Poodles - There Is More To Caring For A Pet Than Just Food And Water

Who was it from my childhood that said "all a dog really needs is food and water and he’ll be just fine"? It had to be an idiot or a terribly ill-informed pet owner who spoke such miss-guided words. For that person couldn't have known anything about dogs.

With that in mind, I recently had the pleasure of my sister-in-law's visit along with her little dog, Midnight. Midnight is a small, super sweet little black toy poodle that is fast succumbing to blindness and looked as though he had been rescued from the local dog catcher on the way to my house for a visit. To my sister-in-law’s satisfaction, he was being provided that food and water type care which that person from my childhood spoke of. But to me, he looked like he needed a good bath and, at the very least, a good stiff tooth brushing. He had the breath of a dead fish.  I asked about the last time he had a bath and a good grooming. To my surprise, my sister-in-law said he was clean because she had just bathed and clipped him. She offered up an excuse for his appearance by saying that she wasn’t very good at clipping him because she didn’t really know how; but mind you, he was clean. Well sorry “Sis” he’s not clean enough for me.

In my opinion, there are at least five things that need to be done at least every 6 to 8 weeks to a poodle to keep him/her clean and free of smelly odors. They are:

1. Excise Ear Hair - You will need an ear powder with resin and a pair of tweezers. First place a little powder in the ear and gently rub to distribute the powder coating all the ear canal hair. Using the tweezers, gently pull hair from ear canal. This helps prevent moisture collection in the ear and the growth of yeast in the canal which can cause ear infections and a foul smelly odor. It also removes a potential resting place for fleas.

2. Express Anal Sac - The anal sac is found just below the anus. If it needs expressing, it will be round and about the size of a grape. Gently grasp the anal sac at the bottom between your thumb and first finger and squeeze as you press upward toward the anus to milk the sac.

3. Remove Paw Pad Mattes & Trim Hair - Take the paw in your hand and with the fingers of the other hand, rub and feel for any pieces of debris matted in the hair surrounding the pads. Gently take snip the debris from the pad with a small pair of scissors taking care not to accidently snip the pad. Continue this process until all four pads have been examined.  Once all mattes and debris are removed from all pads, trim away any existing hair from each pad.

4. Trim Hair Around Genitals - Stand Fido up and lift his tail so that the anus is accessible. Take a pair of sheers (I use a #9 blade) and trim the hair from around the anus, on each side and down the bottom ending at the beginning of in between the hind legs. Take extra care not to touch the anal tissue because the sheers can cut or even burn the tender tissue.

5. Brush Teeth - You will need some toothpaste for dogs and a dog toothbrush. I prefer a tooth brush that is long and has a small brush on one end and a larger brush on the other end. Gently hold the pooch's head with one hand by placing the palm of your hand on the top of his snout.  Hold up his lips with your fingers so that the teeth are exposed. Gently brush the teeth with the toothpaste coated toothbrush. Continue until all teeth are brushed.

All of the above items can be done at home and does not take a professional to keep your pooch in tip top shape. If you take your pooch to a professional for grooming, please be sure to ask your Groomer if the above items are included in their Grooming regimen. If not, request that they add them when grooming your pet.