How to Groom a Lab

Dog hair has been known to destroy vacuums, and the hair from a shedding Labrador retriever is no different. When a Lab is shedding, whether it's the twice a year black Lab shed or the year-round yellow Lab shed, regular grooming will help your dog feel comfortable in his own coat, leaving him with clean and healthy fur, and less dead hair to leave around the house. Labs generally enjoy being groomed, and the bonding experience will enhance your relationship with your dog.

Things You'll Need

  • Wide-tooth comb
  • Fine-tooth comb
  • Bristle-tooth comb
  • Scissors
  • Dog nail trimmers, guillotine or scissor style
  • Table or stable surface
  • Silver nitrate or styptic powder
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Instructions

  1. Brushing a Lab

    • 1

      Gather your tools and take your dog outside or to a dog wash facility, a business with do-it-yourself pet washing and grooming stations.

    • 2

      Brush your dog with a wide-tooth comb designed to lift and remove loose, dead hair. Rub your fingers through your Lab's hair to loosen more fur as you comb him. Let your Lab relax as much as possible, and continue combing him until the amount of hair removed begins to lessen.

    • 3

      Go over your Lab using a brush with finer teeth to get any loose hair that remains in his coat, making sure to brush all over, including his belly and tail.

    • 4

      Brush your dog using a brush with bristles to get anything left behind by the fine-tooth comb and distribute oils throughout his coat.

    • 5

      Trim your dog's whiskers, eyebrows and the excess hair at the end of his tail with scissors, if you prefer them trimmed.

    • 6

      Repeat the grooming process every couple of weeks, or every day if your dog is losing his seasonal coat.

    Trimming a Lab's Nails

    • 7

      Gather your nail clippers. Put your lab on a table or stable surface so he is elevated and his nails are easier to reach.

    • 8

      Lay your dog down on his belly and stand on one side of him. Reach across the table to his front foot on the opposite side of where you are standing. Place one arm across the back of his neck and the other across his shoulders so you can hold him down if he tries to get up.

    • 9

      Hold the dog's paw in one hand and the nail trimmers in the other. Place the sharp edge of nail trimmers around the first nail at a right angle to the dog's toe. Find the "quick," the location where blood vessels and nerves exist in the toe nail, and only cut the nail up to this point. In a dog with white nails, the quick is determined by the pink to yellow color in the nail extending from the toe. In a dog with black or multi-colored nails, you must make small cuts, one at a time, to ensure you do not cut the quick. Check the underside of the nail as you are making the cuts to see a white oval appear, and stop cutting before the oval to avoid the quick.

    • 10

      Apply silver nitrate or styptic powder to the nail if you cut into the quick and it won't stop bleeding.

    • 11

      File your dog's nails using a nail file if the cut edges are rough.

    • 12

      Continue to the remaining nails, making sure to clip the dew claws, if your dog has them, and move on to the remaining feet.