Grooming a Brittany Is a Simple Task

Although the toenails of well-exercised dogs are worn down naturally, you may at some time need a pair of regular dog clippers but use them cautiously so as not to injure the quick. Ordinary scissors won't do the job.

Hunting dogs' eyes often become irritated and scratched from briars and weeds. Use any eyewash meant for human use. A good practice is to carry a small tube of one percent yellow oxide of mercury in your hunting coat pocket. Squeeze some into your Brittany's eyes when you come in from the fields. It will heal scratches and prevent infec­tion. When you give your Brittany a bath, rinse thoroughly.

Most dandruff is caused by haphazard rinsing. If your dog's skin is dry and full of dandruff, add more fat to the diet, give more exercise, and use a skin lotion.

Ten to one if you follow the practice of brushing his coat, your Brittany will seldom need a bath. The same holds true if his life is largely outdoors (unless he rolls in cow manure as most dogs will). The brush and undergrowth through which he runs automatically cleans his coat. If your Brittany has a "doggy" odor, find the cause. It may be simply that his bedding needs changing. Smelly bedding makes a smelly dog. Ear canker, anal gland trouble, bad teeth, mange, and worm infestation are causes of bad odor. There is nothing offensive about the natural smell of a clean healthy dog.

Grooming your Brittany for showing is nothing more than having him clean (do not bathe just before a show as it may make his coat too fluffy) and snipping a little here and there to emphasize certain features. The long single hairs that sprout from eyebrows and muzzle should be clipped short.