Starting off with dog shampoo. Let us get this straight: you cannot use your shampoo to your dog. Why? Because your dog's coat requires a formulation different from your hair. Human shampoo is just too harsh that could cause irritation if used to your dog. Therefore, you should buy your dog with its own shampoo. When you know that your dog is dirt free and well-groomed, then you can say that he's in good shape. Here are some pointers on how you can take good care of your dog's overall hygiene: 1. Bathing Bathing your dogs should not be done everyday for this can dry the skin of your pet. And once the skin of your dog becomes dry it will become susceptible to bacterial infections and hot spots. To know if your dog is suffering from ear infection, look out for the signs of odor, redness or swelling, head shaking, and constant scratching. To clean your dog's ear, take a cotton ball, put a small amount of mineral oil or with warm water on it. Clean the flaps and the opening of the canal. Check your dog's ears twice a month. If you want to be certain that the spray will not harm your dog, you can check out your local health store and find one containing essences that are known not to cause irritations. Grooming your dog does not mean that you will cut back on other expenses just to give your dog what it needs. You just need to be wise and research on alternative means of keeping your dog smelling good and healthy. From this important information, you should be able to plan, prepare, and allocate a time where you can bring your dog to a dog grooming shop. Or, make a schedule on when to groom your dog on your own. Invest Taking care of a dog can be comparable to taking care of a baby (of course you get 4 legs instead of 2 among lots of other things). Books and internet articles are two rich sources of information about the proper grooming. Learning from these could be very helpful. The good thing about grooming your own dog is that you somehow create a special connection with your pet. In other words, grooming your dog on your own is more than just a physical connection but an emotional and psychological one as well.