Essential Dog Grooming Tips

Dog grooming isn't just about brushing and bathing your Cocker; it’s about much more than that. Grooming your dog also involves checking his ears, eyes, claws and teeth and is essential for your Spaniel's health. Read on for the best grooming tips for Cocker Spaniels.

Cocker Spaniel Grooming And Health

Cocker Spaniels are made for grooming, don't you think?

It's probably those tantalisingly long ears, you just can't help but want to stroke and brush them because they're so soft and silky!

If you groom your Cocker Spaniel often it will help to keep his coat clean, shining and manageable.

Cocker Spaniels are known as moderate shedders, but in reality, some shed more than others and some don't shed at all! You can read more about Cocker Spaniel shedding and what our visitors have to say, here.

But dog grooming isn't just about keeping your pet looking good; it's also essential for your Spaniel's health because it gives you the ideal opportunity to look for fleas and ticks, grazes, sores, grass seeds, matting, cuts, lumps and skin problems and be able to deal with them before they turn nasty.

It's also a great opportunity to examine those beautifully pendulous ears for signs of excess bacteria or infection, and to check his eyes for early signs of problems.

Groom Your Puppy Early!

Unfortunately not all dogs enjoy being groomed so it will be far easier if you begin grooming your Spaniel when he's a puppy to help him get used to it.

Grooming puppies early is so important, so begin now if you haven't already.

Get him used to each dog grooming activity before he gets any older and it will make it much easier for you both later; it will be a walk in the park, with no surprises!

Apart from health and the obvious visual benefits to your dog, grooming has a few additional benefits for owners too.

It helps us to relax and unwind and can also strengthen the bond between us and our pets.

It also (subconsciously) helps us to reinforce our position as the alpha male or female because dogs don't normally allow other members of the pack, lower in rank to them, to groom them.

Your Cocker's grooming session will be made up of many activities as you'll soon discover below.

Essential Dog Grooming Tips

You'll find lots of helpful dog grooming tips below. Simply follow the links to the right of the relevant photos to find the page you're looking for. Once you've read the article, come back here and read the next one.

Dog Grooming: Summary

Grooming Cocker Spaniels can be hard work and fairly time-consuming, especially if your dog enjoys a daily romp around the fields.

Cocker coats seem to be a magnet for burrs, seeds, bits of twig (in fact, anything that's not attached!) so their coats need to be brushed regularly if they're to stay looking beautiful.

Okay, so it might be a little time-consuming, but apart from making your Cocker Spaniel look great, regular grooming will also help to keep his skin, nails, ears and eyes in excellent health too.

And as an added benefit, it helps to reinforce the bond with your Cocker! Now, I think that's definitely well worth the effort involved - don't you?

Great Video of a Cocker Being Groomed

Why not take a look at this Cocker Spaniel being groomed?

It will give you a flavour of what you're in for. Unfortunately, not all Cockers are as patient as Arrow and the groomer makes it look so easy!  

I hope you enjoy it...and don't forget to leave feedback below and let us know what you think about this page.

Photo Credits: Dog Grooming
1. Liliya Kulianionak at http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-couple-english-cocker-spaniel,-image23622081
2. Tony Lanciabeta at Flickr.com