Grooming wellness checkup Part 3.
Fanny
One of the biggest reasons why dogs stink is a big bunch of hair around their privates, soaking urine in and making it hard for the dog to clean it. Tried and true recipe to get UTI, too! So, here is what you look out for to prevent smell and infections. And to bring some comfort to your dood, since no one likes a soak in pee.
Keep an eye out for:
* Penis/Vulva areas
* Anus area
* Inner thighs and lower belly around the penis/vulva
* Armpits
Sanitary trim - Girls
This palm-sized bunch of tightly matted and urine-soaked hair came off of a female doodle, in one piece. It took a lot of time, a very short blade and some tears of mine to see a dog in such bad shape. She was very pleased to have it gone and get some fresh air to her hoo-ha. :)
This is how a clean female hind quarter looks like. You can keep more hair on the inner thighs, this girl had so many mats she had to get kind of a full Brazilian. Notice how much the vulva is enclosed by loose skin. Will talk about why a sanitary trim is super important for doodettes with similar features and also look into vulvoplasty (Episioplasty) as a permanent resolution.
Sanitary trim - Boys
Mats around the penis area and inner thighs. Stinky, yucky unsanitary. Please keep an eye out for mats and too long coat around the PPs! Let's see it from another angle, below!
This is how a clean private area for boys should look like if you want it last. Short inner thighs, short PP, and a little room kept short just in front of the PP so the doggo won't pee on his belly hair.
Notice the mat bunches. They are fairly thin but are super tightly matted. No way we can open them up, let alone in the most sensitive are. Trimming is the way to go the get rid of them!
Tadaaaa Clean PP area. :) I did it with clippers #10FC blade (Andis) and it looks clean and super comfy. It can be done with a simple pair of pre-haircut shears as well. (See Advanced Grooming Tools Shopping List) It will last, too. So let it be swim time, licking, pee there, it'll be clean and tangle-free for a long time. (4-6 weeks)
Sanitary trim - Anus area
This guy had serious mats, so I had to go very short, due to them being located deep, close to the skin. Pawrents did not notice the poop chunks on this guy's butt. Especially with longer coats, we really need to lift up that tail, move the coat and look. I recently had the darkest black doodle clients of my time. LOL He had a vet appointment before the spa day and the vet could not find his butt hole!!! So I came to the rescue... And I found it! :D Haha
This is a long-lasting butt area trim. Formed poop won't get stuck in there and it'll be easy to see how clean it is for weeks to come. Pawrents oftentimes ask me to go a bit shorter on the base of the tail, bottom side, the part that meets the butthole, so any leftover will fall off instead of getting stuck in the tail hair there. The same style can be done for males and females.