I still haven’t had time to get Sadie to her groomer yet, so she has been seeing a lot of her comb recently. Just like with human hair, the longer her hair gets, the more knotted it becomes. And long, furry ears are not a good mix with wet dog food. I must have brushed her at least ten times over the last few days to get all the food and knots out. But luckily Sadie has grown to tolerate and even sometimes enjoy getting combed.

Aside from the obvious benefit of looking neater and fluffier with every brush, combing or brushing your pet is a wonderful bonding exercise. It helps build trust and loyalty between human and canine. The repetitive act of combing can also be very relaxing and therapeutic for both parties, assuming your dog is in the mood to cooperate. And speaking of cooperation, grooming is one of those activities best undertaken after a long walk, when your dog has burned off his or her excess energy. If you brush a happy, exhausted dog and maybe give them a treat at the end, you can build a pleasant routine around the act of grooming.

Just yesterday I noticed Sadie had too much food stuck in her beard and needed to be combed. I got out her comb and sat down on the couch to check my phone before grooming her. But while I was on the phone, Sadie noticed her comb, jumped onto the couch and sat down in my lap, wagging her tail. I don’t know if her sticky beard was annoying her or if she just wanted the treat at the end, but either way it made me really happy that Sadie was actually excited for me to comb her.

This post is part of the Sepia Saturday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie and Earl’s World.