Gather your grooming materials.

You don't want to be looking for your tools once you begin grooming your dog. Make sure to have everything you need in one place before you begin the task at hand.

• Pet-friendly shampoo
• Towels
• Brush or comb suitable for your pet's coat type
• Nail clippers or grinder
• Ear cleaning solution
• Toothbrush and pet toothpaste
• Clippers (for certain breeds with hair that needs trimming)
• Styptic powder (in case you accidentally cut the nails too short)

Comb out your dog.

Combing your dog's coat daily or every other day will keep most mats at bay. A thorough combing should always be the first step of the grooming process because any mats will become tighter and less manageable once they dry.

Begin on the head and move down the body. Be careful under the belly, as it is a sensitive area, and don't forget to comb the tail.

• While you are combing, if you find a tangle, use a brush and try to work out the tangle. Be mindful not to brush burn your dog from brushing for too long in the same spot. You can check by looking under the fur to see if the skin becomes red with irritation.
• You can brush short-haired dogs with simple tools like curry brushes or gloves.
• Comb and brush medium- to long-coated dogs with more specialized tools like a steel comb, slicker, a pin brush, or an undercoat rake.
• Whatever you use, it must remove loose hair and distribute oils from the skin throughout the coat.

Praise while brushing and give the dog breaks as needed

Praise your dog as you're brushing. Reward calm, quiet behavior to encourage more of it. You may want to include a treat to reward the dog for good behavior.

You don't want the dog to get overwhelmed; any negative associations can make grooming harder in the future.

Make the experience fun by giving your pet breaks from time to time, giving praise, treats, pets, and even a little bit of play.

This will also keep your dog distracted.

• This is especially important with a puppy, which can be trained from a young age to tolerate this much handling well.

Cut out mats that can't be brushed out.

Severe matting can pull the skin every time the dog moves, making daily life painful for your pet. If you can't brush a mat out, you need to either cut or shave it off, depending on how close it is to the skin. Be extremely careful if you use scissors to avoid injuring yourself or your pet. Try to cut parallel to the growth of the hair to avoid a choppy look.

• If you don't think you can safely remove the mat without hurting your dog, take him to a professional groomer.
• On occasion, mats can get so tight and close to the skin that bacterial infections occur underneath the mat. If you suspect an infection, take your dog to the veterinarian as soon as possible.
• The visual symptoms of bacterial infection are redness and moisture, with pus secretion in advanced cases. Your dog might chew or scratch at the area because it itches.

Clear the dog's eyes.

Depending on your particular dog, this step may be a simple matter of wiping or pulling eye debris away from the corners of the eyes.

White-haired breeds, long-haired, and those with large eyes that water a lot (Pekingese, Pugs, Pomeranians, etc.) may need special attention to make sure that all gunk is out of the coat, as they may get tear stains. You can buy products made for removing "tear stains" from a white coat at a pet supply store.

• A healthy eye should be clear and should not show any signs of irritation or unusual discharge.
• Don't try to trim hair away from the eyes yourself, as you might injure your pet. Ask your vet or groomer to do it for you.

Clean your dog's ears.

It's normal for a clean ear to have some wax in it, but there shouldn't be any particular smell to it.

To clean your dog's ears, apply some ear cleaning solution (bought at a pet supply store) to a cotton round. Not too much or it will drip into the ear while wiping. Wipe dirt and wax away from the inner ear, but don't rub vigorously, as this might cause sores. Don't push too far into the ear, either. If your dog has drop ears like a basset hound, wipe the inside of the ear flag as dirt collects there as well. The groomers rule of thumb is to clean only what you can see.

• Bring ear cleaning solution up to body temperature before putting it in the dog's ears. Place it in a body-temperature water bath, just as you would with a baby bottle.
• When you're done wiping out the ear with a damp cotton ball or cloth, gently dry it out with a dry one.
• Praise your dog! The ears are a sensitive part of the body, and he may need some comfort.

⚠️ Get medical attention if his ears look swollen, red, irritated, dark or blackened. Any discharge or sores, or a bad or yeast-like smell should also prompt a call to the vet.

• Excessive discharge, inflammation, one ear is much dirtier than the other, and odor are signs of an ear infection that need medication.

Brush the dog's teeth.

Ideally, brushing your dog’s teeth every day with dog toothpaste is the route to healthy teeth and gums. Use dog toothpaste instead of human products, so you don't poison your dog with fluoride.

If there is any chance that you may get bitten by your dog, do NOT attempt to brush your pet’s teeth. At any point, if the dog gets overwhelmed, give him a break to calm down.

• Start by placing a small amount of dog toothpaste on your finger and spreading it across the teeth for a few seconds. Reward the dog for cooperating.
• Once the dog lets you work your finger in his mouth for 20-30 seconds, you can graduate to gauze or finger toothbrushes from the pet store. Work your way up to a dog toothbrush.
• No matter what, ease your dog into the process so that it can be a pleasant experience rather than a stressful one.

⚠️ Get a veterinary cleaning if your dog already has a considerable buildup of tartar and plaque. Just like a human would, your dog needs a professional cleaning at the veterinarians. Another option is anesthesia-free teeth cleaning, which is available but typically not offered by veterinarians.

• Look for red gums or brown material attached to the teeth — these are signs that a home tooth-brushing will be painful for your dog. Don't try to brush his teeth until he's seen a vet.

Clip the dog's nails.

If left untrimmed, a dog's nails can curl under into the paw pads or twist toes in a way that causes joint damage. To keep your dog's nails short, clip them regularly, depending on how fast his nails grow. If you can hear his nails on the ground when he walks, that means his nails are touching the ground, and are too long.

• Trim a very small amount of nail (1/16 inch) away with a pair of dog nail clippers.
  • Human clippers are okay for a very young puppy or small dog.
  • Guillotine style clippers are less effective than the scissor type.
  • Use the appropriate size clippers for your dog.

If your dog has clear nails, you can see the pink part where the blood vessel's located. Avoid cutting the pink part, trimming only the clear hard nail.

• Take extra care with dark-nailed dogs not to clip the pink part (blood vessel). Go slowly, and only take a little bit off at a time.
• Dremeling is much safer and easier to avoid hitting the quick, as it shaves only a little bit at a time. Use a cordless pet-safe Dremel tool, as the corded ones will not stop turning if they catch hair. Don't dremel for too long as it will burn the nail and prolong the trimming process for the dog which causes more stress. The best recommended process is trim first then dremel to shorten a little bit and round out the nail do it's not sharp.
• ⚠️ If you cut too far and hit a blood vessel, apply styptic powder, cornstarch, or flour with a bit of pressure and hold for a few seconds to stop any bleeding.

For most dogs, this is the worst part for them. Some people do this step last to avoid the dog immediately becoming too stressed to do much grooming afterward.