Help! My dog freaks out at the groomer’s!
- November 18th 2019
Most pets think groomers are the incarnation of evil. You can see it in their eyes at a grooming salon; they’ve panicked and they will do anything to get out of there. But here’s the good news: it’s possible to prevent, manage and, in some cases, even reverse these unhappy feelings with some time and effort.
Accustoming your pet to being handled and to the
sights, sounds and smells of a grooming salon will greatly reduce your pet’s
stress when they actually go into these places for an appointment. We’re here
to tell you how.
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Fear is learnt through the
unfamiliar and unpleasant
Dogs aren’t born hating particular people or places.
Usually, two things need to happen before your pet decides that groomers are an
incarnation of everything scary. The first is unfamiliarity, and the second is
unpleasant experiences.
Just as people do, pets cling to the familiar and
reject the unknown. Anunfamiliar place with strange noises and smells can make
pets nervous and defensive. Add to that an unpleasant experience and, sure
enough, you will have an unhappy dog.
A bad grooming experience can make dogs afraid of
tools such as hair clippers. If the only experience a puppy gets is a negative
one,they will naturally develop a fear of the situation,as well as the place
and people associated with this negative stimuli.
Teach your pet to be handled
In order to deal with your pet’s fear of groomers, the first thing you need to do is accustom your dog to being handled. Help your dog to associate handling with pleasant experiences, like food or toys or anything that your pet thinks is grade-A awesome. You want those good feelings to be triggered when your pet is touched or controlled by a human’s hands.
Handling isn’t just petting. Pets should be accustomed to having the following touched and manipulated:
·
Mouth:Accustom your dog to their mouth being opened
and their teeth examined
·
Ears: Look inside your dog’s ears
·
Eyes: Clean their eyelids with cotton wool or gauze
·
Nose: Accustom your dog to being touched on the nose.
Be gentle, as the nose is very sensitive
·
Feet: Check their paws, and clip their nails
·
Tail: Brush the tail, and check for parasites
·
Unmentionables
A note about
the unmentionables
: It may sound
gross, but when it comes time for the groomerto handle the parts that are
normally excluded from polite conversation, a pet that is used to it is a
lot easier to deal with.
Start at home
If your pet gets used to you checking their paws just
before theirdinner, they willsoon view paw handling as a matter of course.
Then, when the groomer goes for the nail clippers, your pet’s first impulse will
be to look for theirreward.
Visiting the groomer can be
fun!
The second thing you need to do to prevent fear is to
associate the groomer with positive experiences. If you take Buddy to
the vetgroomer five or ten times and only one of those visits results in a
bath or a clipper session, chances are that Buddy will be much less
apprehensive about visiting. Break out the liver or the cheese or the ball
or the chew toy. Whatever it takes to get your pet happily distracted –
use it.
Obviously, making your pet feel reassured at the salon
requires some cooperation from your groomer. Talk to them. Tell them that
you want your pet to associate their business with positive experiences and you
will take up minimal time. If you are positive and friendly, many animal
professionals will go out of their way to try and accommodate you.
Steps for
making grooming fun
Try these steps
to make grooming fun, rewarding and enjoyable for your dog.
Step 1
Take some
advice from the tortoise – go slow and steady. Few dogs will tolerate you
whipping out a pair of nail clippers and shaving down their nails without
warning. Instead of getting right to business, gradually condition your pup to
accept each grooming tool and situation. If you grind their nails, for example,
let them see the grinder and give them treats when they sniff it.
Then touch it to their paws while the
clipper isswitched off and give them treats. Once they become comfortable with
the current step, increase the exposure, at all times rewarding them for
cooperating with you. Pets respond very well to vocal praise and will learn to
associate the grooming tools with rewards.
Step 2
Groom your dog
in a neutral location. If you groom your little guy in the same room every time
and they freak out every time, they’re going to think that bad things happen in
that room and will become nervous if they’re shuffled in there. Choosing a
neutral location may be impossible when you give them a bath, but clipping their
nails or giving them a haircut or a good brushing should be done in an area of
the house they’re not afraid of and are not particularly attached to. They
probably won't associate the new grooming location with something bad, as long
as you use positive reinforcement and gradually introduce each tool.
Step 3
Give treats
throughout the process and talk to your pet. Make sure that the fun and rewards
don’t end when they’re used to getting all jazzed up. Give them a treat or two
as you clip a few nails and talk to them as you brush. It's easy to focus on
grooming your little guy as a job but making sure it’s rewarding for themas
well, from the beginning to the end, will lead to more positive grooming
sessions.
Step 4
Keep the
situation comfortable for your dog. Forget about any advice you hear that tells
you to hold your dog down or secure them to something with a leash. Anytime you
force your pup to do something or to remain somewhere they really don’t want to
be, you're going to make them freak out and panic. Instead, ask them to liedown
and keep them calm. Don't force them to the ground or force them to stick
around. A little “Ah, wait” should be enough to keep them from bolting off, as
long as they’ve been conditioned to enjoy the grooming process.
Step 5
Tire your pup
out beforehand. This usually isn't required, but it can help make certain dogs
calmer, especially those who are hyper and full of energy. Take your little guy
for a walk or play fetch for 20 minutes. Make sure you allow them to rest for
10 or 15 minutes between exercise and grooming. You don't want to make themso
worked up that they makethemselves sick.
Tips
If you feel that
the only way to groom your dog is by restrainingthem physically, you might want
to take them to a groomer. Some situations, such as nail trimming, can be
dangerous if your pup is resisting and thrashing about.
Gradually introducing
each grooming tool and situation is the number one rule to remember and follow.
It lays the foundation for everything else.
Remember to act
confident. If you seem nervous or afraid, your dog will most likely pick up on
it and display the same behaviour.
Warning!Yelling at or hitting your pup will not make them calmer. They might appearcalmer, but they’ll be much more
nervous and fearful.
The
key is to do everything gradually and gently. The goal is to teach your dog to
enjoy being touched everywhere, not just to tolerate handling. If you can
achieve that, you’ll have a relaxed dog with good associations to the presence
of the handler, the act of being handled, and the use of grooming tools.
Grooming
can be a pleasurable activity for both your pet and yourself.
Start early, be consistent and be patient.
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