GROOMING:
* I trim Darmok and Sasha's nails usually every 2 - 3 weeks, but sooner if I notice extra growth. It's hard to get Sasha to settle down for trimming, as she is real 'touchy' about her toes! I use clippers, but it's the pliars/scissors type of clipper. I dont like the guillotine style. I want to get a dremel and start trying to get them used to it, because I love the way dremeled nails look! No grooming table, I just make Dar stand still on the floor and pick up her feet one at a time holding them similar to how you you would trim or shoe a horse. Sasha has to be lying on the bed or the couch and I need a second person to help hold her still. They both get treats for cooperating.
* I clean their ears the same day that I do their nails, usually just wiping them out with a dampened wash cloth and my finger. Their ears stay pretty clean.
* I brush their teeth with a dog toothbrush and Hartz brand beef-flavored toothpaste. I used to brush them every other day, but now it's more like once a week. The last time I was at the vet's office, everyone in the waiting room and the office staff all remarked about how beautiful and white the girls' teeth were, and I felt pretty good about that! Both of mine got the tooth-brushing ritual started when they were young, and they sort of like it now! I can go in the bathroom and say "let's brush puppy teeth" (yes, I still call them puppies!) and usually Dar will come in first and stand there while I put the toothpaste on the brush and stand very still while I lift up her gums and brush all around. I constantly talk to them and tell them what good girls they are and how beautiful they are while I'm brushing! Dar used to try to chew on the toothbrush while I was doing it, but now she just stands there and enjoys it! When I'm done brushing her teeth I take a damp washcloth and wipe off her face, mouth, and clean out the corners of her eyes. She gets this real relaxed look on her face! Then I tell her she's done, she walks out and Sasha comes in for her turn! We go through the exact same routine. Guys, tooth brushing is just way too easy with my two girls!!! haha
* Baths are pretty infrequent now that it's winter. In warmer months, however, they get baths about 2ce a month, or whenever they get really dirty. Dar loves water, and I can put about 6" to 8" of warm water in the bathtub, tell her to go get in the tub, and she will go to the bathroom and hop up over the side of the bathtub and stand there waiting for the bath to begin! Good thing, cos she is about 85 lb now, and it's hard on my back to have to pick her up (like at the vet when they want her up on that high, narrow, cold steel table!) She loves her bath! Sasha doesn't. I have to leave a collar on her to sort of drag her into the bathroom, and "help" her over the side of the tub. The collar also gives me something to help hold her still while getting bathed. As soon as they are out and towell-dried, though, they seem to have multiplied their energy level by 1000 times!!!