lot of hair throughout your home. Brushing your Labrador 2-3 times per week can help keep their coat looking great and shedding to a minimum. During high shedding seasons (fall and spring), you will want to increase frequency.

A slicker brush and an undercoat rake are the minimum tools you will need. Start with the slicker brush to loosen hair and use the rake to remove their thick undercoat if needed.

Start at your dog’s head and work backwards toward the tail, focusing on problem areas where mats are common: behind their ears, under the legs and the collar area.

Giving your Labrador a bath can be an interesting endeavor. Since Labradors typically love water, they will greatly enjoy their baths. However, be prepared for lots of splashing!

It’s a good idea to bathe your dog every 2-3 months to keep them looking fresh and clean. More often baths can strip the natural oils from your dog leading to dry itchy skin.

Be sure to use a mild shampoo specially formulated for dogs and make sure to thoroughly rinse out all shampoo to avoid skin irritation. Be sure to completely dry your dog’s coat, especially their undercoat to prevent odors and irritation.

Trimming your dog’s nails is an important step in keeping them healthy. Overgrown nails can cause health problems, as well as problems with scratching people or other animals.

When trimming your dog’s nails, trim just the tip and avoid hitting the quick (the blood vessel inside the nail). Choose clippers designed for large dogs. Clippers can be purchased with safety guards to help prevent cutting too deeply. Clippers can also be purchased with sensor technology that detects the difference between the quick and the nail.

If you are not confident, use a nail grinder or pay a groomer to trim your dog’s nails.

Labradors can be prone to ear infections because of their love of water and their floppy ears. Cleaning their ears weekly can help eliminate problems.

INGREDIENTS:
16 oz. Isopropyl Alcohol (Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol 70%)
4 Tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 Drops Gentian Violet Solution 1%

Mix together in alcohol bottle and shake well. You will also need to shake solution every time you use it, to disperse the Boric Acid Powder.

To use, purchase the “Clairol” type or similar plastic bottle to dispense solution to affected ears.

Treatment: Evaluate condition of ears before treating, and if very inflamed and sore, do not attempt to clean out ear at all. Wait until inflammation has subsided, which will be about 2 days.

Shake the bottle each time before using. Flood the ear with solution (gently squirt bottle), massage gently to the count of 60, wipe with a tissue. Flood again on first treatment, wipe with a tissue, leave alone without massage. The dog will shake out the excess, which can be wiped with a tissue; as the Gentian Violet does stain fabrics, it is best to do this outside.

The SCHEDULE of treatment is as follows:
Treat 2X per day for the first week to two weeks, depending upon severity of ears.
Treat 1X per day for the next 1-2 weeks.
Treat 1X per month (or even less frequently, depending on the dog).

All of these ingredients should be available at a pharmacy. People have found that despite the alcohol, the dog will not object to even the first treatment. The Boric Acid Powder soothes the ear. The Gentian Violet Solution is an anti-infection agent. The solution appears to work well on any and all ear problems from mites to wax to yeast. After the 2nd and 3rd day you can clean out the ear with a Q-tip or cotton balls. The success rate for this treatment is 95-99%. Those who do not succeed have usually not done the treatment long enough, or have not been regular about it.

Dogs on the verge of ear canal surgery have been returned to normal with only the regular follow-up treatment to keep the ear healthy. If an infection seems to be remaining in the treated ear after the above course of treatment, you may also have some Pseudomonas bacteria in the site. This can be eradicated by using a gentle flush of raw apple cider vinegar and water (warm). Use 2 tablespoons of vinegar to one cup of water, 2x per week.

They have found the Blue Powder Solution to be effective for treating fungus-type infections on the feet and elsewhere on the dog, for cuts on the dogs or people, and hot spots. You may find other uses for this simple anti-infection agent. Remember it is for external use only and be careful not to get into the eyes.