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A slicker brush
With so many brushes on the market today, it's hard for owners to know what the right brush for their pet is. Words such as "Slicker Brush" often leave a pet owner scratching his head. While it seems like a mystery, choosing the right brush for a pet does not need to be difficult. Knowing the purpose of each brush can turn a grooming job from laborious to easy.
The most familiar type of brush used by pet owners is the pin brush. This brush usually has an oval shaped head with plastic or wire bristles which are usually knobbed at one end. Pin brushes are great for single coated breeds. They also work well as a finishing brush when one is sure all the tangles are brushed out. They do not work well for removing tangles, however.
A second kind of brush is known as a bristle brush. As its name suggests, a bristle brush is made with lots of tiny bristles of either boar hair or a similar synthetic material. Bristle brushes are a great finishing brush to smooth out a pet's coat and add a nice sheen as a finishing touch.
Slicker brushes are a third type of brush. These brushes are rectangular in shape, sometimes have an arc in the middle, and are composed of lots of tiny wires that are bent at the top at an angle. Slickers come with different degrees of softness to their bristles and with different size heads. For most furry breeds of dogs, slicker brushes work great. They help pull out some of the undercoat and they are great at breaking apart tangled hair. When using a slicker brush, a line brushing technique is the most effective way to make sure all the hair is brushed properly and no tangles are missed. Slicker brushes work great for dog and cat hair, but when used on cats, a softer bristle is better than a harder one. A light hand must be used on small dogs and cats as well as the bristles can scrape the skin if brushed to vigorously resulting in a brush burn abrasion.
For dogs with short hair, another type of brush is essential. Owners of short haired dogs will agree that short hair is not the same as non-shedding. Short haired dogs shed a lot. Breeds such as Pugs, Beagles and Boston Terriers are notorious for leaving pieces of their coat all over expensive couches and crisp, white shirts. In Austin, where winters are mild and pets live indoors for most of the summer, shedding is a constant battle. For the short coated breeds, a curry brush is what is needed. Curry brushes are made of rubber and are generally oval in shape. The bottom has rows of circles with large rubber teeth. They work great at grabbing the loose hair and removing it from the coat.
A tool that has skyrocketed in popularity lately is the Furminator. For decades groomers used combs and undercoat rakes to pull at the tight undercoat of double coated breeds. The Furminator came along and turned undercoat removal on its head. Now, the average pet owner can effectively remove the undercoat from their pet while combing it. For pet owners with single coated breeds like the Maltese or Yorkie, a Furminator is not recommended. Rather, single coated breeds should be brushed with a pin brush or slicker.
Grooming does not need to be a difficult process. With patience and persistence and a little bit of knowledge, all pets can look freshly groomed.
For a detailed explanation on how to line brush please see this article.
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