If you have already guessed that Golden Retrievers are well….golden, then you have guessed correctly. In fact, Golden Retrievers are well known for their golden coating. They certainly make for beautiful dogs to have as pets. But, even a beautiful dog like the Golden Retriever still needs to be groomed, don’t you think, ladies and gentlemen? So, let’s get down to the business of grooming a Golden Retriever dog. Here is how you can go about doing that.
The Process For Grooming A Golden Retriever Dog
1. Brush Your Golden Retriever
Like some other dog breeds like the Miniature Schnauzer, the Golden Retrievers feature a double coating which means that they will gather a lot of mats and knots in short order which isn’t very good for their skin.
In addition to that, Golden Retrievers are notorious for having loose hair. So, brushing your Golden Retriever to remove all of the loose hair will help with keeping the shedding under control.
Even though the Golden Retrievers shed throughout the year, they shed especially heavily in the autumn and spring. Whenever the Golden Retrievers shed, it can get messy with their hair scattering around the floor and furniture.
So, it is important that you brush your Golden Retriever regularly at least once a week in order to remove the loose hair along with the mats and knots.
Speaking of brushes themselves, I would recommend the Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush for use with your Golden Retriever. It is a popular brush that is effective for reaching deeply into the double coat of a Golden Retriever.
This brush also have bent wires which are designed to be gentle on the skin, resulting in a smoother brushing experience for your Golden Retriever.
Now, brushing your Golden Retriever isn’t really that complicated. Basically what you need to do is to brush the dog’s body from the head to the end of the body where the tail is with the brush running in the direction away from the head.
Repeat the brushing a few times until you are confident that your Golden Retriever’s hair has been thoroughly cleaned out.
2. Take Care Of Your Golden Retriever’s Teeth
You will want to make sure that you brush your Golden Retriever’s teeth because doing so will prevent tooth decay in the dog.
I would recommend that you use the Virbac toothpaste with your Golden Retriever’s teeth because it is by far the best one out there and is the one that veterinarians often recommend for dogs generally. You can use a toothbrush to apply the toothpaste on the dog’s teeth.
3. Apply Dry Shampoo On Your Golden Retriever
Generally speaking, I don’t really recommend that you bathe your Golden Retriever unless he/she is really dirty. That is because over-bathing your Golden Retriever will deprive the dog of his/her natural oils.
The natural oils is what gives your Golden Retriever’s coating the polish to achieve the golden beauty that makes the Golden Retrievers beloved as pet dogs.
So, if the natural oils is stripped from your Golden Retriever, that will make the dog’s coating as a whole dull. You don’t want that for your Golden Retriever.
So, there is a way to “bathe” your Golden Retriever without sacrificing the natural oils and that is to apply the dry shampoo on the dog.
As for which dry shampoo to apply on your Golden Retriever, the best one that I can find is the Bodhi Waterless Dog Shampoo.
This dry shampoo will help to get your Golden Retriever to look and smell fresh without having to resort to bathing. This shampoo is based on a formula that is fully recommended by veterinarians.
In order to apply the dry shampoo on your Golden Retriever, spray the dry shampoo on the dog’s coating and wait for one minute to let it to sink in. Be careful not to spray in your dog’s eyes.
Now, rub pet your dog with a towel and then wait for a few minutes in order to let the dog to air dry. Once the air drying is done, brush the coating of your Golden Retriever.
4. Only Trim Your Golden Retriever With A Scissor
Your Golden Retriever sports a double coating that protects him/her from the temperature extremes in the winter and summer and also sheds hair especially heavily in the autumn and spring in order to make room for new hair in preparation for the winter and summer respectively.
As a result of these two things combined, you aren’t going to want to use a clipper to trim your Golden Retriever because doing so can easily result in the unintended consequence of your dog losing too much hair to keep him warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
That can lead your Golden Retriever to suffer frostbite or sunburn.
So, just grab a scissor and trim the longest among the hair of your Golden Retriever. Focus especially on carefully trimming the dog’s ears, paws, tail, and neck. I would just leave the rest of the dog’s body alone for the most part.
5. Cut Your Golden Retriever’s Nails
You are going to want to cut your Golden Retriever’s nails because if they grow too long, they can break and possibly cause infection to occur.
If you don’t have a nail clipper that is suitable for cutting the nails of your Golden Retriever, the Millers Forge Dog Nail Clip Large is well worth checking out. Be careful not to cut the nails too short or else they will bleed. If one or more of the nails are already short, leave these particular nails alone.
6. Check Your Golden Retriever’s Ears
Golden Retrievers are susceptible to infection in their ears. So, you will want to check your Golden Retriever’s ears weekly to make sure that there aren’t any debris inside of them.
If you see any debris in the dog’s ears, be sure to clean them out with an ear cleaner and cotton balls in order to reduce the risk of ear infection. You will want the Virbac ear cleaner as veterinarians often recommend it.
There You Have It For Grooming A Golden Retriever Dog
All in all, this process will help you with grooming a Golden Retriever dog. So, if you follow along, you will put your Golden Retriever on the path to being, let’s just say it, ever more golden.
In order to better prepare your Golden Retriever for the grooming, you will want to look at some of the things that will help you to prepare the dog to be groomed.
What are your thoughts? Have you done anything to groom your Golden Retriever? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
Hey, Michael,
Great post! I remember I always wanted a Golden Retriever when I was a kid, but my parents didn’t let me. Now as an adult, I can’t have one either, because my apartment is too small lol.
Anyway, I think it’s important we all understand that dogs, whether Golden Retrievers or any other breed, are not toys. They’re human beings and not something we give others on birthdays or Christmas to be eventually abandoned.
Your post is very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Hey, you are welcome. I am glad that you have found this post to be very informative. I am sorry to hear that you haven’t been able to have a Golden Retriever as a pet dog, whether as a kid or as an adult. Hopefully, you will be able to have a Golden Retriever as a pet dog someday.
I absolutely agree with you that dogs, including Golden Retrievers, are not to be taken for granted. Sure, Golden Retrievers are beautiful as I mentioned in my post, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be groomed at all.
These types of dogs are beautiful are when they are groom they look so good, I think as pet owners we should do all that we can to take care of our dogs. this information is so helpful and will help those who dogs of any breed as we seek to keep them in the best shape ever. Thanks so much for sharing.
You are very welcome. Yes, that is so true. Grooming will allow dog owners to get their pet dogs to look their best, even if they are already beautiful dogs to start with. You make an excellent point here.