Most dogs need brushing once a week to daily depending on the coat, a bath every month or two or when they're dirty, a nail trim every three to four weeks, a quick ear check weekly, and teeth brushed daily. Dogs with hair that keeps growing (poodles, doodles, shih tzus) also need a professional clip every four to eight weeks.
The coat is what changes the schedule most. Nails, ears and teeth are roughly the same job for every dog.
Dog grooming schedule by task#
| Task |
Starting point |
Do it more often if |
| Brushing |
Weekly for short smooth coats, several times a week for double coats, daily for long or curly coats |
It's shedding season, your dog wears a harness all day, or you're finding knots |
| Bath |
Every 4 to 8 weeks, or when dirty or smelly |
Your vet has prescribed a medicated shampoo schedule |
| Nails |
Every 3 to 4 weeks |
You hear clicking on hard floors or your dog mostly walks on grass and carpet |
| Ears |
Look and sniff weekly |
Floppy ears, swimming, or a history of ear infections |
| Teeth |
Daily |
If daily isn't happening, a few times a week still helps |
| Professional clip |
Every 4 to 8 weeks for continuously growing coats |
You want a longer style, which mats faster |
How often to brush, by coat type#
Short, smooth coats (beagles, boxers, Dobermans) do fine with a weekly once-over with a rubber curry brush. It lifts dead hair and gives you a chance to feel for lumps and ticks.
Double coats (huskies, shepherds, golden retrievers) need brushing a few times a week, and daily when they blow their undercoat, usually spring and autumn. An undercoat rake or slicker reaches the fluff a surface brush skips over. Don't shave a double-coated dog to deal with shedding unless a vet or groomer recommends it for a skin or matting reason.
Long, silky and curly coats need daily work, or at least every other day. Mats start in friction spots: behind the ears, the armpits, under the collar and harness, the back of the legs, and around the tail. Brush in sections down to the skin, then run a metal comb through. If the comb snags, you're not done.
Never cut out a tight mat with scissors. The skin gets pulled up into the knot and it's very easy to slice it. A groomer can clip a matted coat short safely, which is kinder than an hour of dematting.
Brushing doubles as a health check. If you find a new lump, scabs, redness, or a sore spot your dog flinches at, note where it is, take a photo with a coin for scale, and bring it up with your vet. Book sooner if it's growing, bleeding or painful.
How often should you bathe a dog?#
Not as often as you might expect. Every four to eight weeks is plenty for a lot of dogs, and some short-coated dogs go longer. Bathe sooner when your dog rolls in something, gets muddy, or starts to smell.
Brush out tangles before the bath; water tightens mats. Use lukewarm water and a dog shampoo, keep it out of the eyes and ears, and rinse for longer than feels necessary. Leftover shampoo can leave the skin itchy and flaky. Dense coats need drying right down to the skin. A towel alone often leaves the undercoat damp, and skin that stays damp under a thick coat gets irritated.
If your vet has prescribed a medicated shampoo, use it exactly as directed, including the contact time. That's treatment, not grooming, and the schedule is theirs.
Swimming dogs need a rinse afterward to get chlorine, salt or lake water out of the coat. Keep dogs out of water that looks scummy, discolored or smells bad. Harmful algal blooms can kill a dog within hours, and the CDC's advice for pets is to wash them off with clean water straight away, not let them lick their fur, and call a vet for vomiting, stumbling, diarrhea, tremors or any unexplained sickness in the day or so after.
How often to trim dog nails#
The AKC's nail trimming guide puts most dogs at every three to four weeks. A simple test: if you can hear the nails clicking on a hard floor, they're too long. Long nails change how a dog stands and can splay the toes.
Don't forget the dewclaws. They never touch the ground, so they never wear down, and they can curl round into the pad.
Take a little at a time. On light nails you can see the pink quick; stop well short of it. On dark nails, trim thin slices and look at the cut face. When a dark dot or chalky ring appears in the middle, stop. If the nails have been left long, the quick grows out with them, and you'll need to shorten them gradually over several sessions.
Keep styptic powder within reach. If you nick the quick, press the powder on and hold it. Call your vet if the bleeding won't stop.
For a dog who panics, don't wrestle through all four feet. One nail, a treat, done for the day works better over a few weeks than a fight. Ask your vet about handling plans for a fearful dog, and never give a sedative or human medicine unless the vet prescribed it for that dog.
Should you clean your dog's ears?#
Check them weekly, but only clean them when there's visible wax or dirt, or your vet tells you to. A healthy ear is pale pink, not smelly, and has little or no visible wax.
To clean, use a vet-approved ear cleaner, fill the canal as directed, massage the base of the ear for a few seconds, let your dog shake, and wipe what comes out with cotton wool. No cotton buds down the canal, and no vinegar, hydrogen peroxide or alcohol unless your vet suggests them.
Redness, a strong smell, dark or yellow discharge, head shaking, head tilt, or a dog that yelps when you touch the ear needs a vet visit. Don't clean the ear right before the appointment; the vet needs to see and sample what's in there. Dogs with repeated ear infections usually have an underlying cause, often allergies, and cleaning more won't fix it.
Brushing your dog's teeth#
Daily is the goal. The American Veterinary Dental College recommends daily dental home care from an early age, meaning brushing, or dental diets and chews if brushing really isn't possible. Brushing a few times a week still beats not at all.
Use a dog toothpaste, never human toothpaste. Start by letting your dog lick the paste off your finger, then rub it along the outer surfaces of the teeth, then introduce the brush. Tartar tends to build up first on the outside of the back teeth, so spend most of your time there.
Be wary of "anesthesia-free" dental cleaning. The same AVDC statement points out that scraping the visible tartar off an awake dog can't clean below the gumline, where periodontal disease actually happens. It makes the teeth look better and leaves the problem in place. Bad breath, red or bleeding gums, dropping food, or chewing on one side are reasons to book a dental check with your vet.
Groomer, vet, or you?#
You can handle brushing, baths, nails and teeth at home. A groomer earns their fee on clipping continuously growing coats and dealing with mats. Tell them about skin conditions, joint pain, recent surgery, and any flea or tick product you've applied.
A groomer can spot a problem but can't diagnose it. Lumps, ear infections, sore mouths, skin that keeps getting worse: those belong at a vet checkup.
Watch the timing with parasite products. Some topical flea and tick treatments say not to bathe for a set number of days before or after applying them, so check the label before you schedule a bath, and see our flea and tick prevention schedule for the rest. Grooming days are also a good time to wash the dog bed, since there's no point putting a clean dog back on a dirty bed.
Splitting this into small jobs makes it stick: a weekly brush and ear check, nails every few weeks, teeth every evening. In ChoreLists.com you can set each one as its own recurring task, so the nail trim doesn't keep sliding to next weekend.