How did you all introduce your dogs to the groomers or being clipped etc?

I only ask because i realy dont want to get it wrong with Pudgey. Gizmo as most of you know was never properly introduced to a groomer so when he went there he attacked the hell out of her arm she could'nt get near him, which is why i dont want Pudgey to go the same way.

Any tips? Im guessing going to the groomers and just click reward him for being there to start with? Then moving to the table and click reward then leave again?

Thanks x

When I go into a house for the 1st time I spend a few minutes talking to the dog, before I start to groom, then I start slowly talking to the dog all the time, maybe you should use a mobile groomer who will come to the house, some dogs will react when going into a grooming parlour because of all the strange smells the noise and being crated,
Dogs react when being groomed especially when being clipped, it's the noise and the sensation, so I don;t think the click and reward for standing on the table will do much good I;m afraid

Thankyou for your reply!!!

I can see what you mean now about the click and reward thing, i think i will make sure i get someone over to do it.
I do eventually want to clip him myself but i would like to be shown how first and see how he reacts to it too.

x

If you have any clippers, or even an electric shaver - you could leave that running sometimes, just to get him used to the noise of clippers. Stand him on a table, and feed him for just being on the table while the clippers / shaver is running somewhere nearby.... then I would hold the clippers / shaver in my hand and stroke the dog with the back of my hand so they can feel the vibration of the clippers through my hand but not directly on them.... do you see the route I'm taking here ?!

Our groomer comes to the house in a van, she plugs into our electric and takes them into her kitted out parlour in the back of the transit. Tess hates it, but the last time she was done we sent Bailey in too, just to get a feel for the place, and she wasn't bothered, so next time, when they both need doing, hopefully she will be fairly chilled out.

When Conker went to the groomers for the first time, I was so worried. He hated having his ears brushed by us so I imagined the worst... I stayed with him and he made so much noise and fuss but he didnt bite. He literally whined and whimpered for over an hour

On the third occasion I decided not to stay and the groomer reported that he hadn't made so much as a murmer so I think it was my nervous energy making him worse.....

Mary...maybe you could give me some advice too?

Whenever I get the grooming brush out, Finn aged 8 months runs away - No idea why, but he ain't coming back
I've tried to make it fun and I've let him watch everyone else who love it, but he still runs away.

Any suggestions...treats maybe?

we would start grooming from a early age.

we started with a very soft brush at 1st we started slowly little and offten,this was ok but soon went wrong...we tried all sorts off things.

what worked for us was to go on a long walk then when we got home we would stroke the dogs untill thay were calm and lying on thier sides, we would then sneek the brush in and gently use this like our hand movements luckily the dog was none the wiser.we then progressed on to big wide combs then to fine,it took a while but all three love being groomed and all fall asleep as we do it. hope this will help it worked for us.....

We have been told anti-tangle (the pump aciton one) hair spray for kids is good on the ears when grooming.

As for clippers we hardly use them.... we mainly use thinning scissors as we have found out it will hide a multitude of sins.....lol skinhead springs to mind oopps!!!!

I don't actually need to take mine to groomers

But with Fern after every walk I just got the soft brush out and brushed her (Had to do her ears after every walk as she got burrs stuck in them so I just made sure I did the whole body after the ears)

when Braan arrived I carried on doing fern after every walk and then let Braan sniff the brush and slowly used it on him

The only trouble I have now is there is 3 of them fighting to be brushed as soon as I get the brush out

Gilly, be firm and treat when he stands still, but take no nonsense you have to secure them somehwere they can't run away from, the best thing is a table or worktop and grooming harness, you can get one which has a sucker on the end that you can attach to your wall, which will stop them getting away

Thanks Mary.....away to google one now

I don't do ironing so I put my lot on the ironing board but then I am just giving a brush and not cutting or clipping them

(think that needs a lil bit of an edit - I put the cockers on the board, Jock gets done on the floor )

Chase didn't like grooming or trimming so I have built him up in small bursts. One thing though, I have never let him win a struggle - if he has got 'cross' I ensure I do at least one more thing but then I release him before it becomes a total hassle. We groom most days for short periods and of course he sees the others have their sessions.

I need him to let me trim him or whatever wherever we are esp as so may training weekends for the breed club see the dogs getting muddy on the saturday and then showing on the sunday - it would be soooooooooo much better if it were the other way round!!!!

i have a friend who is a groomer, and when we visited today she gave Stellar a snuggle, and i apologised for her pong (she fell in the river a couple of days ago! ) - she said not a problem, and off we all trotted into the grooming parlour, where stell was treated to a jolly good wash and brush up - she tried to jump about whilst being washed, but the harness meant she couldn't move far - she was rinsed clean and towel dried (we didn't have time to put her in the drying crate) - she looks beautiful now, and didn't seem too bothered On my friend's advice we have been clicking scissors near the pups since we got them, so hopefully, they will not panic too much when they need a trim.

Ooo ooooo Gilly we need a Grooming Harness Have visions of Finny flying through the air, "SpiderFinn, SpiderFinn"


*wonders whether to get one for Bam*