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HOW TO CATER TO AN ADULT DOG'S HYGIENE

Maintaining our adult Australian Cobberdog is a very important task for the dog because in this way it maintains adequate hygiene and a good state of health

Learn how to carry out the maintenance of an adult Australian Cobberdog

In adults, the task of home maintenance is very simple if our dog is introduced to the products that we will use and how they are handled. If we have done the maintenance of the Australian Cobberdog as a puppy, we will not have any problem. If when we begin to do the maintenance our dog is already an adult, we will have to have more patience and create the habit of a routine until he gets used to it and the maintenance is considered for the dog as one more activity in his day to day.

Maintenance is necessary for reasons of hygiene and health and these are moments when our dog feels that we are taking care of him, something that he will always thank us for. In addition, if we take him to the groomer, the dog grooming professionals will detect in less than a minute that the dog's family does a good maintenance and the dog will enjoy more of the grooming session that will not involve fighting against knots, something not very pleasant for the dog, but it will be a pleasant spa.

As it is something necessary and that we must do often, the ideal is to associate the maintenance of the dog with something very positive. Rewarding him when we finish the processes that he least likes or combining brushing with pampering moments is a good way for our dog to love this moment and always be willing to be cared for.

The video explains, step by step, how to do the maintenance of an adult Australian Cobberdog

How often should maintenance be done

The best thing for our dog, whether it is a puppy or an adult, is to do maintenance every day, just after his last walk. It is at that moment when we are going to create the habit in a routine way to maintain it and have those minutes of connection with our dog. However, the our schedules often does not allow us to dedicate time on a daily basis, for those cases it is enough to carry out maintenance two or three times a week. Of course, in puppies it is recommended to do it every day to achieve a perfect socialisation.

How to do the hygiene routine of an adult Australian Cobberdog

The maintenance of the adult Australian Cobberdog is very similar to the maintenance of the puppy, the big difference is the change of hair from puppy to adult that our dog experiences around 5-6 months. With adult hair, more emphasis should be placed on brushing to avoid knots.

Place

To begin with, in this case, the most appropriate thing is to put our dog on a surface that will allow us to work in a comfortable way. If there has been a correct socialisation, the dog will be calm on the surface and we can work properly.

Eyes

Eye cleansing is very useful to remove rubbish and dirt in the eye area and can be done as many times as required. We will apply the product on a clean gauze, open the dog's hair and we will clean from the tear duct to the outside and we will remove the blemishes, thus preventing the typical dermatitis that our dog may suffer in that area or possible infections. For each eye we will use a different gauze that will always be new to avoid contagions in the event that one eye has conjunctivitis.

Ears

We will clean the ears with an aural product that we will extend directly into the ear canals after setting the ear and hair to a side. With our hands, we will massage him with the intention that the cleaning product penetrates the entire ear canal. The massage has to be gentle, normally it is something that dogs usually like. Finally, we will introduce gauze in your ears to extract the excess cleaning product. When we clean the ears, we have to look at the colour and smell of this area to prevent the risk of otitis. If it smells bad and the earwax is very abundant and has a very dark brown colour, we should visit the vet as it could be an otitis. Ear cleaning should be done with an ear cleaner every 7-10 days, although if we want to keep the ear free of earwax and impurities, on days that we do not apply the ear cleaner we can clean the ears with a gauze by passing it through the ear region and the inside of the ear canal. It is totally inadvisable to use wet wipes to clean the ears, instead of gauze, as humidity is unhealthy to ears.

Brushing

Brushing in adults is done with a short, soft but consistent brush, unlike with puppies, which is done with the comb. The objective of the brushing is to open all the matted hair so that the dog's skin can perspire. The matted hair does not allow the skin to be seen when opened with the hands, a well brushed cloak does. It is important to maintain a routine in the order to brush to never leave us any area, for example starting from back to front. We will brush layer by layer gently, lifting the dog and ensuring that our dog does not have any knots. Knots are uncomfortable for them and can cause skin problems. If we find a knot, with the brush we will open it until it is completely removed. In the event that the knot persists, we must open it with our fingers and then by passing the metal comb we will be able to eliminate it.

Going over knots with a comb

The metal comb serves to monitor that there is no knot and also helps remove food left overs and fine dirt that cannot be removed with the wide-tooth brush. It is done after brushing in the same way, lifting the hair that is already open and combing it layer by layer. When we detect a knot, we must insert the comb tip into the root of the knot and pull it out, helping us with our fingers to open the hair if necessary. It is also very useful for removing spikes, or plant debris that can adhere to the dog's hair and that do not drag with the wide-tooth brush. Although the comb is very important, with adult Australian Cobberdogs it is necessary to always pass the brush that is in charge of opening the dog's hair beforehand. If it is not done in the correct order and we go directly to the comb without brushing, the dog's skin will suffer because we will cause many pulls and it will take a long time to brush the entire hair.