My ten-month-old Min. Schnauzer absolutely hates being groomed! He still keeps biting my hand and the young lady who has been clipping him and bathing him etc. every two months doesn't want him any more. Where have I gone wrong? He has been brushed and handled since he was eight weeks old. I took him to be groomed from 12-16 weeks onwards. After the first time, he didn't want to go inside the groomers and when I next brushed and combed him, he shook! We have parted by mutual agreement! I have found someone else to take him on but what can I do in the meantime to prepare him for his visit? Many thanks.

HI

My mini s. is 6 months old and she is great with grooming. She never gets to the point of shaking, but she gets over excited and will try to nip - I now tend to groom her when she is quite sleepy and then I provide her with an extra brush to chew and play with (and some snacks) while I brush her.

She doesnt seem to be too bad at the groomers - just barks alot!

I'm sure somebody more experienced will suggest to ideas to overcome the problem!

Karen.

My miniature schnauzer is 10 months old and she doesn't like getting brushed,last time she went to the groomers she had to be cut right back she had to many knots in her coat.keep persevering,i now try to brush her every other day.

good luck Gill

Sounds like he could have had a traumatic experience at the groomers.

Your Schnauzer has realized that he has the upper hand when it comes to grooming. I am grooming a Wire Fox Terrier right now that is probably ten times worse than your little guy could ever be. Are you have him stripped or clipped to neaten the coat.

So that he won't bite you, you can make a loop called a Clove Hitch which you can put around the jaw and tie it up behind the ears. This stops the possibilility of getting bit while you are grooming the rest of the body. You will have to remove it when you are doing the foreface.

You must make good use of your voice to let him know that you are the boss. I would groom him every day for just 10 - 15 minutes so that it is not a marathon time, but he learns that you are the boss. You must also not groom him in his territory on the floor. Either have somebody build you a grooming table with a grooming arm and noose like at the groomers or adapt something in your house.

If you are stripping the coat, talk to your breeder if you can to learn the correct technique. It's not hard and if your groomer was not doing it correctly this could be part of the problem. If he is being clippered with electric clippers they need to be introduced to him gradually as well. A dog will shy away from the noise if they feel they will hurt by them so it is a gradual process but also biting MUST NOT BE TOLERATED. There is a fine line between the two of what is okay and what is not. If your groomer has a very busy shop, all the noise of clippers going, dryers on, phones ringing, people coming and going and strange dogs probably was just to much for him. Before to find another groomer if that is the route you go, your puppy should probably visit the new groomer for a visit if she/he will allow that, early morning or late afternoon appt when things may be quiter but more than anythingelse, I would get your dog out and socializing more with as many strangers and their dogs as possible. This is a very controlled sitution so that your dog can build up his confidence. When he meets others, people and dogs well, treat with a favourite soft treat. Soft treats work best when training as you can give a small amount as this is not a meal. Here in Canada and the U.S. we use a product called ROLLOVER. It's sausage shaped commerical product made mostly of organ meat laced with garlic. The dogs absolutely love it. Weiners also work, cheese, beef jerky or anything in this vein that your dog likes.

Terriers require a lot of grooming so they need to be started at an early age. It's a learning process and it's not to late for your little dog. Just let it be know that you are the boss and you will not tolerate this biting.

If you want to e-mail me at rockyford@shaw.ca feel free to do so as I can't write all the info here on the Post.

Margaret :) Canada

After 3 months of hard work, patience and perseverence, my 6 month old mini will now let me groom him without too much fuss. Having a special table to do it on, making a fuss when the table is put out (I say groom groom and he gets very excited without really knowing why), doing it when he is tired (like after his walk at night) keeping it to 10 mins at a time and giving a very tasty treat afterwards helped enormously. He wasn't keen on going to the groomers the second time, had to be picked up and taken in otherwise he would have been dragged - but the groomer assured me that he was really good and no trouble at all. He goes again next week - it will be interesting to see whether his reaction when he walks through the door will be the same.