Training "new" dogs?

[RD]

So when I apprenticed with a groomer, most of the dogs I groomed were conditioned to accept grooming. I thought this was the norm so long as the groomer is gentle and calm with the dog.

Now I'm possibly getting a job grooming shelter dogs, some that have never even been bathed in their lives. It's, erm, harder than I thought. Bathing a dog and putting it back in the cage is one thing, but doing a full groom (including blow drying) is another story entirely.

The last thing I want to do is force a frightened dog to be groomed, but a lot of these shelter dogs desperately need it either because they are badly matted, or because they're dirty and scraggly and no potential adopters give them much consideration because of it.

I know that "not bad" is "good enough" in the case of a dog that is freaked during the entire process, but do any groomers have suggestions for calming a dog down and gently conditioning it to tolerate some grooming? The better I can make them look, the more appealing they'll look in the shelter kennels, but I don't want to traumatize them for that.

 

[sam]

I'm not a groomer but I've had to bathe and clip nails on more than a few young adult herding dogs in rescue that aren't comfortable with handling of their feet or much grooming. Of course I'm not doing a perfect job, just getting them clean and detangled-- I never do a big froo froo blow dry- they get towelled off and tossed in a crtae full of towles to dry and then brushed oout when they are still a bit damp.

I use lots of food treats and try to do things in short spurts ie I never do the entire process at one time - that's not very reasonable. So I might do a decent brush out in one sitting, a bath in another and nails, trimming in another. I also use some of those products that coat the hair and make it super slippy to make it easy to get tangles out and hold matts between the matt and the skin so if there's pulling, it's not pulling their skin.

I try to give the dogs lots of breaks ie groom a bit, take a break for a minute to have a treat and some scritches, back to grooming etc.

 

[otch1]

Hi RD, wanted to add my 2 cents worth. When grooming this type of dog, use food! With a small dog, needing to be groomed on the table, I get a small metal bowl, spoon and can of food. No breakfast before grooming. Using a reg. buckle collar on dog and attaching the leash to it, I take 2 tb canned food and smear it around the inside and bottom of the metal bowl. Letting them lower their head, I hold their collar with the left hand, turn the clippers on and let them run, holding them in my right hand. This is done while the dog is hopefully cleaning that bowl out! If there's no attempt to bolt when the clippers come on, I reline the bowl with 2 more tb. canned, smearing it all over bottom so he has to work to clean it out. Let him start eating and then take clippers gently to shoulder area. Start your body clip. You should be able to get thru one shoulder by the time they're finished with the bowl. Your left hand holding collar, needs to keep the dog stationery so it doesn't scooch toward the edge of the table. If they get thru those 4 tb. of canned and there's little or no drama, the dog realizing this could be quite pleasant, set the bowl at the edge of the table so they can see it. Then noose the dog, so you have 2 free hands. Being able to focus on the bowl should take some of the anxiety away when the dog realizes he's restrained. Gently continue your body clip encouraging him to "watch it" (the bowl) and every 5 minutes or so, take 1/2 tb canned and offer it to him by feeding, this time, while he's restrained. You should be able to do a rough out on the dogs body, using only 7 or 8 tbs. food. Much less than their reg. breakfast. They should then be much more relaxed by the time you do the head. I usually give a very anxious dog, 5 minutes back in the cage with a cookie before popping them in the tub. When drying with the industrial hand held blower, I take the nossle off the end. (The sound is too intense for some dogs) I then dry the body, backside first, starting above tail. Kind of like a behind scratch if you do this right. Lol! Always make sure you run the dryer for 10 seconds to warm the air. A blast of cold air will "undo" the work you did on table to get them to relax. I never dry the head, just towel dry. Let the cage dryer finish the job. Cookie when they enter cage dryer. By the time they're roughed out, bathed and dried, if you've taken your time, you should be able to get thru the finshing proccess quickly and without much resistance. They realize by then, you're not going to hurt them. If they're anxious, get your bowl back out, work your "watch it" exercise while finshing the dog. You'll use soft treats verses canned for this, so you don't get food on a clean dog! End of novel.

 

[otch1]

Wow... I really need to remember there should be seperate paragraphs in my posts! ha. Sorry!

 

[SizzleDog]

I've almost never had a problem with "green" dogs freaking out during a grooming.. and I groomed for almost six years before I moved.

I was taught a bit of a different method: The No Biggie Method. I use it for almost all training I do, and I've seen fantastic results.

Basically, don't pussyfoot around any grooming activity - if you try extra hard to make sure the dog is slowwwwly accustomed to something, he'll think that it's something to be anxious about. If you're going to clip nails, pick up the darn foot and clip 'em! If he struggles, don't coo and cajole, gently but firmly tell him to stop, and keep going. Show the dog that YOU don't think it's a big deal, and he'll learn that it's not a big deal.

If he's freaking out waaaay too much, stop what you're going and go on to another grooming activity - such as brushing or cleaning the ears. But don't make a big deal about it, don't reassure him.. just firmly, steadily, and calmly go on to something else. If you must say something to him, say something like "Fine. We'll wait to do that later."

As for the blow drying, crate the dog in a kennel near the dryer so he hears the sound. Then, when it's time to bathe him in a few days, just blow dry his "rear half". Again, don't make it a big deal. He'll learn that it's nothing to be afraid of.

This is just what has worked for me, on most if not all of my grooming clients.

 

[otch1]

Hi Sizzledog... I agree with your post ( No biggie method. Lol) when dealing with normal pups or untrained pets. I approached Rds' post from a more extreme version of dog, an unsocialized and mishandled stray from a shelter. You'd be amazed at how traumatic the ones with serious behavioral issues, find the grooming proccess to be. We had a shelter dog, poodle-maltese mix, adopted by a client and brought in for it's first groom. It screamed so loudly, flipping and struggling the second it was noosed and clippers were turned on, we had boarders checking in, gathering at the grooming window to see what in the world the groomer was doing to this poor dog! The poor groomer wasn't touching it. She was so concerned the dog would injure itself flipping on the table, but she couldn't get near the dogs head to get the noose off. These are the kinds of dogs I get called in to deal with. Hopefully, RD, you're dealing more with the dogs sizzledog mentioned, those that just need a confident hand and a no nonsense approach. My info is for the extreme cases. Good luck!

 

[OutlineACDs]

Just a tip. I have found it is much easier to clip nails during the bath, while the dog is in the tub. Even scared dogs deal with it better in the tub than on the table. Just my experience though.

 

[StillandSilent]

I've been in this position many times at work. Talk to them calmly and give them plenty of breaks. Things usually work out best if you have at least two people, preferable three if its a large dog. Try and see if there is an employee or volunteer who has spent some extra time with the dog in question and see if they are willing to help, so the dog has someone it trusts in the room with it.
And remember, you can always come back the next day and try a little more if you can't get it done on the first try. We had a Spinger Spaniel one time who had to be shaved almost to the skin. It took us three days to get him done.
We never use dryers either, as it seems to frighten them worse than any other part of the process. I good toweling or a nice air drying if its warm out works just as well.

 

[Tracey0073]

I find as working as a groomer and knowing about dog behaviour YOU have to stay calm if you get anxious and think you are not showing it the dog will pick up on it straight away. I groom alot of nervous dogs and oddly enough when they are in the tub and when I put the blaster on them (from the rear end never round the head) they seem to enjoy it. Then when I move them onto the table to be brushed and dried they seem to calm down they sometimes get a little upset when you try to move them or get them to stand up. I personally hate any contraption around the body to make them stand as they will just go like a dead weight and can hurt themselves. You have to be confident, when you are trying to make them stand put your hand underneath and with your tone of voice start to tell them what a good boy or girl they are being. You have limited time with a dog on a table if you take too long they will get fed up and the situation will start to get worse. If you are confident with them they will pick up on that from you. Hope this helps!!