Good Brushes, Combs and Rakes Buying Guide & Tips

To be healthy and happy, all dogs of any coat need to be groomed. Depending on the length of the coat, your dog’s grooming regimen may be as simple as a weekly brushing or as high maintenance as daily combing.

A good brushing will keep your dog looking and feeling great, cut down the shedding drastically, help to distribute the dog’s natural oils evenly through his coat and alert you to any skin problems he may have. Now…what type of dog brush do I buy?

Pet supply stores have a variety of tools and products to assist in dog grooming. There are combs with fine teeth, combs with medium teeth, and combs with coarse teeth, combs with handles and without. There are brushes with short metal pins, brushes with slanted metal pins, brushes with flexible plastic pins, oval-shaped brushes and rectangular brushes.

In the case of brushing, the right tools are essential. The dog brush that you choose should be matched to your dog's coat type.

Short coated dog breeds- a soft bristled brush is perfect for this coat type. While not strong enough to penetrate deeper in a long-coated dog, on a short coat, this brush is ideal for removing dead hair and spreading the skin's natural oils.

Long, wavy or wire coated dog breeds- a pin brush is best for this type of coat. The straight pins will go deep enough to pull out the dead hair that causes matting.

Silky coated dog breeds- the ever-versatile slicker brush. This is the most common dog brush you see, the one with the flat, rectangular head, and bent wire bristles. This brush can be used for any coat, but is best on a long, soft coated dog. Use it to work out tangles that come with curls and to keep the straight silky coat soft and shiny.

Wide-toothed combs are used to clean the undercoat of dogs with heavy, dense fur that regular brushes cannot penetrate, like Malamutes and Siberian Huskies. A comb with closer-set teeth will pull out any lingering dead hair out after the majority of the work is done.

Hound gloves are unique brushes that you wear like a glove. Semi-soft rubber bristles on one side loosen dead fur in short coats, and the wire bristles on the opposite side strip the dead hair away.

The best thing about brushing your dog is that it will build a bond between you and your dog as he grows to look forward to this time of being nurtured and pampered!

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