Episode #213 Ten Things You NEED To Groom Your Own Dog From Home

Are you ready to take your dog’s grooming into your own hands? In this video, we break down the 10 essential tools and tips you’ll need to keep your pup looking and feeling their best—from trimming fur to tackling tough mats and even nail care! Grooming your dog at home can save money, build trust, and create special bonding moments with your dog.

✨ Here’s what we’ll cover:
 1️⃣ Grooming scissors for precise trims
 2️⃣ Brushes and combs to detangle and smooth
 3️⃣ Dog-safe shampoo and conditioner for a clean, healthy coat
 4️⃣ A lick mat to create positive grooming experiences
 5️⃣ Nail clippers and a Dremel for safe nail care
 6️⃣ Clippers and small paw pad trimmers for the perfect cut
 7️⃣ A grooming table to keep your dog secure and comfortable
 8️⃣ A force air dryer to prevent mats and speed up drying
 9️⃣ Dog toothpaste and a finger brush for healthy teeth and fresh breath
 🔟 Confidence and patience—because every dog is unique!

📌 Helpful Links:
✅ Shop the tools mentioned:   
https://www.baxterandbella.com/puppy-products
✅ Grooming tips for nervous dogs: BAXTER & Bella’s 4-Week Cooperative Care Course
https://www.baxterandbella.com/4-cooperative-care-course
✅ Learn more about dog grooming: BAXTER & Bella’s At-Home Grooming Class
https://www.baxterandbella.com/at-home-grooming-class

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Today we are talking about the 10 things you need to groom your own dog from home. So, whether you're looking to save some money on grooming appointments or you just want to simply bond with your dog by spending more time together, grooming your dog at home is a really great idea. Here's what you're going to need. Welcome to the puppy training podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter and Bella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Hello and welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm Amy Jensen. I'm so glad you're here. Every week, we talk about something puppy related or dog training related and hopefully it's helping answer some of your questions that you might have. So today let's hit the 10 things you're going to need to groom your own dog from home.

Speaker 1: 1:03

I do this on a regular basis. I have three dogs. My youngest, uh, bella. She's learning how to be groomed, so we do a lot of practicing and then I also take her to a professional groomer every eight to 12 weeks for a really good, thorough job, and they do a really good job with her and it's good for her to get out of the house and be with somebody else for a little bit. The same thing with Baxter he goes in with her, they go in together. And then I have a Schnauzer Yorkie mix, bruno. He's a little older and things are getting a little harder for him, so I've always groomed him from home. He gets a Schnauzer cut. It's pretty cute, and so I'm not a professional groomer, but I do this a lot with my own dogs, and here are the things that I find really useful.

Speaker 1: 1:46

So number one on the list are grooming scissors. There's a lot of different kinds out there. I have several that I recommend. One is just a straight shear, the other would be a curved shear and then thinning shears are nice for blending. I also have a little tiny I guess they call them a mini safety pair of scissors, and I like those because they're small. They're only about four inches, they have a blunt nose and it's perfect for getting the eye hair away from my dog's face. So you know how with doodles their hair grows. And my schnauzer Yorkie mix. He has hair that grows in towards his eyes. Those little mini safety scissors are perfect for just trimming that triangle around their eyes so they can see better. We want our dogs to have good vision, right. I use the straight shears to do the basic cutting their tails around their ears Bruno's belly line for his cute little Schnauzer skirt that he has. But the curved shears are nice for their paws. So if you want that nice rounded look on your doodles paws, a set of curved shears can be really, really handy. So invest in a good pair of scissors, especially if you're going to do this a lot from home.

Speaker 1: 2:49

Number two is a brush and comb. Now the type of brush you get depends on the type of dog you have and their coat. For my doodles a good slicker brush is really nice along with a metal comb. So with my doodles I'm line brushing, meaning I'm taking the metal comb and I'm starting at the bottom of their legs. I create a line with the comb and then I brush that line of hair and then I go up their leg and create another line and brush, and create another line and brush and I'm moving all the way up my dog's leg. I'll repeat that with all of their legs, and then I'll start at the back of their coat, on their back, and move towards the front of their head and get their entire body so it's called line brushing and again, a nice slicker brush and a metal comb work really well to make sure you're getting down to the skin and that you're finding any tangles that need to be worked out.

Speaker 1: 3:37

Number three is dog shampoo and conditioner. Make sure that you get a dog friendly shampoo. Their skin pH is different than ours, and so we want a formula that's specifically for dogs. I'm looking for ingredients such as oatmeal Maybe it says on the bottle anti-itch shampoo. My doodles tend to be a little itchy, especially when they're out rolling around in the grasses, or those environmental allergies that can crop up. So I like a good anti-itch shampoo, and again I'm looking for ingredients like oatmeal, which means it's super gentle on their skin. When you're bathing your dog, always use lukewarm water, wet your dog's coat thoroughly before applying the shampoo and then make sure that you rinse really well. We want to make sure all of that shampoo and conditioner gets out of their coat so that it's not left on there to irritate their skin later.

Speaker 1: 4:24

Number four is one of my favorites. It's called the lick mat. This is for positive association. Bath time and grooming can be stressful for some dogs. Not all of them love it, and that's where a lick mat comes in. Spread a thin layer of natural peanut butter. You can put some Greek yogurt on there, you can use pumpkin puree or some applesauce, but you smear that all over the lick mat and then you stick it to a surface where your dog can enjoy it during grooming. So I'll put it on my shower wall or I'll have somebody hold it while my dog's on my grooming table, or I can hold it while I'm blow drying them. It just helps calm the dogs down and it creates that positive association so that they look forward to future grooming sessions.

Speaker 1: 5:04

Number five nail clippers and a Dremel. I like to use both. I clip my dog's nails with the clippers first and then I take a Dremel and I just three little taps on each nail to file them so they're not sharp or there's no rough edges. Keeping your dog's nails trimmed is really important. It's not just for looks, it's important for their health and mobility. So long nails can cause your dog pain, it can affect their walking gait and even lead to joint issues, which we don't want. So start with nail clippers to trim the length off and then finish with a Dremel to get rid of those rough edges. Number six are clippers, and then small clippers for paw pads. So with Bruno, my schnauzer, I trim his top coat pretty short. I use a number 10 blade in the summer. In the winter I'm using more of like a 7F blade. So different lengths of metal blades you can attach to these clippers, depending on what coat length you're looking for.

Speaker 1: 5:51

So get a good pair of clippers if you're going to be doing this a lot. I have some Andes clippers that work well. I know many people like the Wahl brand. So just get a good dog clipper and do a dog specific one. It goes really nicely through their coats. And then I like a mini pair of clippers. It's only about maybe a half inch wide to three quarters inch wide, so it's easier to get that down in between my puppy's paw pads to get all that hair out. I like to hike a lot with my dogs. We go outside on grand adventures maybe not so grand but fun adventures and I don't want little things collecting in the hair between their paw pads. So I just take that little mini pair of clippers and clean out in between those paw pads as best as I can. So a mini pair of clippers, I think is super useful, along with just a good, solid pair of dog clippers.

Speaker 1: 6:34

All right, number seven is going to save your back. So I invested a while ago in a nice grooming table. It just makes things so much easier if you're doing this regularly. So I have a nice table. It fits all three of my dogs. There's an adjustable arm on it so I can raise or lower it depending on if I'm grooming Baxter, who's 50 pounds, or Bruno, who's 12 pounds. It has a nice non-slip surface for them to stand on and several attachment points. It just makes it a lot easier for me to get the job done without having to bend over and stress my back. I'm getting older, you guys, so I'm feeling it in my lower back a lot. So if you're going to be doing this from home pretty regularly, I think a grooming table is worth the investment.

Speaker 1: 7:16

All right, another item that I found recently for my doodles is a force air dryer. Now with Bruno, I don't really need a blow dryer. I cut his coat pretty short and then I towel dry him as best I can and he air dries pretty quickly. But my doodles have a lot of hair and so that force air dryer speeds up the process in getting them dried off and it prevents the matting, because you're blowing that hair out, it's not going to be left wet and then they're running around and it's starting to get tangled before they're even dry. So it's not just for professionals. If you want that cute, fluffy doodle, look, this is a must have for at-home grooming, especially again for those longer haired breeds. Now it reduces drying time and then, like I said, it prevents mats from forming.

Speaker 1: 8:00

You always want to use, no matter what dryer you're using, a low heat setting to protect your dog's skin. They have sensitive skin and then just start in sections and you just do a little bit at a time with those force air dryers. Sometimes the noise can be fairly loud, depending on which one you buy. You can take that nozzle head off in the beginning to help your puppy get acclimated to it, but if you start when they're young, they just grow up learning that this is what we do and they don't mind it. I also pull out that lick mat during the blow drying sessions just to help them like that better.

Speaker 1: 8:32

Number nine is dog toothpaste and a brush. Oral hygiene, you guys, is just as important for our dogs as it is for us. We want to make sure that we use a dog safe toothpaste and the flavors, you guys, you're going to laugh at them, but dogs love them. So you're going to find peanut butter flavored toothpaste, liver paste, chicken paste, poultry paste, right? So find a flavor your dog likes and then I just use a little finger brush in the beginning to put my finger in there and wipe it around on their teeth really gently and softly. But I let them lick, lick, lick to start with and then they get to lick the rest of the toothpaste off at the end. So, yeah, get a flavor that they're going to like. Regular brushing is going to prevent plaque buildup, bad breath and gum disease in your dog.

Speaker 1: 9:12

Finally, number 10 is patience. This is probably the most important one on the list is that we need to go slowly. We need to help our dogs enjoy the experience. Every dog is different. Some are going to love the attention right away, while others maybe need some time to adjust. So Baxter happens to have this spot on his chin that he really loves being groomed. So I'll take a comb and he'll just stick his nose straight up in the air and just let me comb him. He adores it. But then other dogs maybe they're finicky with their paws or their nails or they don't want their ears touched.

Speaker 1: 9:45

If you have any struggles with grooming your dog, please reach out to us. We have a four-week cooperative care course here at Baxter Bella where we walk you through how to get your dog to cooperate with you when grooming or going to vet visits. So those two things specifically are what we're targeting. Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions. We'd love to help you.

Speaker 1: 10:06

For the list of products that I mentioned today, head over to our website and check out our products tab. There are several companies that we really enjoy working with. One, for example, is Pupwell. They have wonderful grooming products. The scissors that I talked about, the brushes and combs that I talked about are all from Pupwell. Pottery has a wonderful anti-itch shampoo and I have a link to that on my website as well. I have Amazon links to my grooming table and the force air dryer that I use. So check out our products page on our website, baxterabellacom, for all of the information. Thanks for tuning in to the puppy training podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online. Until next time, happy training.