Training Your Puppy for Grooming
If you think about it, grooming can be really scary for a dog:
First, they get doused in a bath (a thing that a lot of dogs don’t enjoy), scrubbed, and sprayed off again. Then they are blasted with air from something that’s very loud. Next, a strange buzzing thing runs over their body, tickling them everywhere. Finally, a pair of sharp scissors get really close to their sensitive eyes, ears, and feet! Yikes!
Dog’s typically don’t naturally love grooming, which is why we have to condition and train them for it. If your dog hasn’t had any training with grooming or has had a bad experience, grooming can become a nightmare and could get dangerous for everyone involved!
The best thing to do is to start early and start small. If you are working with a puppy you have some huge advantages! Puppies are much more malleable and don’t need to be groomed as often, so it doesn’t matter as much if you don’t get a full groom in each session.
Don’t worry if you have an adult dog, though. You can still work on training them to be good for grooming.
Here are some tips to help your dog or puppy tolerate grooming:
The first thing to understand is conditioning. You want your dog to associate grooming with good things, so start giving him lots of rewards during your training sessions. This will condition them to tolerate and even enjoy grooming.
These rewards can be in the form of treats, a favorite toy, or lots of praise and petting. Whatever you’ve found let’s your dog know they’ve done well. If you use a clicker, it’s a good idea to have it handy.
Now, for each part of the grooming process, think about scaling back as much as you can to start out. Break down each step into tiny experiences and gradually work up toward “the real thing”. Here are some ways to scale down:
For baths - start with a shallow pool or pan of water
For drying - start with a human blow dryer set to low
For clipping - start with an electric toothbrush from the dollar store
And so on
To gradually work up toward the real thing, I’ll use bathing as an example: So, instead of tossing your dog in a bath and spraying them down instantly, start with allowing them to step in a shallow pan of water. Allow them to play freely in and around the water without forcing anything. Give them a treat every time they interact with the water.
As your dog gets more comfortable with the water, have them stand in the shallow pan or pool. Then, cup some water in your hand and gently pour it over their leg. If they stand still for it, give a big reward! Then progress toward pouring water on your dog’s side, back, chest, and finally the back of the head (don’t pour water over your dog’s eyes).
Now that your dog is comfortable with water and the idea of you pouring it on them you can start conditioning them to accept the bathtub. The process is the same:
Start by just bringing your dog near the tub. Give him a treat whenever he looks at or steps closer to it. Gradually encourage him to put a paw on the edge and give treats. Work toward getting in the tub. Once he’s comfortable with that, turn on the water at a gentle drip, give a treat, then turn it up a little.
Use this process of breaking down the steps and rewarding any progress toward the final goal.
Your dog might fly through the steps or might need to take several weeks to work up toward a full groom. Do a training session a day and keep them to about 10 to 15 minutes.
I know it seems like a lot of work now, but the pay off is a dog who is wonderful to groom for the rest of its life!
I want to leave you with one more tip: Almost all of the training I’ve learned is from Baxter & Bella. If you are looking for more great training advice, I highly recommend the books, videos, and resources on their website.
