Groom Your Canine With Ease With The Best Dog Slickers

Dog grooming can be such a chore. Let’s face it; it’s not one of our favorite parts of being a dog parent. It’s tedious, and we’d frankly much rather play a game of fetch or something. But it is a necessary part of owning a dog or any pet. And contrary to what you might think, it’s not solely about aesthetics. Running a good dog slicker through your pup’s coat does more than just untangling its fur, removing loose hair, dander, and dirt. Brushing massages your dog’s skin, causing the release of natural oils that lubricate its skin and coat, giving it a vibrant appearance. Brushing makes it so you have to worry less about pet hair on your clothing and furniture. It helps your dog shed dead skin, improving infection resistance. It improves blood flow and reduces stress. So you see, the advantages of this relatively simple procedure are immense. And this is why you need to get one of the very best dog slickers. 

What Is a Dog Slicker?

A dog slicker is a type of dog brush. It is a pet grooming tool used for ridding your dog or other pet’s fur coat of debris, loose hair, and mats or knots. Dog Slickers usually have fine, short wires (also called bristles) closely packed on a flat surface. The wires are usually angled to protect your pet’s skin from scratches and other injuries. The bristles can be retractable or non-retractable.

What Are the Advantages of Using a Slicker on Your Dog?

• A dog slicker removes loose hair, tangles, knots, dander, and dirt from your pet’s fur. This prevents your furniture, clothing, and other belongings from being covered with pet hair.
• Usually, a dog slicker promotes blood flow and reduces stress for your dog.
• It helps remove dead skin cells keeping your dog’s skin fresh and healthy and protecting against infections.
• Brushing your dog’s fur promotes the secretion of natural oils resulting in lubrication of your dog’s skin and fur coat.

How Do I Use a Dog Slicker Brush?

A dog slicker brush is remarkably simple to use. 

• First, you need to spray a small amount of conditioning spray or water on your pet’s coat. This is to prepare the fur coat for the brush and protect against damage. 
• Next, run the brush gently down your dog’s fur, from the neck to the tail. This removes any loose hair or dirt.
• As you brush your pet, you may notice areas of tangling and knots. Be sure to be gentle so as not to cause any discomfort to your pet. To untangle these you can use your finger or a metal comb. 
• Once you have loosened the knot, run over that area with the slicker in different directions until you can move through it as easily as you would over normal areas.
• Do this for the dog’s back, body, legs, and neck.
• Finally, use a soft bristle brush on the face and ears, and brush again over the whole body to get rid of those bits of hair and debris you missed the first time.

What Are Those Features To Consider Before Choosing a Dog Slicker?

On the market today, one can find a host of different iterations and versions of pretty much anything. So much so that choosing just one can present a real challenge. To help you make this choice, we have compiled a list of some of the most important considerations to make before choosing a dog slicker. 

Bristles

Your slicker’s bristles are probably the most important factors to consider. They determine how deeply and easily you can penetrate your dog’s coat as well as how likely the brush is to scratch your pup’s skin. You should pay attention to how flexible the bristles are and their orientation, amongst other things. 

• Bristle Flexibility: Flexible bristles are much less likely to scratch your pet’s skin than non-flexible ones. They can remove knots from your dog’s coat without causing discomfort to your dog, and as such, they are the preferred options.
• Orientation: Most of the best dog slickers come with angled bristles these days. This makes it so the slicker can reach far into your pet’s coat without putting too much pressure on its skin. This protects against scratching and other forms of injury.
• Compactness: Closely packed bristles mean that your brush is more likely to catch tangles than brushes with bristles that are farther apart.
• Length: The length of the bristles is another factor to consider. Longer bristles are better suited to dogs with thicker fur, while shorter bristles are likely to work better with less hairy breeds.

Ease of cleaning 

Pulling dog hair out of your dog slicker’s bristles can be a very tedious experience. These days, many of the best dog brushes come with features to make this chore more palatable. The most common of these is the retractable bristles function. With these, you can tuck the brush’s bristles in at the push of a button and remove the trapped fur very easily.

Dog slicker size

Dog slickers come in many different sizes and shapes. To determine what size you need, you should consider the size of your dog. A larger brush is better suited to larger dogs but may be awkward to use with smaller breeds. While a smaller brush on a large dog would mean you have to spend longer to get the job done.

How Much Will It Cost for Me To Own a Dog Slicker?

Dog slickers come in many different styles, with each offering different features. The price of a particular slicker depends on the material it is made from, its size, and the features offered. On the market today, you can buy a dog brush for less than $5 or as much as $100.