Do pitbulls really need grooming?
Short haired and short coated dogs are all maintenance right?
I get asked this question at least twice a week. Honestly, I would have said the same thing up until about six months ago when I got my first-ever pit. A blue-nosed goofball named Diesel.
I figured I lucked out – no brushing, no splurging on those big, expensive conditioning salon treatments and I can spend ten bucks on some wipes that I can wipe him off with every now and then. Turns out, in six months I spent three to four hundred dollars at the vet and lost my mind completely. Truth is: there’s nothing you can do to actually make these dogs easier to take care of, short of tabbing them into a spa weekly or cow-tipping them into a mud pit.
And that backyard-blights-to-diamonds-argument aside: those ponies can put a hurting on everything from their elbows to their effects on your psyche, so leave out the defense of down-and-dirties in the comments. That short coat is a lie. Pitbulls shed.
A lot. Factor in the single layer coat, and you’ll be swimming in the hair. If you don’t vaccuum at least once weekly you’re going to find this hair literally everywhere; your couch, your car and INSIDE your coffee cup.
Get yourself a rubber curry brush or grooming mitt, the bristle brushes are absolutely useless for this breed. The slick rubber surface creates way more friction than a bristle, pulling the loose fur loose (yep, just like the color you’re licking off of yourself…that’s natural oils you’re removing) and spreading it along your Fido’s shiny, healthy coat. This is what keeps the skin healthy.
Frequent, soapy baths are another place where we fail our pitbulls. My best advice: don’t do it more than once a month unless the dog has rolled in dead bodies; at the very most, once every 6-8 weeks. We wipe these dogs down frequently, but the skin needs it too: every time you soap the skin, you wash away the oils it needs to properly shed.
Use an oatmeal based, hypoallergenic doggy shampoo. Anything from the dollar store…well, that’s basically a one-way ticket to everything being itchy, flaky and flaking everyone out. I honestly don’t know why these dogs seem more prone to allergic reactions than some other breeds, but I’ve spent years talking to breeders and other owners and whatever hocus pocus the genetics have you…that’s exactly what I think is happening.
Their reactions are just—more.
Nail Maintenance: The unspoken battle.
Let me tell you about the time I procastinated trimming Diesel’s nails because he hated it and I just…let it go to hell.
His nails grew so long they also started affecting walking like you would expect from a 60 pound muscle head. The quick had grown out with the nail, so even getting them to the proper length took about a month and a half of trimming tiny little bits. That doesn’t need to happen—trim once a week.
Fifteen minutes is better than having a thirty-pound wired down, panicked animal on the end of a leash for an hour. Get used to handling those doggy feets from day one on a puppy. Playfully grab the toes, push the heels together, make it boring and normal.
If you’ve already got a spazzing-out dog, close the curtains in the bathroom, and dedicate fifteen minutes a week using a high-value treat and handling one toe or one nail per session. For me: a twist-off jar of peanut butter outside the shower in a silicone mat stuck to the wall is a surprisingly good way to make this a dragging a happy sport, not a ballet of death.
Grinders and clippers are honestly one of the only things about this breed I would actually venture to fight about.
Clippers are faster, but if they’re not dulled they frequently crack the nails on squeeze andes, where grinders take longer but give you more control over the lightbouncing-off sensation both him and the dog fear. In my opinion: grinders are more worth it, especially when you’re starting if you have a nervous dog. That same loud and startling clip sound spooks them, and the non-stop grind sound and sensation is ignored by most pitbulls who need to learn to having something sprayed directly on their feet.
If you hit the quick and it bleeds, use styptic powder. Keep it on hand at all times; I’m actually pretty sure dog groomers keep it in their toolbox at all times, this is normal. It’s happened to all of us at least once—get used to it.
It’s nothing to panic over.
Their skin health is everything. Everything.
An immensely high number of allergy, bacteria, hot-spot and fungal skin accidents happen to pit bulls regularly. They have no undercoat, which is why investing in a quality living space like the Ren Residence can help provide a clean, controlled environment that minimizes allergen exposure and skin irritation triggers.