# Toy poodle - won't let us groom her face!!



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

If she has two of you holding her down and scolding her, I'm not surprised she hates it! I'd use treats - lots and lots of treats! A treat for letting you hold her muzzle, a treat for staying still while you bring the switched off clippers close, repeat a few times, finish the session. Next day, build up with treats till you can hold the body of the clippers against the side of her muzzle briefly, then finish. Lots of short sessions, lots of praise, lots of treats, no fuss, no scolding, no pain. Or take her to a professional, where she will probably behave perfectly!


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

I totally agree with NOT holding her down and holding her mouth shut. Nothing makes them HATE grooming more.


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## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

Agreed! If she wasn't already scared of the clippers already, now it's scary noisy sharp thing by her face + a big fuss going on around her + getting yelled at + being restrained; sounds like something I would fight against too! 
Definitely treats, positive reinforcement, and positive conditioning to face shaving. Fix this now while she is still a puppy, it's a bit easier to change this stuff while they are young.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Ditto!

Start slow, and use lots of high value treats. Maybe take five steps back and start with an (old) electric toothbrush, rewarding heavily for first having it on in the same room, then on but not touching her, then on and near the face, then on and briefly touching the face. Let her set the pace. If she runs from the room, you are either going too fast or you need better treats.

Mine isn't a big fan of face clipping, but he knows that it reliably predicts that chicken is coming, so he's happy to deal with it.


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## Feathersprings (Jul 15, 2010)

All good advice  Hoolie hates his feet ( front mostly) being trimmed... we work with treats and short sessions and work slowly... When i had puppies in the grooming shop for grooming that hate it I would turn on the clipper and hold it in my hand and pet the area i was going to trim with my hand that was sort of "vibrating" with the clipper. Sometimes it was a lengthy process and sometimes didnt get done the first time. Try and have patience.Please try and do nothing negative like shouting or forcing her...it only reinforces that it is a bad scary thing to have done. It is hard to remember to talk positive and happy to a dog that is being difficult LOL!


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