# How to help a puppy who hates being groomed?



## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

Gustav is 6 months old and so far has had 2 trips to the groomers since I got him, both of which he's been a real pain in the backside for the poor groomer! He whines, screams, barks, wriggles constantly (resulting in a few nicks from the clippers) and generally just hates the experience. 
He's quite happy to be bathed at home and I've been working on trying to acclimatise him to things like the drier (although obviously my hair dryer won't compare in noise to the groomers) and brushing (he hates his tummy being brushed, and isn't keen on his legs being brushed either) and I've been introducing him to some clippers, starting off by dropping treats around them, then switching them on, then eventually touching him with them whilst they're switched on, all the time using lots of praise and treats and so far he's done great with that.
I'm considering trying out a mobile groomer, as Gustav is going through a 'bark manically at every dog/person he meets' phase and as my groomer has more then one dog in at a time this doesn't help the situation. My plan is to ask the mobile groomer if Gustav can have a walk around the van first so he can sniff the equipment and have a good look round and let him acclimatise at his own pace, with lots of treats and praise and then just have a bath, blow dry and hygiene clip. 
Is there any other way I can approach this to make it easier for him and help him get over his fear? Has anyone else had a dog like this that's managed to come through the other side and is now quite happy to be groomed?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would go for lots of acclimatisation, do lots of grooming type handling and restraint, and little and often on the grooming. If you can't do him yourself, I'd try and find a groomer who will work with you to do very short sessions - perhaps just face one day, two paws the next, etc, aiming to keep it stress free rather than get a perfect groom. If every session is over quickly, and accompanied by a few good treats, he should quickly get over his dislike of being restrained. If you bathe him at home, and make sure he is very well brushed and combed, it will cut down the time needed. I do a really thorough brush and comb through the evening before bathing, then a quick comb through before the bath, so that any small knots don't turn into bigger mats. I know some people say that poodles just have to learn to put up with it, and if necessary be tied head and tail until they do, but I am a great believer in cooperation rather than forced submission!

I took Poppy for her first groom, with a request to stop if she became stressed. Pop refused to let the groomer do her face, so I went to collect her, borrowed the clippers and did it myself. After that it was just easier to do her at home than to organise my life around appointments, dropping her off, picking her up, etc.


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

Thanks fjm, I've started attaching him to a chair by his lead when I brush him, just so I can keep him in one place. He has got a lot better with the brushing, when we first got him he'd barely let me touch him with a brush, now he's much more tolerant, but still has a real dislike of having his tummy, legs and paws brushed. 
I wish I could groom the dogs myself, but it'd be a really hard task. For starters the dogs aren't allowed upstairs, so getting them to go upstairs to get to the bath is usually met with utter confusion (bless them) and my husband ends up having to haul 27kgs of standard poodle up the stairs, whilst those long straight poodley legs are getting caught in the banisters and scraping against the wallpaper (Gunther isn't the most cooperative). Luckily Gustav is still small enough so it's not too hard to carry him upstairs. We try to bath him every 2-3 weeks. We also don't have a shower attachment on the bath, so it makes it incredibly time consuming and I don't feel they get a decent enough wash when you're just using a jug.
Like you said, little and often. I'm hoping a mobile groomer parked outside the house might take away some of the stress and we'll just start with the minimum. If I give him a good walk and a game of fetch beforehand that should tire him out and hopefully make him a bit more cooperative.
I've never had to deal with this before, Gunther has always been an angel on the grooming table!


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## blueroan (Dec 28, 2015)

Agreed, little sessions are good! My mini hated her legs being brushed at first so I propped her on my lap like a child so she had nowhere to brace. I then cushioned her with my body so I was able to hold a leg and brush. 

Since yours is bigger you may need hubby's help for that, so he's on one person and the other brushes him. 

Reason I like this is that they can't do much about it and then realize that it's no big deal. Now I can brush mine while standing because she understands what I'm doing. 

When she was a puppy, every day I would show her something to do with grooming. Click the scissors, turn on clippers, things like that. Sometimes I would touch her with the clippers (but not cut hair) just so she could feel the vibrations. Reward with treats. Now she's quite good, not perfect but good enough to do a decent groom.


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

blueroan said:


> When she was a puppy, every day I would show her something to do with grooming. Click the scissors, turn on clippers, things like that. Sometimes I would touch her with the clippers (but not cut hair) just so she could feel the vibrations. Reward with treats. Now she's quite good, not perfect but good enough to do a decent groom.


That's good advice thanks. I'm going to try and spend a few minutes every day just getting him used to the sounds of the dryer and the clippers and just running the brush over him. Luckily he still has lovely silky soft puppy fur that brushes through very easily and doesn't get many tangles. 
I have tried sitting him on my knee and restraining him but he gets really vocal and stressed out, so I find attaching a very short lead to the table leg or a door handle the best way to go. The other problem is trying to stop him taking his frustration out on the brush and chewing it! I keep having to stick a toy in his mouth!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

You speak of acclimating him, but I did not hear any talk of treats!
I never attempt to groom without a bowl of itty bitty treats beside me, and let me tell you my 9 month old HATED being groomed when she first arrived. Especially her feet, but I am her groomer and I had to make it work, and the treats did the trick. Ok, I did burrito her in a towel the first time or two and that calmed her down enough to realize that getting a steady stream of treats was pretty cool. Now she actually seems to enjoy most grooming, and her treat rate is down to once every 2-3 minutes. 
You can start it out at home, and then provide a bag of tiny treats to the groomer and ask them to continue the process at whatever rate you are up to.
I would also tell the groomer that it is ok to take it slow and not finish the groom if necessary. In fact some groomers will do a new puppy package where you bring them in weekly to do shorter grooming sessions to acclimate them to the process. If you could work that out combined with the treats I am sure that this can be fixed!


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

UKpoodle said:


> I've been introducing him to some clippers, starting off by dropping *treats* around them, then switching them on, then eventually touching him with them whilst they're switched on, all the time using lots of praise and *treats* and so far he's done great with that.
> My plan is to ask the mobile groomer if Gustav can have a walk around the van first so he can sniff the equipment and have a good look round and let him acclimatise at his own pace, with lots of *treats* and praise and then just have a bath, blow dry and hygiene clip.


Oh yes absolutely tinypoodles, definitely lots of treats, that's a given! 
It's good to hear that your girl was once the same but you've managed to get her to the point where she is happy to be groomed, that really gives me hope, thank you! I'm definitely going to give the groomer a bit bag of treats to help him through the process. 
Bless your little burrito poodle, that is so adorable :love2:


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

UKpoodle said:


> Oh yes absolutely tinypoodles, definitely lots of treats, that's a given!
> It's good to hear that your girl was once the same but you've managed to get her to the point where she is happy to be groomed, that really gives me hope, thank you! I'm definitely going to give the groomer a bit bag of treats to help him through the process.
> Bless your little burrito poodle, that is so adorable :love2:



I guess it would be a bit more difficult to burrito a Spoo - maybe a bath towel lol?
But take heart, if she could have reached the phone she would have called "Animal Cops" on me, but today she will come running over when it is her turn for sprucing up, it will happen for Gustav too!


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## ApricotsRock (Jan 10, 2014)

I just tip really really well. And apologize a lot.


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

ApricotsRock said:


> I just tip really really well. And apologize a lot.


Yep that sounds familiar. Even though my groomer seemed pretty understanding I'm still a bit embarrassed to take him back!
I've been looking online and found a groomer near me who sounds perfect, she offers an introductory session where you leave your dog with her in the salon for half an hour and she'll play with them and get to know them, whilst introducing them to the equipment and giving them lots of treats, then they go home and move onto grooming on the second visit. Sounds like that would be perfect for Gustav. She also only takes one dog at a time and says that she specialises in nervous dogs. She's actually deaf as well, so I hope Gustavs incessant yapping and screeching doesn't damage the poor ladies hearing aid. The way he yelps and barks you'd honestly think he was being tortured whilst he was being groomed!


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## ApricotsRock (Jan 10, 2014)

I can relate. My groomer is very understanding...she does agility with her border collies so she "gets" smart dogs. She is the one who pointed out to me how pink his skin gets ant time it is brushed. 

Thank goodness for her because he would be scary if I had to groom him.


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

Yes it will definitely take a good groomer with endless patience (and earplugs) to help Gustav. With my other spoo Gunther I've been to several different groomers, trying to find the perfect cut, but with Gustav I don't really care about the groomers styling skills, I'm just looking for a groomer who can make him comfortable with the whole experience.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

UKpoodle said:


> Yes it will definitely take a good groomer with endless patience (and earplugs) to help Gustav. With my other spoo Gunther I've been to several different groomers, trying to find the perfect cut, but with Gustav I don't really care about the groomers styling skills, I'm just looking for a groomer who can make him comfortable with the whole experience.



Yes, that is the important thing - make sure that the groomer knows that it doesn't matter that the cut is perfect, or even that they finish it, what matters is that they make it a positive experience for him. I think most groomers would be pleased to hear that. The one that cut him probably thought that you would be upset if the grooming was not completed.


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## jcris (Feb 19, 2015)

I have 2 standards, both females about 50 lbs each. I began grooming them myself several years ago and found at first that one of the girls , Princess actually seemed to enjoy it. She would let me do most anything without much complaint. She doesn't care much for me trimming her feet but she'll let me do it if I insist (haha). Belle, on the other hand was very resistant at first. Especially when it came to drying her. I used to use a handheld dryer that was made for me and she would not sit still for that noisy contraption. I've since gone to a high volume type dryer, meant for use on animals, and that seemed to help. But I will say I believe the biggest difference was just getting her used to the dryer and the clippers. I live near a lake and when I walk the girls they are allowed to be off leash and that always leads to swimming. That led to the use of the HV dryer almost daily. I think that was the key to Belle calming down. She was a struggle until she got used to it and realized I wasn't going to hurt her. The other thing I did was I groom, bath, clip and dry them in the same room. So Belle could see her little buddy Princess getting done and perhaps realize it wasn't so bad. I'm not really sure that helped but it sounds good, haha. 
So hang in there with your pup. I suspect he will get better
Best of luck,
Jcris


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

jcris said:


> I have 2 standards, both females about 50 lbs each. I began grooming them myself several years ago and found at first that one of the girls , Princess actually seemed to enjoy it. She would let me do most anything without much complaint. She doesn't care much for me trimming her feet but she'll let me do it if I insist (haha). Belle, on the other hand was very resistant at first. Especially when it came to drying her. I used to use a handheld dryer that was made for me and she would not sit still for that noisy contraption. I've since gone to a high volume type dryer, meant for use on animals, and that seemed to help. But I will say I believe the biggest difference was just getting her used to the dryer and the clippers. I live near a lake and when I walk the girls they are allowed to be off leash and that always leads to swimming. That led to the use of the HV dryer almost daily. I think that was the key to Belle calming down. She was a struggle until she got used to it and realized I wasn't going to hurt her. The other thing I did was I groom, bath, clip and dry them in the same room. So Belle could see her little buddy Princess getting done and perhaps realize it wasn't so bad. I'm not really sure that helped but it sounds good, haha.
> So hang in there with your pup. I suspect he will get better
> Best of luck,
> Jcris


Sounds very similar to my two. Gunther has never minded being brushed or groomed, even when I'm plucking his ears he doesn't flinch or complain, he's incredibly patient. Gustav is another story completely. Little and often with brushing is helping and I have been working on introducing him to clippers by just touching his face and paws whilst they're switched on. He may not grow to love the experience, but hopefully he'll learn to tolerate it and make the groomers job much easier!
It sounds daft but I just stupidly presumed that my new puppy would be exactly the same as Gunther, like poodles were just born happy to be groomed! The first time I tried to brush him was a real reality check for me!


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

Even though little Zoe is very wiggly and hates having her face clipped, she is not afraid of grooming. Since she comes from a very good breeder she had been clipped from early pupppyhood.

I have seen several messages about puppies who come from good breeders have had FFT clipped. That is so true - it's a quick way to begin an evaluation of a breeder.


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## Dancer920 (May 16, 2016)

I'm a semi retired groomer. Some dogs just have a harder time than others. Sometimes it's them, and other times it can be the person on the other end just puts out a vibe that your dog just doesn't like for whatever reason. 
My daughter has a Rescue Corgi that is the Ultimate bad news when it comes to grooming. Hated EVERYTHING and I do mean everything. We take things in very small steps with her and are slowly making progress. Baths to start out with were short and quick and she gets a treat for when she is good. Dryer I started out with lowest and we have progressed from there and again her favorite treat when she does good. She now tolerates being bathed and brushed. Nails are still another story and we use a sling for doing those.
My Poodle puppy for her first time I did a quick bath. Then moved to towel to pull out water and then low blow dry. Then ran clipper (no blade over body to get her used to vibration and noise) then on to a quick clip. She did fabulous for her first time but it was short and quick.


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