The Canaan dog does not have a heavy long coat so does not require as much grooming as some other breeds. But the breed does have a double coat, this is a coat with harsh longer outer hairs which offer protection from the elements combined with a soft shorter undercoat which is shed twice a year. A quick brush a couple of times a week will keep your Canaans coat in great condition.
You should always groom your dog on a non slip surface a rubber mat on the floor or up on a grooming table making sure of course that the dog can not jump or fall off!
Grooming is the ideal time to check the teeth, and to trim nails (remembering the dew claws) and to give your dog a general examinatination for any lumps or bumps. When trimming nails little and often is best, being very careful not to cut the quick. This is very painful and can make your dog unhappy about having his nails cut in the future.
It is best to groom a moulting Canaan daily, the quicker you brush out all the dead coat the quicker the new coat will re-grow. When you have a moulting Canaan remember to leave a little of the hair out in the garden, birds love to use it for nesting material.
There are a few tools that will make grooming your Canaan much easier.
On the left is a selection of grooming tools. The comb is ideal for dealing with the short coat on the legs and face, the body coat of most adult Canaans will be too dense to be combed.
The pin brush and slicker brush are ideal for the body coat, be careful when using a slicker as the pins can cause injury if used carelessly around the eyes or your Canaans rear end!
The rake is invaluable for removing dead coat when the coat is blowing, the teeth are wide enough not to get caught up in the outer coat but fine enough to pull out the dead undercoat.
Many people use a nail grinder, rather than a nail clipper, to keep their Canaan nails nice and short. If using a grinder it is very important that you get your Canaan used to the noise and sensation as early as possible.
At first just tip the end of each nail with the grinder gradually building up in duration over time, with lots of praise and encouragement you will eventually have a Canaan who lays or sits still for this essential grooming procedure. It is important that the grinder is not held on the nail for any more than half a second at a time or it will heat up the nail and cause pain! Spend half a second on each nail then move onto the next one going back to the first and so on until the nails are the correct length. It is easy to see when you are approaching the quick in white nails but black nails make seeing the quick impossible.
If you look at the cut nail end on you will see a circle as you gradually shorten the nail you will eventually see a dot in the middle of the circle, this is the tip of the quick, don’t go any further than this or you will cause pain and put your dog off having his nails done!
The Furminator
This is a fantastic grooming tool which will make short work of your dogs shedding coat. It is basically a very fine toothed comb which grabs and removes the loose undercoat leaving the top coat undamaged.
Used every day it will drastically cut down on the length of time that you will have loose Canaan coat coming out all over your clothes and furniture.