Grooming Your Puppy

My hope with this page is to answer some of your many questions about caring for your Boxer and keeping him or her in tip top condition. So, here it goes...

Bathing Your Boxer

Boxers should only be bathed when absolutely necessary. When you bath your Boxer, you take the natural oils out of your Boxers skin, which can make your Boxer shed, flake, and can intern cause dry dull hair. Ok...so now I am sure you are wondering how do I keep my Boxer clean. The answer is baby wipes. Yep that's right...I said baby wipes. You can use baby wipes to clean their muddy paws, wipe the dirt off their muzzle, or if you prefer, you can baby wipe there whole body whenever you feel the need:o) By doing this, you will accomplish two things: 1) Your fur-baby will be and smell clean; and 2) Your fur-baby will keep his or hers shiny coat and you will remove any loose hair. Just imagine you get all that from something that's disposable!!

To help your Boxer maintain his or hers natural oils, it is a good idea to brush them a few times a week. By brushing your Boxer, it will help to distribute the oils through their hair. And of course you get some quality one on one time, which a Boxer can never have enough of. After all, who doesn't like some attention and a nice back rub?!?

Now lets talk a bit about what to use when you do bathe your Boxer... Firstly, you should NEVER use a shampoo that is formulated for humans. If your Boxer is under 12 weeks of age, you should not use any type of flea/tick shampoo on him or her. What I use and recommend is an oatmeal based shampoo. My favorite is Vet Solutions Aloe & Oatmeal shampoo.
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You can visit their website at www.vetsolutions.com for more information or to find a distributor in your area.

As your puppy grows and reaches that 12 week old milestone, you have two options...You can continue using the oatmeal based shampoo and use either Frontline, Advantage, or another similar flea/tick control medication or you can use a flea/tick shampoo or spray. If you elect to use the flea/tick shampoo or spray, I recommend both Adams Flea and Tick Shampoo and Adams Flea and Tick Spray.
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If you elect to use Frontline Plus, Advantage or another similar flea/tick control medication, you can begin doing so when your puppy reaches 8 weeks of age. I have tried many types of flea/tick control medications, and I find that Frontline works the best out of all of them. Frontline protection also comes in a spray that like the topical medication should not be applied more than every 30 days or so.
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If you elect to use a flea/tick control medication, your vet will probably tell you that you cannot bath your dog because it will diminish the effects of the medication. However, if you continue using the oatmeal based shampoo, it will have no affect on the medication.

Cleaning Your Boxers Ears

You should make cleaning your Boxer's ears a part of the grooming process. How often you should do this depends on the dog. I use and recommend Vet Solutions Ear Cleansing Solution (pictured below). It's formulate to deodorize and gently clean, dry, and acidify the ear canal. If your Boxer's ears are excessively dirty you should apply the ear cleaning solution two to three times daily for several days, then you can go to 1-2 times a week for maintenance. You should always clean your Boxers ears after swimming.

Trimming Your Boxers Nails

It's important to trim your Boxer's nails, because the longer the nails become, the more pressure is exerted on the bones in the foot. This condition is painful and can lead to structural problems. Dogs must be taught that nail trimming is necessary and must be tolerated. 

You can use pet nail trimmers to clip them and then use a nail file to get rid of any sharp edges. You must be careful when trimming to not trim to much and clip the nail's kwik. The kwik is a vein that runs down the middle of the nail and supplies blood to it. You can see the kwik by looking at the sides of your dogs nails. It is the dark line in the center of the nail. You must do everything you can to avoid this, because if you do happen to clip the kwik, it will bleed. For this reason, I advise you to keep septic powder on hand, just in case. Be prepared BEFORE you start learning how to clip your dogs nails. Don't get overly upset with yourself if and when you cut one too short.. and it will happen occasionally even to the best of us. If you do happen to clip the kwik, immediately apply pressure to the nail (I find a paper towel on the nail with firm pressure works well) and then use the septic powder. Also pay close attention to how you are holding the clippers.  Make sure the inner blade is facing outward.  Even a small misjudgment of the width of the blade and you may be too close, so you might want to take several passes at the nail to get the hang of it.

If you are a little nervous about trimming the nails yourself, you could bring your puppy in to your vet or a groomer. Watch carefully how it is done, and this may give you the courage to try it yourself.
 

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