Ch Kadoc's Northern Exposure DeCaC's American Eskimos Amelia, VA
 Ch Kadoc's Northern Exposure
Grooming the American Eskimo Dog
Grooming the American Eskimo is not a hard task to do. We have listed general grooming instructions for you as a guideline. For where to purchase the items we talk about here, go to our favorite links and look for the supply house like Cherrybrook and Laser Lites East.
  1. First lets start with watering the dog down. If you are doing this outside we suggest you use a Grooming Table or Grooming Tub. You can also wash the dog in your own shower or tub, but be prepared when the washing is over for then to shake the excess water off, and all over the room unless you train them as we have to shake in the shower or tub area. Use cold water as this will help keep the dog in coat. You can wash the dog as often as you want. Our show dogs are washed weekly and if we are doing multiple shows sometimes they are washed 2 times weekly.
  2. Now that the dog is soaking wet we need to add the shampoo to the dog. We use Laser Lites Lanolin  Shampoo, it cost more up from but since it is so concentrated and you dilute it 10 to 1 it last longer and in the long run cost much less. Do not use a flea shampoo. Add the shampoo to the dog and work it into a good lather. Using your fingers work it deep into the coat and make sure you have covered the whole dog. When washing around the face be careful not to get the shampoo in the eyes. We cover the eyes with our hands and gentle scrub the face. On the legs wrap your hand around the leg and scrub. Do the same for the tail. Do not forget to do the underside of the dog or the private areas.
  3. So now your dog is standing on the grooming table all lathered up and you need to rinse the dog, again use cold water and rinse the dog from head to tail. When you are rinsing the face cover the eyes so no shampoo gets in the eyes. When you think you have finished rinsing the dog do it again to make sure you have rinsed all the shampoo out of the coat.
  4. Now that you have rinsed all the shampoo out of the dogs coat it's time to add the conditioner. We use Laser Lites Lanolin Conditioner. This is a very gentle conditioner and helps with the dogs skin and keeps the coat just a little soft as it should be. Follow the same guidelines for using the conditioner as you did the shampoo. Work into a good lather and make sure you get all parts of the dog.
  5. You now need to rinse again, this time it will be much easier and quicker as the conditioner is not as thick. Rinse until you are sure you have gotten all out of the coat, then rinse again.
  6. Now your dog is standing on the table or in the tub soaking wet, stand back as he will shake a couple of times to get rid of the excess water. If you washed in the tub or shower of the house get a towel and throw over the dog and take to where you have the grooming table.
  7. Now that the dog has shaken the excess water off him and most likely on to you, it's time to dry the dog. NEVER Towel Dry a American Eskimo this will cause the coat to get into knots and mats. You will need a good Animal Dryer. These are not expensive you can buy them for about $45.00 at most mail order catalogs. With the dryer start at the tail and work your way to the head. Make sure you get all parts of the dog, head, tail, legs and under body. When using the dryer do not go in a circular motion go in a straight line,  this keeps the coat from matting and getting into knots. When you are drying you will dry to the skin and be able to see each strand of hair coming from the skin.
  8. Now that the dog is dry it's time to brush and comb the dog. Use a good straight comb like a Greyhound Comb and a good pin brush with steel pins. Make sure you comb around the ears.
  9. Now that you have washed, dried and combed the dog it's time to do the fine detail trimming of the hair around the feet. Using a small blunt tip scissors follow the outline of the paw and trim the long hair, you just want to make it look neat. Lift each paw up and trim the excess hair coming up between the pads.
  10. The next thing we need to do is the nails. We use a Dremel you can get this at Lowes, Home Depot or Wall mart. The cordless is the best. Gentlee pick up the paw and with the Dremel in hand sand down the nail to a shorter length. Do not get to where the nail is black as this is the blood in the nail. We suggest you keep a bottle of Quick Stop on hand, this is a product you can get at mail supply houses. If you ever cut the nail to short just add the quick stop and the bleeding will stop.
  11. This whole process of washing and drying from head to tail takes about 45 minutes. The cost of all the equipment is about $200.00 but will last a lifetime. If you take the dog to a groomer they will charge between $50-$100.00 each time.
  12. Something we use all the time between baths is a product call Waterless Shampoo, we use Laser Lites Dry Kleen. This is a super product and is just what is says a waterless shampoo. Just spray on dog and work into lather and dry. We keep a bottle at the back door on days when it's been raining.  We spray the dogs legs down and do a quick dry on them. This way they do not bring the dirt and mud from the rain into the house. This product is super when you are traveling.

Here is a list of the different items for grooming, brushes, crates, etc. you may want to look at getting for your dog. The supply list is in pdf format so you will need to have a pdf viewer. If you do not go to pdf.com and download it is a free download.
Supply List
Here is a printed version of this article on Grooming Your American Eskimo if you would like. It is pdf format.  Grooming Article

Coming soon we will have a video for you to view.