The Golden Retriever is well-known for its flowing golden coat covered with thick, silky fur. Nonetheless, regular grooming is required to keep the breed’s medium-length coat lustrous and elegant. This lovely breed is also noted for its loyal, easy-going disposition and affection for those who care for it.
Because Golden Retrievers are easy-going and require little maintenance for their coat, grooming may be a fun bonding experience for you and your company. Keep reading to learn how to groom a Golden Retriever step by step.
About the Golden Retriever Dog Breed
Golden retrievers are a popular dog breed known for their loving, kind, and devoted canine companion qualities. The dog is named Golden Retriever because of its beautiful golden coat.
A Golden Retriever can be both a working, hunting, or service dog and a pet. You will have numerous hours of fun while sharing your life with a Golden Retriever, but you will also have to spend hours grooming the dog’s coat. The golden Retriever is a shedder and requires frequent brushing to keep its coat in good condition. You can, however, groom a Golden Retriever at home in a few simple steps.
Golden Retriever Grooming Tools
Before you begin grooming your Golden Retriever, here is a list of the tools you will need.
- Pin brush
- Metal comb with medium to wide teeth
- Quality canine shampoo
- Canine conditioner or shampoo with conditioner
- Towels
- Cool air hairdryer
- Dog thinning scissors
- Dog sharp scissors
- Dog nail clippers
- Dog toothbrush and toothpaste
- Disposable dental wipes
- Veterinary ear-cleaning solution
- Flea and tick medication
Steps for Grooming Golden Retriever at Home
The Golden Retriever needs to be groomed on a regular basis to keep its fur from becoming matted or tangled, which is unsanitary because it retains dirt and can be uncomfortable and annoying to the dog. Grooming a Golden Retriever, on the other hand, necessitates certain special techniques and the methods for grooming the dog at home are outlined below.
- Brushing the Golden Retriever’s Coat
The Golden Retriever possess thick, water-repellent double coat. It sheds throughout the year but and sheds strongly once or twice a year. As a result, regular brushing before bathing will assist you in removing old hair from the dog’s coat.
- Brush from head to toe
Brush the Golden Retriever with special care to any areas of the body where the fur is thick or matted. Furthermore, brushing the Golden Retriever once a week, if not every day, is recommended to keep the dog in good form. This will assist to avoid matting and reduce the amount of fur the dog sheds in the house.
- Remove matted fur while brushing
Brushing your dog once a week will help to reduce the development of mats. To remove mats, carefully cut the matted fur with a sharp pair of scissors. Brush the mats out before cutting them. Hold the fur above the mat close to the dog’s skin when cutting the mats to keep the dog from pulling excessively.
- Bathe the Golden Retriever with lukewarm water
Several groomers are unsure whether to bathe the dog before brushing or after trimming the coat. However, it is dependent on the condition of the dog’s coat; if the dog is extremely dirty and stinky, bathe it before you begin grooming it. Lather a dog shampoo all over the dog’s body and thoroughly rinse it. After that, dry the dog with a large towel. You can also blow dry the dog’s fur with a hair dryer. But, keep the heat low and the dryer moving in the direction of the fur’s growth.
While it is not necessary to bathe your Golden Retriever on a regular basis, it can be bathed once or twice a month at your leisure.
- Comb the dog after bathing
After bathing, use a comb to straighten out the coat and get a solid start on grooming. To remove as much undercoat as possible, use a comb designed specifically for dogs.
- Trimming Golden Retriever’s Coat
When trimming a Golden Retriever, use a scissor rather than a trimmer to carefully remove extra hair on the tail, legs, and belly. Trimming a Golden Retriever with scissors is simple, and you can also clip the hair around the dog’s ears and eyes to keep them from being covered by fur.
- Avoid trimming the entire coat
On a hot day, the dog’s fur traps cool air between the coats and traps warm air between the coats on a chilly day. As a result, it is best to avoid trimming the entire coat because this would interfere with its natural heating and cooling mechanism.
Furthermore, there is no need to use clippers to trim your Golden Retriever’s excess fur; instead, use scissors and a pair of thinning shears.
- Trim the dog’s feet and legs
The fur around the bottom of the feet should be cut first because the margins tend to generate a lot of fuzzy hair. As a result, it must be gently removed with scissors, followed by the dog’s toes. Brush the hair between the toes with a comb and trim it away at the level of the top of the dog’s feet.
Make the fur on the dog’s feet as short as possible so that it lies flat on the surface of the foot. Furthermore, inspect the Golden Retriever’s pads while focusing on its feet, and if they are cracked, apply Vaseline to them.
- Trim the fur around the legs
Trim the surplus fur from the back of the dog’s legs with thinning shears. It is not necessary to remove all of the longer furs that grows near the back end, but it is necessary to maintain a balanced and symmetrical appearance.
The fur on the dog’s hind legs would be longer than the fur on the front legs. As a result, clip the surplus fur at that location while keeping the equilibrium.
- Trim the undercoat around the chest and neck
Because the dog’s chest and neck have a lot of surplus hair growth, clip the ridge of hair created there with the thinning shears. Then, proceed to thinning the hair on its chest making it flat.
The Golden Retriever’s fur varies in length, and it does not have a short, tight coat, but rather one with some length. Also, when trimming the dog’s hair, pay special attention to the fuzzy and untidy fur.
Comb the coat out and check to see if the coat is resting flat to keep the length of the dog’s fur balanced. Your main goal should be to create a well-balanced and symmetrical coat.
- Trim the ears
Cut the excess fur around the dog’s ears, both front and back. This will assist to maintain the dog’s ears healthy, and you may also clip the fur with thinning shears.
- Trim the dog’s tail
The dog’s tail should then be trimmed, but not cut too short. To make the fur look more natural, use thinning shears.
- Care for the dog’s Eyes and Nails
As soon as you get your dog home, you should take care of his or her feet. This will help them be more prepared for future nail and pad trimming.
- Wipe the dog’s eyes and ears
This is an important stage in grooming the Golden Retriever, and the grooming is not complete unless you pay attention to the dog’s ears and eyes. You can use mineral oil and cotton balls to clean the dog’s eyes and ears, but avoid getting them directly in the dog’s eyes.
- Trim the dog’s nails
Cutting the dog’s nails is a delicate procedure since the dog must keep their feet still to avoid harm. Employ a decent set of dog nail trimmers and avoid cutting above the quick (the live part of the nail).
The length of the clipped nail will vary depending on the dog, and the goal should be to cut the dog’s nails below the quick to remove some length. Too-long nails might break and cause infection or an uneven gait.
- Apply flea and tick preventative
The final step is to apply flea and tick preventative to keep fleas out of the dog’s fur. This will help to maintain the dog’s coat healthy and free of fleas.
Conclusion
Grooming your Golden Retriever at home may be a fun bonding experience for both of you. You can groom your dog professionally with the correct tools and a little practice. Furthermore, the techniques outlined above are the most effective ways to care for your Golden Retriever.
FAQs
Does Golden Retrievers require a lot of grooming?
Golden retrievers are a high-energy breed. A bath and a blowout are required to control shedding and maintain healthy skin and coat. Grooming should be performed every 4 to 6 weeks.
Does the Golden Retriever induce allergies or shed?
Yes, they shed; however regular grooming will drastically minimize the amount of fur in your home. Weekly brushing is sufficient for the majority of the year. During major shedding cycles, however, daily brushing is almost mandatory.