Helpful hints about dogs?

I clipped an air freshener inside my vacuum filter so when I'm vacuuming up the furballs it leaves a nice scent without air fresheners masking it.

First: I think the person who mentioned "hydro pearls" means Nova Pearls... It is a little more pricey, but is a fantastic shampoo. It's the only thing that keeps my fawn dobe from breaking out. http://tinyurl.com/5fx55z

I also refuse to wash my dogs unless they actually smell. I learned with my golden retriever that it's MUCH easier to BRUSH out mud even, than to wash it out. Mud spreads and gets tacky. Since I stopped bathing my dogs unless they need it, they have MUCH better skin. My boy flakes every time he gets a bath, and my girl breaks out. Too many dogs are over-bathed. Also, use cool water.... This is particularly true if you have a dilute dog of ANY breed.

Shop vacs are a godsend.

Ozium will take the poop smell out of anything (trust me, dealt with diarrhea in my bedroom last night, barf).

Good quality food may be a little more expensive per bag, but you save in vet bills. My dogs are proof.

Good quality dog food also makes for smaller, disintegrating, non smelly poop. I GAG when I walk past other dogs poop now.

Dremmeling is cheaper than paying a groomer and does a better job. The nails stay shorter and don't have the "just clipped sharp" edges. I clip before I dremmel because I have a battery powered one, I got distracted and left off at the clipping the other night and ended up getting my foot scraped up when I got stepped on.

When you do nails, Preparation H to the tips (if you get to the "meat" of the nail, not necessarily the quick) will make the quick recede and keep the nails shorter.

Don't be so afraid to dig into your dogs ears to clean them. A dogs ear canal is L shaped with the bottom going at a slightly downward angle. You will hit the bend before you can damage the ear. So use hypoallergenic baby wipes and REALLY clean the ears. No infections.

I'm tired, I'll come back when I can think of my good ones lol.

Oh, and thanks for the NAIR tip! I don't need it for my dogs, but my roommate and I both have long hair, between the two of us... yeeeah nair will be great....

Feed the highest quality dog food you can afford, no corn or wheat. Eliminates the need for suppliments.

RAW Bones every couple of weeks to clean teeth.

Too many grooming tips to mention, as I've been a pro groomer for 30 years!

The Nair in the drain is a great idea!

To bathe a dog outside in decent weather using warm water, run a hose in to kitchen sink, unscrew the aerater from the faucet, hose hooks up to it, wallah, warm water!

Thin your shampoo in a gallon jug, makes it easier to spread over dog.

For dog hair that gets stuck in carpets and furniture and won't vacuum out, a slicker brush works like a charm!

Pet Fresh by Arm-n-Hammer is awesome. Sprinkle it on carpets, wait 15-20 minutes and vacuum up. Leaves the house smelling fresh!

Also, a high quality vacuum with a specially designed "pet hair remover" brush. Life. Saver.

The Furminator is amazing in getting all the fur out of my double coated dogs quickly and easily!

Biggest hint:

Start as you intend things to be when you finish. Meaning- if you don't want a dog on the furniture, don't let the pup on it. If you want a dog to sit in perfect heel position INSIST on it from the very beginning (then you don't have to correct and retrain later). If you want the dog not to bark, don't allow it to bark from the time you get it (none of my dogs bark while playing outstide because they know they'll be made to come inside and get stuck in a crate). If you don't want the dog to jump up, don't allow it as a pup. If you don't want the dog to go into a certain place in the house- set it as off bounds.

Seriously.. if you think things through FIRST and make it always be that way.. its a whole lot easier!!!

As far as smelling better - Feed high quality food- Dogs who eat well smell less (personally I cannot say enough good about raw feeding- as far as I'm concerned it saves me in so many ways and my dogs look GREAT!)

My "helpful human hint": The high velocity dog dryer is FANTASTIC for blowing out dirty dogs as well as drying clean ones.... and its also great for blowing leaves out of my gutters and off my patio (not to mention tons quieter than a leaf blower). In an emergency its even decent at drying clothing.

If you have stubborn dog hair on your furniture or in your car that just doesn't seem to want to vacuum up spray it with Static Guard first then vacuum! It releases the static bond the hair has on any material!

If your dog get tangles easily then you can spray the fur with baby detangler and gently brush or comb out, it works great!

Furminator is the best. I just got an entire "dog" off my huge gsd. I also hide the little guys food bowls under the barstool. I live in a sandy area, so my front and back porch is covered in artificial grass so it knocks the sand off and keeps it from coming in on my wood floors.

Owning a Dyson vacuum is a GODSEND. I also dust the carpet with arm and hammer once every few weeks to freshen it up. It really gets that dog smell out.

calcium carbonate and peroxide makes white beautiful! There is a blue colored conditioning spray at dogs shows...spritz and brush every other day and your dog will feel like satin and hardly shed..plus they smell great!

Gold Bond between toes reduces doggie odors...

tetracycline can be given to brighten the white on your dog as well!

dremel gives those nails a short and pretty appearance!

wash in cool water weekly or biweekly to reduce shedding...I learned this from some old Borzoi show people..AMAZING!

the list can go on and on!

So to not have my big dog steal my little dogs food I put the little dogs food under a coffee table in the living room that he can't get to. I saw my big dog try to do an army crawl once to try and reach it but he got stuck and he never did it again.