Pet Makeover For The New Year

Don't you feel like a new person after a trip to the salon or spa? So why not make your pet feel the same by giving them a new look for the new year?

It is amazing what a good hair cut, new hair style, nail clipping, and ear cleaning can do. Your pet will not only look better, but it will feel better too!

Scott Wasserman, Groomteam USA member (recognized top 10 groomers in the country) for the last 5 years, will visit The Early Show to give Bosley, a Welsh Corgi, Shihtzu, Miniature Eskimo, a new look.

If you don't know if your pet needs a makeover, here are a few things to look for:

• Overgrown hair creating long bangs that prevent your pet from seeing clearly.
• Hair hanging from the tips of your pets ears/beard that may collect food or dirt from the ground.
• Your dog has become sticky to the touch
• Your dog has developed an odor
• You can hear your pets nails tap against the floors when walking.

Here are some health risks if dogs are not groomed:

The importance to health is to keep the ears cleaned and their nails cut so they don't grow too long and injure their feet. Keeping the skin clean helps prevent diseases and external parasites (fleas and ticks). With a dog being groomed every 6 - 8 weeks, the groomers get to keep a closer eye on the pet than a vet would that sees them usually only once a year.

A basic grooming/makeover session

Basic grooms consist of prep work, which is the bath and the brush-out. During the bath, dogs are usually conditioned with products made for dogs. Human products are not pH Balanced for dogs and can harm their coat and or skin. The dogs are then hand-dried (if long or fluffy coated, short coats can air dry) with a dryer and brush. For the best result in a haircut, the coat should be dried as straight as possible. After drying and brushing, the coat is thoroughly combed.

After the bath, it is time to clip the nails, and pluck/clean out the ears. Next, the haircut begins. Wasserman says the haircut should complement the dog. The haircut should look balanced – you don't want the head to look much bigger than the body and vice versa. It is also important to make it easy to maintain the hair between grooming. The shorter the hair, the easier to brush; groomers never want to leave the hair too long, he notes.

Wasserman's Maintenance Tips:

At-home care between grooms should consist of brushing and bathing. This helps keep the skin and coat healthy. Owners need to be shown the proper way from their groomers. The amount of times you give your dog a bath from home depends on how much hair is on the dog. The more hair, the more it needs to be bathed. The maximum amount is once a week. Dogs with less hair can be bathed once every 6 to 8 weeks.

There is more to brushing a dog than just the back of the dog, which most owners seem to forget. Some dogs really hate having their feet touched. A good way to help with this is to frequently massage your dog's feet and get them used to being handled. This is especially good in puppies. Owners often skip the underside and between the legs, when brushing.

Proper technique is important as to make sure that you are brushing completely down to the skin, Wasserman adds. Brushing against the grain of the coat is best to insure that you are getting close to the skin. Then after brushing out entirely, take a comb and comb through the dog to make sure all the mats and tangles are out.

If you don't want take your pet to be groomed every couple of weeks, Wasserman says you can do it yourself at home. You can wash, dry, and brush/comb the dog. Make sure that your dog is properly hand-dried and brushed out or the hair will get knotty. As for clipping the nails, he advises to be careful since the equipment used is very sharp and if not used properly, you can cut the dog and cause more problems.

Dog grooming typically costs $35-$55 for small dogs, $50-$60 for medium, and $70+ for larger dogs. Some top groomers earn $100 for their work. Dog grooming is considered a trade in Europe, and dog grooming salons are just as nice as salons for men and women.

Wasserman was the winner of International Groomer of the year in 2001. He was the U. S. Pet Pro Classic U. S. Champion in 1998 and 2002. Wasserman is an internationally known contestant, judge and speaker. He has traveled to England, Italy, Scotland, France, Argentina, Thailand, Singapore, China, Spain and Canada to compete and judge.