Grooming your American Staffordshire

American Staffordshire terriers are very low maintenance dogs so far as grooming is concerned. Knowledge on how to groom your American Staffordshire extends mostly to brushing, nail clipping, eye care, ear care, and the very occasional bath.

This type of terrier has such a short coat that it doesn’t need a lot of care and so is a good dog to have if you don’t have a lot of time to commit to learning how to groom your dog. However, like any pet, it does have some grooming needs to consider and learning how to groom your American Staffordshire properly will lead to having a happier and healthier pet.

Brushing your American Staffordshire

Weekly brushing with either a rubber brush, a knobby glove, or even a stiff bristle brush will get rid of loose hairs for your terrier and prevent hairballs from accumulating all over your home and clothing. Simply run the brush down your dog as though you are petting him and you’ll be able to remove a lot of dirt and loose hair while checking up on your dog’s skin and enjoying some together time.

Brushing your dog regularly also prevents skin irritants from building up into rashes or other problems. You’ll also want to clean your dog’s ears with a mild ear cleaning solution and a cotton swab and clean out the corners of your dog’s eyes to prevent the build up of irritants that your dog’s eyes have pushed away. Leaving gunk in the ears and eyes of your dog is unattractive and leads to the build up of bacteria which could cause infections.

Trim the Nails of Your Dog

Every couple weeks, you should also give your terrier’s nails a trim so that they don’t develop a limp or have other problems that long nails can give. You also have to brush your dog’s teeth regularly with canine toothpaste. If you start early enough, it won’t be as bad a chore as your terrier will be used to it. You have to use either a canine toothbrush or you can use a fingerbrush to do this grooming aspect.

Bathing the American Staffordshire

Bathing should only be done a couple times a year as doing this too frequently can irritate your terrier’s skin and lead to rashes and other problems. And since this breed of terrier has such short fur, the natural oils in your animal’s fur do a fine job of cleaning on its own.

However, if you want to bathe your dog as part of your grooming regime, make sure to use warm water, shampoo that has been created for dogs and always be very careful to rinse out every last drop of soap. Dried shampoo is very irritating to dogs and leads to rashes and other problems. Using an attachable shower is the best idea as washing your dog in standing water doesn’t allow you to rinse your terrier off properly.

Learning how to groom your American Staffordshire is very easy to do as they are low maintaince and require very little in the way of grooming. Simply keeping up with weekly brushings and toothbrushing should be enough to groom your American Staffordshire.