Your Dog and Your Cat 



desirable for the comfort of the animal but it often 

 spoils the coat. Skin diseases are very prevalent 

 in long-haired dogs. 



Cleaning the Coat. — Smooth-coated dogs can be 

 efficiently cleaned by brushing and combing. For 

 this purpose an ordinary hairbrush will suffice. 

 The hair should first be stirred up with a vigorous 

 brushing and finished by smoothing it in the di- 

 rection it should naturally lie by alternate strokes 

 of the brush and the hand. The gloss may be 

 improved by wiping the hair with a cloth dampened 

 with oil. 



For the wire-haired dogs a stiff brush with long 

 hard bristles is best. The hair can be thoroughly 

 cleaned by haphazard strokes of the brush in all 

 directions. Brushing the coat in the ordinary way 

 will soften the hair and make it lie smooth, a con- 

 dition which is not to be desired in dogs of this 

 type. After a thorough brushing the coat can be 

 given a hand massage which will rough up the hair. 

 Oil should never be used on this coat. 



Long-haired dogs must be first combed to remove 

 the snarls, the dead under coat, and the loose hairs. 

 It may then be thoroughly brushed with a heavy 

 stiflf bristled brush and finished with a light soft 

 brush. The oiled cloth will add to the gloss but can- 

 not be used in all types. When a ruff is desired it 

 can be worked up with the hand or brush last. 



Bathing. — Too frequent bathing is more detri- 

 mental to the coat than not enough. It irritates the 



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