If you decide not to take your dog in for grooming then you will need to become familiar with everything needed to groom your dog at home. First you will need to bathe your dog. Remember to use a shampoo made specifically for dogs. They are gentle and will not irritate their eyes. Scrub and massage the lather into their skin. Dogs love to be massaged and it will create a great bond. Be careful though as they love to shake and you will soon find yourself soaked. Many people bathe them either outside or in a shower. The shower curtain can help contain some of the water.
Once you have bathed them, you should clean their ears. You can pick up special products in any pet store specifically for this purpose. If your dog has hair that needs to be cut then make sure that it is out of their eyes. Just like people, dogs do not like their bangs too long.
One last thing to check is their nails. If you do not want to clip them yourself you can bring them into one of your local pet stores. These stores usually take appointments and will clip your dog’s nails for you. If you do decide to do it yourself be careful you do not clip them too short or they will bleed.