Do you want to groom your dog at home but worry that you won’t get it right? If nail-cutting and dental care for your canine make you nervous, you need The Everything Dog Grooming Book! This do-it-yourself guide offers detailed information and instructional photographs for handling all facets of dog grooming, including:How to choose and where to buy the right equipmentProper animal handling techniques for nervous or antsy dogsGrooming specific areas such as nails, toes, and teethHow to choose the right shampoo and conditionerDealing with all types of coats and hair lengthsBathing a dog properly–without the mess! Grooming your dog at home is a great way to save money and bond with your dog at the same time. With this helpful handbook, you’ll be cutting, clipping, shearing, and shaving like a pro before you can say “bath time”!
Publisher : Everything (August 1, 2008)
Language : English
Paperback : 288 pages
ISBN-10 : 159869653X
ISBN-13 : 978-1598696530
Item Weight : 13.6 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
It’s Me –
Fantastic….just what I was looking for
All right, to be fair, I just now started reading this book which was delivered today. I am so excited about it that I wanted to write a review before I tried some of the techniques. I’ll have to update after I’ve applied some of the info.This book has it all! It gives information on grooming tables, arms, restraints (loops or nooses), how to groom a nervous and/or snippy dog, how to express the anal sacs (if necessary, & you must be careful), how to groom hairy paws, all about shampooing, clippers and blade sizes & how to maintain them, tells why not to use scissor on dirty dogs(bathe them first), how to take care of the dog’s teeth, even talks about food and food allergies….oh, my goodness, this book is chock full of helpful information.I had to resort to grooming our shih-tzu because his experience with groomers was not a good one. He was cut most of the time by a groomer, not always, but enough times to make him throw up in the car the last time we took him to a groomer. I’ve been struggling with grooming this nervous shih-tzu for over 5 years & decided I need some equipment and a book of instructions. We keep his hair long. The equipment is on the way, & I think this book fits the bill for me. I’m anxious to read through it more thoroughly and then give it a try.*update: I’m still lovin’ this book! But you won’t learn how to do a specific breed cut. You will find great basic ideas that you can apply. If you keep your shih-tzu’s hair on the short side, this book explains how to trim the hair to make the dog’s front legs appear to be straight. There is a deskunking recipe, how to kill fleas with dish soap; vinegar is great for yeasty skin; the correct mixture of Listerene and water in a spray bottle will make a dog’s hair shine. There’s lots more useful info in this well-written, informative book.**Update: My friend just used the de-skunking recipe and said it worked!!!
Susan T. –
Helpful Hints on Dog Grooming
I purchased this book because I wanted to start grooming my own dogs. This book is a general overview of the field of dog grooming and not exactly a “how to” book. It was a good place to start though, and was an enjoyable and easy read. It contains some very basic information and would be good for a first time dog owner or even a young teenager who is interested in dogs. It is not very technical. However, some of my questions were answered and it had some helpful and practical hints. (The hints reminded me of the kinds of tips you would get from a personal friend who was a dog groomer). So if you are looking for a book to be your dog grooming “bible”, I don’t think this is that book. But if you are thinking about grooming your own dogs, and are gathering information from a number of sources, I think this book might be worthy of one of several spots in your dog grooming library.
JILL KENNEDY –
A Wealth of Information
I recently decided to try my hand at grooming my dog, a West Highland White Terrier. With Covid 19 and all the necessary restrictions I thought even if I wasn’t interested in becoming a professional groomer we would both enjoy the time spent together. This book points out good advice on the health and care of a dog and not specific grooming advice. Very informative and enjoyable reading.
Maryann D –
Great book
Not the definitive guide, but it’s a great start!!! As a groomer you will and should always be learning.
Lindsay –
Fairly good, could be more descriptive and organized
This book helped me the most in dealing with troublesome dogs on the grooming table, but other than that it’s not very detailed. It would be adequate if your just looking for basic information as a dog owner in taking care of minimal dog grooming. No detailed information on actually clipping the dogs. Dog Grooming for Dummies will covers a lot more. It’s also extremely repetitive. Seems like one section after another was the same thing being said.
jKSB –
I wasn’t expecting a USED BOOK!
I actually wouldn’t object to a book that had been read – – but this has underlining and markings all over it.!
midwest spin –
A Go-To Guide
I am trying to convince myself to groom my shih-tzu and save $50 every 7 weeks, thus my purchase of this book. It goes into all details of grooming, just what I was looking for. They explain what you need, how much each thing should cost and other variations that you might use in your home. They do not support any product or try to convince you to buy certain products and this makes me trust the advice given. Very good instruction too.
Kindle Customer –
Good GENERAL grooming information
This book is loaded with good information on bathing, cutting toenails, the general stuff we all need to know if we are attempting to groom our own dogs. It also covers some specific problems with skin, hair, ears, and there is a whole section on dogs who are nervous when being groomed, and how to deal with different types of behaviors while grooming.She talks about what kind of shampoo to use, however no specific (brand) recommendations for shampoos. It says to use a gentle shampoo—what exactly does that mean?? I have bought all kinds of shampoos with oatmeal or aloe, and they all claim to be helpful if your dog has sensitive or itchy skin, but until you use it on your dog, you really have no idea what you are getting.She has some interesting information on the different types of hair – curly, wiry and how to deal with them. Also there is a very helpful section on what to do if you accidentally nick your pet while trimming.The book has quite a bit of information about equipment and different ways to deal with badly matted coats. There are even some cute tips about using ordinary household items for grooming.There is some information with pictures on clipping a few specific breeds that does help you understand something about clipping/cutting techniques for different hair types and to get a certain look.All in all, the book has a great deal of good information, but I guess I’m going to have to bite the bullet and buy what I really need, which is a cd that shows me very specifically how to clip my dog.
meliss –
Very informative, helped with a lot of questions. Would recommend to any new groomer. Detailed in formation needed for grooming.
Heather Gardner –
I am a first time dog groomer, I was given the chance to groom/clip a customer’s Welsh Springer spaniel (I’m a professional Dog Walker) and I jumped at it, despite not having a clue what I was doing!! I bought this book off of Amazon (who always deliver super fast!) and read it… ITS BRILLIANT! Really easy to read and really easy to understand. I would absolutely recommend this book for any beginner or armature groomer
Mrs Amy Ainslie –
Read this book in 1 day and not because it’s small! I am considering a career in dog grooming and whilst this book talks a lot about general pet grooming it does give a good amount of advice if you are looking at grooming as a career. Written brilliantly and easy to understand, highly recommended!!
deelicious –
Chatty little book with plenty of hints and tips but very little step-by-step on dog grooming techniques. It could have done with some more pictures of how to groom a dog starting with the basics of using the equipment.
Ella –
Really good for someone wanting to learn the basics in grooming, I’ve attended a course but find it useful as a reminder. I only plan to groom my own dog but will refer to this book often.