Daily care requires regular weekly cleaning of the eyes and ears, nail trimming, bathing with high-quality shampoos that alternate between strong stain removal and whitening types is better, and daily brushing one to two times to remove dead hair and broken hair to prevent matting.

　　There are six essential steps to complete for general daily care and grooming

　　1. Brushing (remove dead hair, dust)

　　Use a professional brush, pin comb, or shedding comb for a general overall brushing to remove loose hair and dust to prevent tangling during the following steps. Choose a comb suitable for your dog’s size to avoid pins that are too long piercing the skin or too short to brush thoroughly.

　　2. Combing

　　This step requires a fine-toothed comb to carefully comb through every layer of hair to detect any skin diseases or tangles. Be careful not to hurt the dog.

　　3. Ear and Eye Cleaning (plucking ear hair, washing ears can prevent ear moisture, ear infections, ear mites)

　　Dogs like Poodles and Schnauzers need regular ear hair plucking, using specialized ear powder. Cleaning the ear canal is also very important; you can drop ear cleaning liquid in and let the dog shake its head, then gently rotate a cotton swab from the outer ear inward to remove dirt. Healthy dogs’ ears should have no smell. Dogs with long ears such as Bassets and Cockers need frequent ear cleaning. For eye area cleaning, you can first apply pet eye wash, then eye protection liquid, and finally clean the hair around the eyes with a cotton swab to check if hair is poking the eyes or for any ingrown eyelashes.

　　4. Nail trimming, trimming hair on paw pads (prevent slipping, interdigital inflammation), trimming hair on belly and around anus (keep clean when urinating and defecating)

　　Paw care is very important. If the hair on the pads is too long, bacteria can grow. Always dry the paws thoroughly after washing to avoid fungal infections. Regular nail trimming benefits both humans and dogs. Belly hair can be trimmed short if needed, especially in summer to help with heat dissipation. Long-haired dogs may have dirt around the anus that should be checked and cleaned.

　　5. Bathing, expressing anal glands (anal gland inflammation can occur if glands are congested for long)

　　Do not use human shampoo or body wash during dog baths because the skin is different. Use dog-specific shampoo. Note that white-coated dogs should not frequently use whitening shampoos since all whitening shampoos are alkaline and may burn the hair, making it lose shine. Dog owners can purchase whitening and moisturizing shampoos to alternate use. Using conditioner during shampooing is recommended, similar to human hair conditioner, which also helps prevent dust from sticking to the hair.

　　6. Blow-drying, combing

　　When blow-drying, always blow against the hair grain to dry from the undercoat to prevent skin diseases. When semi-dry, start combing from the root while blow-drying until the hair is completely dry.

　　Following these six steps will complete the hair care for dogs who do not require professional grooming, allowing styling to be done afterward.