As a grooming shop owner, I see countless customer who bring their dog in for services that they could be doing themselves. We have two locations in a small midwestern city, so divulging some of our secrets worldwide probably isn’t going to hurt our business too much. What’s our biggest secret? You can groom your dog yourself and save quite a bit of money, depending on how often you take your dog to your local grooming shop. You might still need to see your groomer every six months or so to do the things to your dog that you can’t, but in the meantime, here are five ways to save money by grooming your dog at home.

Bathing Your Dog- This is so simple a child can do it. Really. It’s just like washing your own hair…scrub it up good and make sure you get all the soap rinsed out. Use a hypoallergenic soap.

Drying Your Dog-Use a towel sparingly, otherwise a medium or long coated dog’s hair will tangle. Just pat the excess water off. If you can’t put the dog outside and don’t want water all over the house, use a blow dryer on your dog. A word of warning, other than their nails being done, dogs usually hate the drying process more than anything!

Trimming Your Dog’s Nails- This is a little more complicated, and not something I can fit the information for in a short article. You will need to purchase a nail trimmer and possess a lot of patience as most dogs hate to have their nails trimmed. With a little training, you can trim your dog’s nails yourself.

Brushing Your Dog- I could write a ten thousand word article on how important this is. Unless your dog is extremely short haired, you need to brush your dog often. You might think your dog isn’t shedding because you don’t find hair all over the house, and you would be wrong. Some dog breeds shed their hair into their undercoat. If you don’t brush them often, this hair becomes matted. Your dog can actually have some discomfort because of this, as matted hair pulls on the dog’s skin. Brush your dog often.

Minor Trimming Of Your Dog’s Hair- While we would never recommend someone trying to hand scissor a poodle, there are some minor touch ups and trims you can easily do yourself, with a little training.

Learning to do these five things and grooming your dog yourself will save you quite a bit of money each year, and you will find yourself forming a closer bond with your dog.