I would never suggest skimping on grooming because it is to expensive. I would however suggest trying your hand at grooming your own Shih Tzu. If you are the least bit gifted in the creative department, you can groom your Shih Tzu.
Cleaning and grooming your pet’s coat is essential if you want to keep pests such as fleas from making their home in it. First thing you want to remember is a Shih Tzu needs to be brushed daily, if long and every couple days, if short.
THE BATH: A lot has been said about how often to give a bath. I have read and heard the "experts" say you should only bath once a month. If I only bathed once a month my dogs would be rolling around the house like Linus in Snoopy, flies and all. I bath my Shih Tzu once a week. I use different shampoos on different dogs. check out my
grooming page for good products to use. Always brush BEFORE the bath. Water sets the mats. It will be harder, and more painful to get them out after the bath.
THE HAIR CUT: Once a month when I give a bath the dogs get they're hair cuts and nail trim. I use Andis clippers and You can follow the direstions on my
Shih Tzu hair cut page or create your own pattern. I use a #10 blade. Don't worry if your Shih Tzu looks a little funny the first time or to. They don't seem to mind. Just remember hair grows back and you can try it again in about a month. Learn from your mistakes.
A special note on nails: A dog’s nails are continuously growing, and if they’re long they can more easily do damage to your carpet and furniture. They might also break off, which would be painful for your pet. So you need to trim your dog’s nails on a monthly basis. This isn’t like clipping your own nails because a dog’s nails are shaped differently and are much thicker. A dog nail trimmer must be utilized. You’ll also need some quick stop powder to stop the bleeding if you should happen to cut your dog.
For more information on grooming go to
www.shihtzukisses.com/grooming.htm
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