Getting your puppy used to being brushed
Part of a series of short training videos.
As a dog groomer I hear all too often “He won’t let me brush him” and I see first-hand the effects on a puppy that’s going to a grooming salon for the first time without having any other grooming or even having seen a brush before. Which can make their first experience at the grooming salon quite over whelming for them. And as they haven’t been brushed, they usually come very knotty making it an unpleasurable experience. Getting your puppy used to being brushed at a young age no matter the breed or coat type will help them enjoy the grooming experience and helps maintain their coat keeping knots and mats away, working on preventing knots not waiting for them to form and then trying to fix it as this can be an uncomfortable and depending on the severity can be painful.
Every breed needs to be brushed but some breeds and coat types need more work than others. In this video the puppy is a cockerpoo her coat will require a lot of maintenance brushing at home and regular grooming at the salon to keep coat and skin in a good condition, knot free and healthy. Short haired breeds like pugs or whippets and shedding breeds like German shepherds or husky’s malt and shed out their coat, so need to brushed to get the dead hair out and keep the coat and skin in a good condition. They don’t malt much as a puppy but you still need to get them used to being brushed at a young age so they accept it and enjoy the experience when they start to shed. Not maintaining your puppies coat especially long-haired breeds and the breeds with coat types that need clipping will get knotty and then matt up resulting in the coat being needed to be shaved off by a professional. Your groomer cannot fix months’ worth of knots in a single grooming session. Most groomers have a time limit of de matting until they will then have to clip the coat off as it becomes a very stressful, painful experience for the puppy which is unfair and cruel so the best option is to shave it off and start again. If you want your puppy to have a long coat you need to brush and comb through their coat on a daily basis at very least every other day knots don’t take long to form so upkeep is vital. Combing through the coat is just as important if not more so, the comb ensure you have got out all the knots. Once you have got them used to the brush start to introduce the comb and as they age every home brushing should always be followed by combing the coat through making sure you have all the knots out. Start of slowly with the comb with slow motions as if you hit a knot, it will pull and if they are not used to the comb, they are more than likely going to welp. As they get used to the comb you can tease any knots out like you can see me doing in the video, if they don’t like the pulling you are better of parting the hair with your fingers and use the brush to get the knot out. The puppy I used in the video hated the brush or comb pulling on any knots when I first introduced her to being brushed, she would whelp quite a bit and start jumping around and wiggling to get away, but with perseverance, patience and lots of rewards I have got her to the stage she accepts being brush and comb through making maintaining her coat so much easier and stress free and at the end of each day she enjoys her one on one time while I brush her through.
Introducing the brush
As you can see in the video, I have a treat in one hand and the brush in the other hand. The brush you need will depend on the breed of dog you have, I have a long-haired dog so I am using a slicker brush, short haired puppy’s you can use a bristle brush or a rubber mitt and as they get older you can then use de shedding tools.
I use the treat as a lure which ideally needs to be quite high scented and tasty to get their interest and to keep them interested, they are driven by their nose so the smellier it is the more interested they will be in it. You can see I let the puppy lick and try to get the treat I am not giving her the treat just letting her taste it and while she is distracted by the treat, I start gently brushing her slowly getting her use to the brush. Keep this training short and sweet and build up slowly, with a lot of patience and daily practise you can build up the time you brush them for and the severalty of the brushing. If your puppy is reacting and trying to avoid the brush you might want simplify it try doing it with the back of the brush or the handle getting the used to the presence of the brush touching them and then build up to using the brush side. If your puppy is still struggling to accept the brush you might want to simplify it again, still using the treat as a lure but when the brush touches them give them the treat, just hold the brush stationary not trying to brush them. Once they get used to the brush touching them then build up to slow movement and keep building form that. With praise, reward and patience you will get your desired result just don’t give up. The timing when you introduce the brush is also important if you’re trying to brush them when all they want is to go play and run around your setting yourself up to fail, wait until they are in a calmer manor like just before a nap or when they are getting ready to settle down.
socialization you puppy to being handled all helps to get them used to being handled and brushed, get them used to being touched everywhere and accept that before trying to do it with a brush. With every training that you do it usually carries over to another type of training you’re doing it all works together. I have previously covered socializing your puppy to being handling so if you missed it it’s available to see on deborhasdogs.co.uk/blog.
Introducing them slowly with plenty of reward you are setting them up for success and stress-free brushing.
When brushing your puppy you need to brush and comb through the coat all over but there are key areas that will need more attention these include: Behind the ears (Like shown in the last clip), the ears and tail, under the ears, arm pits, the inside of the legs, feet and in-between the toes these are mainly for long haired breeds as these are the most common areas to knot up. Remember to brush and comb where the collar or harness goes especially if your puppy wears a harness as these tend to knot the coat quite a bit.
As soon as your puppy has had all their vaccination, they can then go to a dog grooming parlour it is important to give them early introduction to the professional grooming process so it doesn’t become an overwhelming experience for them as being groomed will be something they need throughout their life. It’s better for the puppy to have early introduction to grooming rather than waiting till their older with over grown hair and more then likely knotty as long hair is a lot harder to keep knot free.
This video focuses on introducing your puppy to being brushed as this is a big deal for them and is very important that you the owner can brush your dog at home especially if you have a long-haired breed. Grooming is a good way to bong with your puppy and can be an enjoyable experience if introduced to it correctly and early introduction is vital.
Deborah batty at Deborahs dog grooming
Deborahsdogs.co.uk
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