An often overlooked aspect of pet health care is brushing of the coat. Most dog owners do not associate brushing a dog’s fur with promoting good pet health. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. There are actually several different reasons why you should always brush your dog’s coat, one of which is to prevent certain health conditions. Brushing your dog’s hair should never be ignored, and will usually promote a better overall appearance of your dog.

One of the main reasons why it is very important to brush your dog’s coat is to help reduce shedding. If you have a dog that is in the moderate-high shedding category, this can be very beneficial. Dogs shed their fur naturally as their coat is replaced with new hair follicles, though some dogs do this much faster than others. Indeed, most dogs go through a process called “blowing the coat”, which usually happens twice per year. When a dog is “blowing the coat”, this means that they are completely replacing their fur coat in order to deal with changing temperatures. Brushing your dog’s fur can greatly help to reduce shedding at this time, especially if it is done at least once per day.

Another reason why brushing your dog’s coat on a regular basis is very important is that it helps to prevent bacterial buildup. As your dog sheds fur, they are also shedding dead skin cells. If these dead hair and skin cells are not removed, they get caught in the deep layers of a dog’s fur. When this happens, the dead skin cells may begin to grow bacteria, which usually has adverse reactions on a dog’s skin. The most common (and noticable) symptom of a potential skin problem brought on by lack of brushing is a foul odor. If you want to avoid potential bacterial buildup on your dog’s skin, it’s very important to brush your dog’s fur on a regular basis.

If you groom your pet dog on a consistent basis, you may begin to notice another important side effect. Most dogs love being touched, and crave any human interaction that they can get. Brushing your dog represents a designated time in which you are with your dog, which also promotes bonding. Having a set time each day where you brush your dog’s fur will allow you and your dog to become much closer. Though this is not a health-related side effect, it can be very important in developing the human-canine bond with your dog.

It’s very important that you brush your dog’s fur as much as necessary, as this is also very important for ensuring that the natural oils of your dog’s coat are distributed evenly. This is especially true of long-haired breeds of dogs, since they usually don’t seem to have enough oil to properly condition their fur. Brushing your dog helps to ensure that the natural oils produced by your dog’s skin are able to condition evenly and effectively.

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