Combs for dogs: a variety of species and features of choice

Getting a four-legged friend, undoubtedly, will have to take care of many aspects of its content. A sufficient amount of time must be devoted to caring for the dog's coat, or rather, combing it. Let us consider in more detail the basic principles of this process, as well as the peculiarities of the selection of suitable combs for one or another type of wool cover.

Canine hair cover consists of two parts - wool and undercoat. Wool forms the appearance of the dog, protects the dog from aggressive environmental factors: sunlight, wind, some moisture and a slight mechanical effect, and the undercoat helps the dogs to keep their body heat in cold climates.

Thus, dogs have two components of their cover, the proportions of the ratios of these covers differ from breed to breed, which allows some dogs to endure winter nights in an open field, while others severely limit their capabilities and make them shiver even in the light autumn wind. Dogs have their own characteristics of grooming. They are often clean animals, they cannot cope with entangled villi or formed tangles on their own.

It is recommended to quite often comb the cover of your pet with a comb or other devices, comb out the outgoing undercoat and remove parasites from the coat. The frequency of such procedures is dictated by which breed of dog your dog belongs to. long-haired, short-haired or smooth-haired.

The easiest is combing smooth-haired dogs. Their undercoat is practically not pronounced, and woolen hair is so short that tangling is almost impossible. Shorthair dogs already have some undercoat, and the wool itself may be confused in the presence of, for example, contamination.

For combing your furry pet, you can use a variety of tools.

For combing wool used several varieties.

• Furminator. This tool looks like a men's safety razor, only a few more and instead of a blade has a number of durable metal teeth. This tool, in addition to ease of use and reliability, can also offer comfort for a pet - dogs like the procedure of combing in this way. The main task of the furminator is to remove the old undercoat, so this tool is not applicable for those dogs that do not have one. Depending on what the length of the coat of the pet, it is necessary to choose a furminator with more or less long teeth, and you must also take into account the size of the animal when choosing.

The furminator also needs a certain care, for example, it should be thoroughly rinsed after each procedure, and if the device is clogged, it can be simply cleaned with your own hands, without using any other tools.

• Pukhoderka. This dog care item is a peculiar analogue of the furminator, but less perfect and versatile for combing down undercoat. The walker has very long metal teeth and is suitable only for dogs with a very pronounced undercoat, and a short-haired animal will be uncomfortable with the process of scratching. When choosing a poucher, it is necessary to correlate the size of the dog, the severity of hair and the length of teeth. Also important is the presence of plastic, rubber or metal balls at the ends of these teeth, which will help prevent the animal from scratching the body.

• Crest It is necessary to complete the combing out after a pooder and to smooth down the coat of dogs of such breeds as the Samoyeds, Huskies, Spitz and other representatives with thick down wool. The fact is that after the Pukherka a certain amount of uncombed undercoat still remains, even if this amount is small, but it can form into mats and further complicate the combing of the dog, this is the reason for using the comb. In general, he can eliminate not only the remnants of the separated undercoat, but also these very mats.

• Massage brush. Variants of this object are designed with a handle and with a fastening in the form of a strap for the hand, and the bristles in the brush can be both natural and artificial. If the artificial bristles are made not of plastic, but of metal, then it is desirable that the ends of the teeth be safe for the skin of the animal. The main function of the massage brush consists not so much in combing dog hair as in its styling and in giving it a well-groomed appearance with a parallel massage of the skin.

• Mitten. This tool is a mitten, on which from the inner surface there are rubber teeth, similar to the teeth on a massage brush, only shorter. It should be used for smooth-haired and short-haired doggie, as mittens have difficulties with the processing of long-haired wool. The use is not difficult, since it is enough just to stroke the dog in the direction of hair growth, and the dogs themselves treat this procedure more than favorably, which allows it to be done daily and for mutual pleasure.

• Rake - This is not the tool that is used in gardening. In this case, we are talking about an object in which the teeth are not fixed rigidly, but loosely, and perform rotational movements, which has a positive effect on the efficiency of combing down hair.It is undesirable to use this variety for combing the breeds of dogs that do not have undercoat, as the wool can wrap on them, which will bring discomfort to the animal. Therefore, the use of a rake with rotating teeth is most suitable for combing Malamutes, Caucasian Shepherd Dogs and other breeds with a thick undercoat.

• To remove fleas, the main tool is a comb with very frequent teeth, between which there are so small gaps that fleas are easily removed from the fur by mechanical means. Again, the comb should be proportional to the dog's hair, as a small comb will not help to process the hair of a large dog, and a large one will injure a small one. You should not use such a scab on a regular basis, as it damages the entire undercoat - both already separated and alive.

• For a haircut use comb, manual and electric comb-trimmerswhich are inherently close to the clippers. A hand comb is used to separate the hair into strands, as well as to trim the edges when shearing, which is very convenient for dogs of the so-called “hairdressing breeds”, for example, Yorkshire terriers, who have very good fine hair styles.

• Metal comb Not the main tool in a haircut. It goes strictly together with scissors or the machine. It does not comb through wool, only helps to separate the strands, allowing them to trim. If the dog has an undercoat - the prong should go more often, if not - less often, so as not to damage the guard hair.

• Comb Trimmers very similar to dog grooming machines. They are divided into varieties such as pendulum, battery, rotor and vibration. Rotary used in grooming dogs with very thick hair, battery - for grooming all other breeds. The rest are either difficult to use or provide insufficient power. Each such comb is equipped with interchangeable nozzles for different hair length and profusion of hair. Trimmers are good for those animals that often need to be cut. They are ideal for those owners who themselves want to monitor the appearance of their pet, as they are easy to use and do not require special skills, although you still have to get the hang of it.

• Trimming can use stripping, which is a series of blades attached to a crossbar perpendicular to the handle. They remove the falling out hair, moreover, mainly from schnauzers and other hard-haired breeds. Stripping can only be combined with trimming, because with frequent stripping you can damage the dog's live coat and cause injury to it.

• For grooming use comb-knitting needles.which are similar to a comb with a very narrow handle - part with teeth can be combed wool, and the handle can be wound strands, or it can be parted. They also use a groomer, a special tool that is similar to stripping. This tool is great for cutting off felted wool and thinning the undercoat.

• Another tool for grooming is collar cutter similar to a groomer, but having long blades that are perpendicular to the plane of the handle. The tool is very sharp, so it is advisable not to use it without experience handling it. And it is certainly not recommended to use it for regular processing of wool.

Choosing a tool for combing your pet, you need to follow some rules.

• First of all - do not save. It is very important to buy a quality item that does not damage the skin and hair of the animal. Buying a good tool, you provide reliability, comfort and safety for your pet, as well as convenience for yourself.
• For dogs with long hair, it is important to choose tools proportional to the length, with longer teeth. For large long-haired breeds, the presence of a massive layer of undercoat is more characteristic, so it is important for them to choose the right tools for caring for them. Shorthair and smooth-haired dogs do not have such an acute problem with the care of the undercoat, so you can get by with just one thing.
• And also pay attention to the experience of other dog breeders. Perhaps breeders who regularly participate with pets in exhibitions will be able to help you, because appearance is important there, so this kind of experienced dog breeders definitely know how to care for their coat and what tools to use.

It is very important to use the tools correctly in order not to injure the pet. In the process of wool processing, the following conditions must be met:

• when using tools with a sharp surface and cutting teeth, it is necessary to secure the dog firmly so that it does not hurt with awkward movements;
• combing the animal is necessary in the direction of hair growth, as the combing in the other direction will bring great discomfort to your pet;
• Many groomers and breeders recommend combing wet or slightly moistened wool, which is considered a safer and simpler process;
• when combing tangled places you should not make sharp movements, you need to smoothly comb the tangled wool, gently holding it with your palm;
• you should especially gently comb the hair in the area of ​​the paws, because there the cover is less abundant and has almost no undercoat.

On how to choose a comb for dogs, see below.