DIET: -Choosing the correct diet for your dog can be a daunting task given the amount of different products on the market all cleverly marketed to be appealing to us human dog owners. Unfortunately, the best indicator of the quality of the product is the price – the cheaper the food the less likely the products inside the packet are going to be of high nutritional value. Beware of ingredients listed such as “meat derivatives" which can be anything from bones, blood and even restaurant grease. Tinned food often goes through a process called “extrusion" in order to make the chunky shapes. This process forces the food through a machine at high temperatures further reducing the nutritional content of the tinned food.Complete foods such as James Well beloved or Burns are often considered nutritionally sound with natural ingredients and the nutritional content worked out exactly suiting the requirement of your dog. Feeding your dog on a home cooked diet would always be the best, but achieving the right amount of all the nutrients is difficult to achieve. However, the individual dog will require his own unique diet that suits him. The condition of his coat, whether or not he eats the food with relish and the substance of his stools will soon let you know if the diet does not suit him.EXERCISE: -Exercise is essential for keeping your dog fit and healthy and his coat in peak condition. An over or under weight dog will not perform as well as a fit and healthy one and this will be reflected in the health of his coat.BEDDING: -Where your dog lives will also affect his coat condition. If he sleeps kennelled in a concrete run he is liable to get sores and rub the hair from the parts of his body in contact with the ground. If it is very cold he is likely to develop a thick more hardy kind of coat to cope with the conditions. If he sleeps outside on the grass he is more likely to have trouble with insect bites and infestation and may be prone to grass seeds inside his paws or burrs causing mats.A household dog can be open to allergic reactions from washing powders or disinfectants causing eczema or dermatitis. All bedding should be thoroughly rinsed and floor cleaners diluted to the correct ratios.GROOMING: -Grooming is an essential way of keeping a close eye on the health of your dog. You can check his eyes, ears, anal area, feet, arm pits, nails on a regular basis and perform routine maintenance on these areas.Eyes: -Check for any puss and foreign bodies and remove with cooled, boiled water and cotton wool as necessary Ears: -Check for mites, foreign bodies and clean as necessary with ear cleaner available from most pet storesAnal area: -Check for cleanliness, keep hair trimmed as necessary and look for any indicators of worms or itchinessFeet: -Keep close eye on the valleys between the pads and right up in between the toes for any grass seeds, clogged mud and mats causing the dog discomfortArm pits: -A classic area for grass spears to become lodged and mats to formNails: -Regular inspection required to keep nails at the required length. Professional trimming advised