If you have adopted, or are about to, a dog with a lovely curly coat of hair and you don’t really know much about how to groom him, you’re in the right place! After having talked to us about long-haired dogs, Luca, our favourite expert pet groomer, will now devote his attention to four-legged friends with curly coats.
Large and small poodles and the woolly Lagotto Romagnolo are just a few examples of curly-haired dogs. Make no mistake, taking care of a curly canine coat is not especially difficult, but you do need to be patient and keep to a schedule of sorts.
First of all, make sure you have the right types of tools:
SLICKER BRUSHES – WIDE-TOOTHED COMBS
- A slicker brush is used to separate the dog’s hairs without scratching the skin below. It also comes in handy for combing out knots and removing dead hair from the undercoat. Proper brushing involves going from the root of the hair outwards to untie knots as you go. Luca uses a simple Ferplast slicker brush with curved, stainless steel bristles designed to do the job without hurting the dog’s skin.
- A wide-toothed comb can get deeper into the mantle and reach the skin below without hurting him. It is very important that you brush deeper than just the surface of the dog’s coat, otherwise it will get matted. Ferplast’s GRO 5862 comb smoothens the hair and even removes impurities.
It’s a good idea to set aside time to brush your dog a few times a week so that his hair will remain soft and clean. First use the slicker brush from head to tail in a zigzag pattern to get rid of the knots. Then follow up with a good combing using a wide-toothed comb.