What to Consider When Choosing Dog Grooming Gloves

A Dog grooming glove can be a better alternative to dog grooming brushes. They are very comfortable for both the user and the dog. They are good for removing loose hair, dirt, and dander from your dog’s coat.

The dog groom gloves slip easily over your hands like any regular glove or a mitten. They have silicone bristles used to comb the coat of your dog and remove its fur from your furniture and carpets. They are designed to comfortably fit your fingers, thumb, and the palm of your hand.

You should consider the following when choosing your dog grooming glove:

• Adjustable Velcro Strap that fits all Hand Sizes
• Allergy-Free
• Bristle Size
• Breathable Mesh Cloth that can Dry Fast
• Design
• Machine Washable
• Tear Proof
• Water Proof

Choosing Dog Grooming Gloves

When shopping, you must consider your budget. You must choose a pair of dog grooming gloves whose cost matches your budget without breaking the bank. It is always preferable to buy dog grooming gloves that have a long term refund, replacement, and maintenance warranty.

Cost-effectiveness and affordability are the crucial things that you must consider. There are other things that you should consider when choosing dog groom gloves, listed below:

● Adjustable Velcro Strap that fits all Hand Sizes

It is a fact that the hands of men are heavier and broader than the hands of women. So you must try on the pair of gloves that you want before you buy them. You must buy the one with an adjustable velcro strap that will help you to adjust it according to the size of your wrist.

Try to skip the variety that has a universal design, which is called one size fits all because one size seldom fits all. If you end up buying a very tight dog groom glove, your fingers will get strained quickly. While on the other hand, a loosely hanging glove will not give you enough grasp over your task.

● Allergy-Free

Whether you have sensitive skin or your dog hates the traditional grooming tools, in both cases, you must consider a pair of dog grooming gloves that are made out of such a material that is hypoallergenic.

● Bristle Size

You must consider all the measurements of the dog groom glove. If you own a long-haired dog, you must buy a dog groom glove with long bristles, for painless grooming. If you have a short-haired dog, you must buy a dog grooming glove with short and comfortable bristles.

● Breathable Mesh Cloth that can Dry Fast

If you are a professional groomer and work in a pet salon, there are great chances that your hands may get sweaty after dealing with multiple pets in a day. So you must look for such a pair of dog grooming gloves that are made up of such a fabric that can dry in a few minutes.

● Design

There are two types of designs available in dog grooming gloves

• A simple mitten style.
• And a five-fingered style. Most of the dog groom gloves marketed worldwide are right-handed. If you run a salon, and half of your staff members are right-handed while others are left-handed, you should make sure that you buy the pairs of dog groom gloves that have both the left-handed and right-handed side.

You should check for other features which include lint brushes, trimmers, and detangling combs. Some of the dog groom gloves have an additional convenience which is a velour lint brush right at their backside.

● Machine Washable

You must consider a pair of dog grooming gloves whose fabric can be easily washed in your automatic washer or in the laundry without causing any damage to the fabric.

● Tear Proof

If you are working with aggressive dogs and there are great chances that they will bite your hands, you should make sure that the gloves are made out of tear-proof fabric.

● Water Proof

If you want to make the dual-use of your dog grooming gloves and use them for bathing the pet as well, it is better if you choose a waterproof pair to keep your hands dry while you are bathing it.

Why are Dog Grooming Gloves Important to your Dog?

Grooming involves gentle massage, combing, brushing, or bathing that can be soothing and relaxing to the coat and muscles of your dog. The best dog grooming gloves help you evenly distribute and spread the natural skin oil produced by the body of your dog to promote a clean, healthy, and hygienic coat.

Dog grooming gloves have been proven to reduce stress and fatigue in the body of your dog because it will lead to better blood circulation. A scientific study has also proven that dog grooming can reduce stress and blood pressure in the owner’s body. When you run your hands along its body, you can check for weight gain.

Grooming regularly with the help of a dog groom glove will help you in the monitoring of your dog’s health by checking for fleas, mites, sores, lumps, bumps, nicks, cuts, thrushes, scratches, hot spots, blood clots, swelling, lameness, or changes in its body temperature, all of which are indicators of infections and other deadly diseases. It will promote a healthy relationship between the owner and the pet by spending quality time with each other. The regular use of a dog grooming glove helps you avoid matting that can potentially cause health issues such as skin itchiness or irritation and the entrapment of harmful viruses, bacteria, and yeast in the coat of your dog.

How often should you groom your dog with a glove?

Most dogs benefit a lot from being groomed every 4 to 6 weeks. Some of this depends on your ability to maintain your dog’s coat between his grooming appointments. This recommendation is not just for dogs requiring a haircut, but also short-haired dogs.

Various breeds of domestic dogs have different kinds of coats, and all of them have their own grooming needs. How often should you need to groom your dog, are based on three main factors:

• Short or long: Firstly, is its coat short or long (over 1 inch),
• Single or double: Secondly, is if it has a single or double coat, and 
• Feathering: Lastly, does it have feathering (longer fringe on his ears, neck, legs, or tail)?

Below, I have given a list of how often you should groom your dog with gloves according to different breeds.

● Short-haired breeds of domestic dogs:

Short-haired breeds of domestic dogs such as a Chihuahua, Labrador retriever, or Greyhound can go as far as 2 weeks between grooming sessions.

● Double coated domestic dogs:

Double coated domestic dogs, like a Siberian husky, Samoyed, Pomeranian, or a Shetland sheepdog shed much more than other dog breeds, so you must groom it regularly using a dog grooming glove especially during the shedding seasons.

● Dog breeds with feathering:

Dog breeds with feathering, like an Irish setter, Golden Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Shih Tzu, or a Lhasa Apso, need more frequent grooming.

● Dog breeds with a long, silky, single coat:

Dog breeds with a long, silky, single coat, such as a Maltese or a Yorkshire Terrier is always highly prone to tangles. You must groom such a dog daily, or at least once every 2 days.

Expert Tips about using Dog Grooming Gloves

• Circular motion: You should always use the dog groom gloves in a circular motion because it helps in better circulation of the dog’s natural body oils in the coat, making your dog’s coat clean, shiny, smooth, and healthy.
• Grooming gloves: Dog grooming gloves are ideal for use on the ears, feet, and tail of your dog. Remember to use them gently.
• Thick coat: If your dog has a thick coat, you must brush by stroking it against the grain starting at his skin and stroking outward. Then you must start over, stroking in the same direction as his hair growth. You must always use long strokes for double-coated, long-haired breeds.
• Short wiry hair: If your dog has short and wiry hair, you must stroke it with your dog groom glove in the same direction as the hair grows. You must make sure that you are stroking its hair and not its skin otherwise it will end up in brush burn. You must always use short strokes for short-haired breeds.
• Soft-bristled grooming glove: Whenever you are using a soft-bristled dog grooming glove, you must stroke gently but quickly in the direction of the fur growth. You don’t have to worry about using dog groom gloves as they are completely safe unless you apply too much pressure on a specific area for a very long period.
• Knots or tangles in the hair: Dog grooming gloves are good for use on the neck ruff and for the feathering on the legs. If you notice too many knots or tangles in the hair of your dog, you must use a comb or a brush to remove these tangles before stroking him with the dog groom glove.
• Nervous or frightened: If your dog is nervous or frightened at the sight of grooming gloves, you should never start with his face or tail. You must always allow him to sniff the gloves, before starting the process of grooming.
• De-shedding gloves: Dog groom gloves are also marketed as de-shedding gloves.