My dog hates being brushed - help!
I have a dog with long, luscious hair, but he hates being brushed. Can anyone help me figure out how to get him more comfortable with this very necessary process?
2 Answers
Groomer here!
This happens a lot and as Laura said it can definitely turn into a vicious cycle quickly. It can be especially hard to break the brush hating when there wasn't a lot of work done when they were a puppy but there are things you can do to work with them and within a couple of months they should at least tolerate it a little better :)
First off, you want a comb and a slicker brush (the pokey ones that are wirey. If your dogs hair isn't very thick like a yorkie, try getting a 'puppy' slicker brush. They're much more soft). Then make sure you have small training treats that aren't super fattening/filling. Sit down for maybe 20 minutes (or however long she'll let you attempt) and with one hand full of tiny treats and the other hand on the brush, gently brush her back (and after about a week try brushing down her legs and over her head) while feeding her treats back to back. Even if the first few times aren't a great success with time and effort the cycle can be broken, I promise! I've seen Shihtzu's and Yorkies do complete turn arounds after 2 months with consistent effort :) Also, detanglers and conditioners can be very useful but DO NOT wash a dog with mats. It can and will make them worse if not dryed with a high powered velocity dryer.
Oh, and after she starts letting you brush her with the slicker try using the comb. May take a couple months
Mine does, too. She always looks at me with those awful "I thought you LOVED me!" eyes. This just leads to a vicious cycle of not brushing her enough, making it that more distasteful to her... I've seen good things with desensitization/counter-conditioning for grooming, but it kind of requires a second person to help. So if you have one of those, this would be my recommendation: