Animal Grooming

Animal grooming is the ideal hobby for people who love animals and enjoy working with them. A booming business option, animal grooming does not just involve grooming dogs or cats, it can be animals of any kind, pigs, squirrels, rabbits or anything else. Involving the complete care, from washing, cleaning, trimming, brushing and shaving animal grooming is a lot of hard work. Patience with animals is absolutely vital in this line. The two main reasons of grooming decide how extensively and in what manner the grooming needs to be carried out. These two reasons are, grooming for hygiene factors, and grooming for presentation at a competition or show.

Though there is no documented proof of the history of pet grooming, several pieces of work reflect on the practice. With pets, mostly dogs having been associated with man since historic times, grooming can be traced to the times when dogs were kept as pets by kings and queens. As a variety of dog breeds were introduced, some which required necessary grooming, animal grooming became more popular. Even animals such as horses, camels and elephants, often used by emperors and armies, were given certain treatments, which can be termed as grooming.

Animal grooming in general requires a lot of basic equipment, which varies in size, expense and usage depending on the animals in question. Some of the basic procedures involved while grooming are washing the animal, cleaning specific areas with special care, such as ears, paws/hooves/talons and shaving fur or trimming fur. Though training in handling animals for the purpose of grooming is not essential to begin animal grooming, it definitely helps to do some study about the types of animals, their needs and precautions.

Before you begin the actual grooming, it is best to begin with one type of animal and keep practicing till you become perfect. This will allow you to learn about animal grooming in detail. Secondly, decide whether you want to have people bring their pets to you, or would you rather travel to homes to groom the animals.  Some basics that will help you are, brushing should start from the skin and then move towards exterior. If the hair growth is downwards, you should brush upwards or vice-versa. Do not brush in the direction of the hair growth. If the animal’s coat has knots or matted hair, work patiently to remove them. A little mineral oil can be applied to loosen them out. If it is impossible to loosen then you can cut it with small scissors. Clipping the toenails of your pet is also essential but you should take a demonstration from a professional first, as some animals, like dogs and cats have nerve endings in their nails. Do not mix animal products, or use products meant for one kind on another, also never use human products on them and a consultation with a vet should set you up. Brushing the teeth of pets is also important to prevent them from decaying.  Some basic tools, which are essential for animal grooming, are slicker brush, currycomb, mat splitter, nail clippers, undercoat rake, wood handled comb, basic comb and shedding blade.