Frequently Asked Questions

Dog grooming is the process of providing skin care to your dog and is an important part of your dog’s health care. It comprises of bathing with a suitable shampoo for dogs, drying, brushing, hair trimming or cutting, nail trimming, and cleaning the ears. Mats are removed and dead hair brushed out, making your dog clean and odour free.

We care about you and your dog which is why we provide you here with a lot of tips that will give you confidence to work with your dog to keep him or her in balance and therefore in harmony.

Grooming not only makes your dog clean and odour free, it also stimulates the blood supply to the skin, giving your pet a healthy and shiny coat, and moves your pet toward having optimum skin condition. Grooming also helps you bond with your pet. So, is it something you want to do, or would rather have the professionals that you trust, do it for you? Basic grooming is quite straight forward, so pet parents do not need to be afraid to get into this routine with their pets.

Bathing your dog is the best way of removing dirt, oil and old hair from the skin. This helps to remove potential sources of skin irritations that may be accumulating on the dog. As you bath the dog, you are also able to feel the skin and will be able to check for lumps or bumps that may have appeared, giving you early warning of potential problems. It also provides the opportunity to identify early warning signs of fleas, ticks or other skin irritations. If you do find any, then take your dog to the veterinarian for a check up. They can sell you registered veterinary medicines to help return your pet to a happy balance.

All dogs require baths, and the frequency of bathing depends entirely on your dog’s lifestyle, the breed and any existing skin problems or conditions.

Dogs that swim in natural waterways such as ponds and rivers, or those that visit the beach should be rinsed after every such outing. Use an appropriate dog shampoo. Select a good dog shampoo, which is formulated specifically for dogs. Do not use human shampoo since the pH for a dog is different to that for humans, and human shampoos often use harsher detergents than pet shampoos.

Ours is recommended by the vet Dr Harley Farmer PhD BVSc(Hons) BVBiol(Path) MRCVS, as it is particularly mild and contains no harmful ingredients like Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLS).

Brushing your dog regularly, several times a week, will help distribute the natural oils secreted from the skin glands, giving your dog a shiny, healthy looking coat. In addition, it stimulates the blood flow to the skin which then promotes normal skin and hair growth.

It will also help to keep the coat clean and free of hair mats and tangles. Matted hair is quite unsightly, but more importantly, mats can be very irritating to your dog and cause skin problems under the matted hair. Use a good grooming spray to help to soften and detangle the hair, making it easier to brush.

Longhaired dogs require regular or even everyday brushing to keep their coats healthy. If your dog’s fur is badly matted, then get your dog to a groomer, and do not attempt to cut off hair mats with a scissors as you may end up cutting the skin as well, causing more problems for your dog.

Remember to wash the brush regularly. It’s a good idea to wash the brush in the shampoo each time you bathe the dog, and you can wash the brush as often as you like.

Nail Trimming is part of the paw care regime. Your dog depends on those four paws to get around, therefore, it is important that the paws are well looked after. Dog nails have a hard outer covering that protects the “quick”, which is the inner part of the nail that contains blood vessels and tender nerve endings. The nails on the paws grow, just like human nails, and because they contain nerve endings, overgrown nails lead your dog out of harmony and balance.

Long or overgrown nails will usually break at the base of the nail, and thereby expose the nail bed. If nails are left untrimmed, they can become ingrown and infected. A dog’s nail can grow so long that it grows and curves back into the dog’s skin. Walking on long nails can also be extremely painful for your dog, as the nails dig into the paw pads, or aggravate any existing arthritis and also cause the toes to splay, and if left untreated, could end up in permanent malformation.

Dog nails can dig into furniture and into your own skin when they jump on you or during play time. For dog owners with wood floors, long dog nails will show up in the form of your dog “skating” over the floors. Paw care is therefore essential.

If you want to do this yourself, then ask your veterinarian to show you how to properly trim your dog’s nails and claws. Use a good dog nail clipper for the job. Otherwise, get a good dog groomer to do it for you.

As with us humans, the skin is the dog’s largest organ, and it requires the same type of love and care that you give to your own skin.

The skin is the outer barrier to the world, is tough and designed to work very well when it is in balance and has the right nourishment and care. The vitality of the skin is essential in making sure the dog has a healthy shiny coat, or for long haired breeds, luxurious soft coat.

The dog skin provides protection against any potentially harmful elements in the environment that the dog finds itself. For the most part, it does this well, but sometimes, due to an imbalance inside the skin or due to external causes, the skin can lose the ability to protect. As a result, the skin can become itchy, making the dog feel uncomfortable and it scratches itself as a result of trying to stop the itching.

If allowed to continue unchecked, the dog scratching can become severe, which may cause a worsening of the imbalance. This is where dog parents get frustrated because they don’t know what is causing the irritation and look for ways of soothing the itching. A trip or several trips to the Vet is inevitable.

The imbalance can be prevented by taking good care of the dog skin. Skin requires nutrition and We highly recommend a good grooming regime for your dog, using non-harmful, environmentally friendly products that are available from Perfect Pet Skin.

The products recommended by our Veterinary adviser Dr Harley Farmer are formulated to be in balance with your dog allowing your dog to remain in harmony with its skin and coat.

It is also important to wash your dog’s bedding as often as you do your own. Some dogs often spend longer in their beds than we do ours. Imagine how your skin would feel if your bedding was not regularly washed. Remember to include any bedding in the back of your car.

DermOpt products contain a blend of ingredients developed by Dr Harley Farmer of NewGenn Ltd.

Shampoo:

• Deionised Water
• Cocoamidoproplyl Betaine
• Glycerol
• Algin
• Lauramine oxide
• Benzalkonium chloride
• Didecyldimethyl ammonium chloride
• Citric acid
• Sodium hydroxide

Coat Care Spray:

• Deionised Water
• Glycerol
• Benzalkonium chloride
• Didecyldimethyl ammonium chloride
• Edetic acid
• Lauramine oxide
• Sodium hydroxide

Hand sanitiser:

• Deionised Water
• Benzalkonium chloride
• Didecyldimethyl ammonium chloride
• Citricacid
• Lauramine oxide
• Sodium hydroxide

DermOpt Hand sanitisers and pet sprays confirm to EN14476 for effectiveness against bacteria and viruses, killing 99.99% of micro-organisms in independent laboratory tests.

This article describes the effectiveness of Benzalkodium Chloride, a major ingredient in DermOpt sanitisers:

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/coronavirus-SARS-CoV-2-guidance-environmental-cleaning-non-healthcare-facilities.pdf

“All corona-viruses, including the new Covid-19, are easily inactivated by any good cleansing disinfectant. To inactivate the virus, all you need do is change the shape of the receptor protein on the outside projections of the virus particles.

The KFDA have registered a 1 in 100 solution of NewGenn High Level Disinfectant concentrate for use as a cleansing disinfectant in hospitals. They have also registered NewGenn Foam Hand Rub as a 2 in 100 solution which is twice as strong. We use that strength as it creates a good foam and adds to the excellent feel on skin which encourages people to conduct hand hygiene.

We prefer to avoid using volatile disinfectants on surfaces and skin as the vapours can be breathed in with the potential of weakening the respiratory cells corona viruses attack.

Alcohol hand rubs have been the standard approach around the world for 70 years and many pathogens have become established in that time despite the use of alcohol. NewGenn’s specialist knowledge of how viruses attack people make us wonder if alcohol hand rubs and the vapour they create are acting in favour of the new Covid-19 coronavirus.

Obviously the virus is too new for anyone to have done specific studies, so for now we can only ask if those suggesting the use of alcohol rubs have taken into consideration how the volatile vapours of alcohol, which are breathed in by users, will affect the respiratory epithelium? If that vapour makes the cells more susceptible, using alcohol rubs could increase the chance of someone becoming infected and worsen the situation.

There has to be a valid reason why recent coronavirus outbreaks have gone on for so long when very strong-smelling disinfectants were used. Are we the only people who are prepared to discuss why vapours from products like alcohol hand rubs could be part of the problem?

Alcohol is a safe option if all you seek to do is copy everyone else who is having problems. However if you want to stop the outbreaks and prevent others before they begin, it makes sense to avoid products that create vapours which users can breath in. That puts user safety first and helps explain why NewGenn is unique in its success in overcoming viral outbreaks.

That is why NewGenn provides a hand rub which is twice the concentration rate used for general surface disinfection, a hand rub that stays on the hands where it is needed and does not generate vapours which can go deep into the lungs.”

As published by CEN – 13.3.20

The spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 has spurred a surge in sales of cleaning and disinfection products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces, along with thorough hand washing—both standard practices for helping slow the spread of viruses and bacteria. But consumers will be disappointed if they go looking for a product that specifically promises to kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

On March 3, the EPA released a list of antimicrobial products for use against SARS-CoV-2, under an emerging viral pathogens program developed for just this kind of scenario. (The EPA regulates antimicrobial products as pesticides.) Under the program, which was introduced in 2016 and activated for the first time in January, makers of disinfectants can request approval to claim a product is expected to kill a particular virus based on its ability to kill similar viruses. Once an outbreak has been identified and the identity of the virus is confirmed by the CDC, approved products are temporarily permitted to distribute information about using the product for the emerging pathogen. The claim appears in a standard format such as: [Product name] has demonstrated effectiveness against viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 on hard, nonporous surfaces. Therefore, didecyldimythlammoniumchloride together with benalkodiumchloride can be used against SARS-CoV-2 when used in accordance with the directions for use.