Although, as humans, we know that grooming is a necessary part of your dog’s care routine it can very hard to explain that to a nervous dog.

Some dogs really enjoy grooming and see it as part of a fun or relaxing way to relax with their owner and often if you start grooming your dog as a puppy as we talked about in our previous blog they’ll be perfectly happy to sit and let you go through the routine.

However, some dogs are just very nervous of the grooming process or of being touched too much so we thought we’d pull together a list of tips and tricks for helping to calm a nervous dog whilst grooming.

  • Make sure your dog is comfortable in its surroundings, somewhere they feel safe and happy and not stressed is key
  • If you’re introducing new equipment give them the space and time to explore the tools themselves
  • Rewards and praise throughout the process are really important
  • To allow you to manoeuvre them as you need, reward them with verbal praise and a stroke which will lead them to associate the routine with praise
  • Use food treats to encourage the continuation of good and obedient behaviour
  • If it gets a bit much, stop the grooming and back off for a little while, giving your dog space to recover their composure
  • If they don’t calm down then stop entirely, carrying on will only increase the stress and frustration and create bad associations
  • Relaxing music or familiar sounds can really help to put your dog in the right headspace for a relaxing grooming session
  • If your dog is particularly scared around things such as a spray bottle and the sound it makes, make sure you turn away and spray directly into the microfibre cloth to dull the sound and reduce distress.
  • If your dog is scared of having a comb near their eyes it might depend on what time of comb you’re using. If you’re using a metal comb these can tug or pull at the hair making the process painful for your dog. It can also be scary having something sharp near your eye so consider using a wooden comb, small in size and designed specifically for smaller, more delicate areas such as the Tedster.
  • As with everything it will take time and patience to get them used to the treatment and the different things you have to do.

As ever, if you have any questions about how to apply Happy Tears or other staining problems that you dog has, please don’t hesitate to get it touch, we’d be happy to help.

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