HELP!!!! can anybody explain why our gsd pup[she 11mths] makes grooming such a battle of wills. she stands okay when we are doing along her back but the minute we get to doing her flanks and round her backend she starts turning her head to grab the brush or if we are using a grooming mit she will try to rip it off your hand. its got to the stage where its taking 2 to groom one dog [she looks fab afterwards though]

Sounds fairly typical to me - for a pup ;)  My Afghan used to think it was a game too when she was at an early stage but due to her breed she had to accept it 'happily' or we would both be in trouble!!!  She was clicker trained from 15 weeks old and so i used this to reward her for standing still (even if it was just for a few seconds!) So, I would start brushing and immediately - if accepting - Lana would get a click and a treat for desireable behaviour.  If she messed about I would stop - I must stress that by messing about I literally mean that, playing with the brush, typical puppy messing as apposed to fear.  It may be possible that your pup doesn't like a certain area being touched due to fear perhaps??  I would reward for quiet and desireable behaviour during general touching and grooming and would practice this constantly as apposed to just when there are grooming sessions.
Sarah :)

Our family's older GSD's are like this too (although the youngest loves being hoovered)!

i have Bearded Collies and you can imagine how much grooming is required
I start very early on with the brushing to let them get used to  it I give them a chewbone while grooming a puppy and they let me brush them everywhere while on thier side then turn them over and after grooming is over I give a treat to get the chew back and they dont get one again until the next time.
works well for me.

I have a rescue Beardie who is hard to groom. I do lots of little sessions rather than one long one and at last we are getting there.

Anne

My guess is that you probably didn't start early enough ;) Not criticising you and it's a common problem. All puppies need to be groomed from day 1. How frequently do you groom? You should really be doing 10/15 minute sessions daily to get her used to it, IME, you can never start early or frequently enough.

I now have two Briards and a Briards coat is very hard work, think Old English, Beardie etc. My pup in particular is now starting the difficult, knotty coat stage and if I put up with any nonsense then her coat would be dreadful and as a last resort, need to be shaved But I have also had Shepherds for many years and my last one was very long and thick coated.

Now, knowing how strong willed and determined Shepherds can be, you can't afford to take any nonsense. She is doing this because she's been allowed to do it. Yes, treat by all means, but only when she is calm and accepting of you grooming. If you stop grooming when she's being difficult she will associate her behaviour with you stopping and then she is rewarded for misbehaving...........hope I haven't lost you so far with my long winded description :D

Don't worry about it taking 2 to groom to start with, as long as you achieve the desired result, eventually she should grow out of it as long as you are regular and consistent.

I bet she looks gorgeous afterwards :)

Good Luck, :)

thanks 4 that hairypooch, we didn`t get Bega till she was 12 weeks old so although she came from a litter of 11 that had been hand reared[mum had a viral infection and couldn`t feed]and had been used to being handled the grooming side of it didn`t begin properly until she came home to us, so we where a bit late on that score.however am following advice given by all and just doing little and often. getting her to stay still is the problem she`s a right fidget[are dogs tickilish?]but she does look good at the end of it