Bows & Bones Pet Grooming

As exciting as the holidays are, sometimes all the strange people, noises, and things going on can be overwhelming to your furry friends. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all around the corner, here's some helpful hints to get you through the holidays. General Tips: Stick as closely as possible to your normal routine - try not to vary your dog's feeding, walking, or playtime schedule Avoid giving your dog table scraps as some of the foods we enjoy can be harmful or deadly to our pets. As a reminder, alcohol is also toxic to dogs. If you host or bring your dog to a party, remember that some guests may not be comfortable with dogs and as a result, their energy (see energy blog post) may frighten or make your dog uncomfortable or just being around strange, new people in general may cause your dog to be uneasy. Halloween: Trick-or-treat candies are not for pets. All forms of chocolate can be dangerous and even lethal to dogs. Small amounts of Xylitol can cause ...

Energy and Your Dog Because humans are intellectual beings, we communicate mostly with words. A common mistake we make as humans is thinking that dogs also communicate the same way, and they don't. When dogs answer to specific words and associate them with specific actions, they're mostly responding to the intent that we have associated with the word. Dog's pay less attention to words because they're primarily focusing on our energy, expressed through intention and emotion as well as our tone of voice and body language.  In the words of Cesar Millan, "Energy is how any being presents itself to the world. Think of it as your personality, disposition, and temperament."  Intention X Emotion = Energy Calm, assertive energy works best with dogs because our emotions are balanced and our intent is clear. Negative emotions and lack of firm intent presents weak energy and confuses dogs. This is why you can't stop a dog from barking by angrily yelling. The dog ...

Benefits to Brushing Your Dog Regular (recommended daily) brushing helps keep your dog's coat healthy. Brushing regularly prevents matting which can be painful to your pup and lead to irritations and skin infections. Other important reasons to brush include to remove loose hair (help with shedding), to keep an eye on your pup's skin (to check for lumps, bumps, spots, fleas, ticks, etc.), to stimulate healthy oil production by redistributing the natural oils in your dog's coat, etc. The type of coat that your dog has will determine how often and what type of brush to use. Proper Brushing Techniques Brush down and out, away from the dog's skin. Always brush in the direction the hair grows; dogs don't like to be brushed backwards Be gentle or you may damage your dog's coat by pulling and stretching hairs until they tangle or break If you encounter mats, apply a coat conditioner or mat spray then use a wide toothed comb to get through the tangle. Mat...

Nail Trimming vs. Nail Buffing Long, unkempt nails can do serious damage to your dog over time. When the nails are so long that they constantly touch the ground, they exert force back into the nail bed, creating pain for the dog. Long nails can also get caught, torn, or split, causing pain and possible injury. In extreme cases, overgrown nails can curve and grow into the pad of the foot. Luckily, there are two different options for keeping your dog's nails healthy! Nail Trimming - $10 A traditional nail trim is performed with a scissor type clipper, which puts less pressure on the nail than a guillotine clipper, making it more comfortable for your dog. Clippers aren't noisy, but leave a sharp edge to the nail which can be painful to you if your dog is a jumper. Nail trimming is recommended if your dog is sensitive to noise.  Nail Buffing - $15 Nail buffing is where a dremel tool (or "grinder") designed for pets is used to file away the excess na...