Grooming your pup isn’t only for the purpose of maintaining their appearance. Grooming can help remove old hair and help ventilate new hair. It also keeps your pet’s coat healthy and clean.
Grooming also focuses on cleaning ears, trimming nails, keeping the skin healthy, and much more. However, not all dogs are comfortable with visiting the groomers. For anxious pups, it’s essential for their owners to know how to calm a dog for grooming.
Before taking your pup to dog grooming services, continue reading below. Here are a few dog-calming tips every dog owner should know.
Expose Your Dog to Grooming Equipment
Grooming equipment can be frightening for your dog if your pup has never seen the equipment before. It’s beneficial to give your dog some time to explore the equipment. Place them in a room with the equipment and allow them to sniff and investigate the equipment on their own time.
Baby steps are essential and will help transition your dog into being groomed on a regular basis. You can also consider using some similar equipment at home on your dog before scheduling an appointment with the groomer. For example, practicing brushing, combing, and trimming their nails at home is a great starting point.
Massage Them Before the Appointment
During proper grooming, the groomer will cover all aspects of your dog’s body that need cleaning, even the most sensitive areas. To prepare a dog for full grooming services, you can massage them at home.
Pet and brush your dog’s entire body. Massage all paws and rub between the toes. Play with your pup’s ears and try to handle them as a groomer would.
You can then try placing your dog on a raised table and doing the same steps over again to get your dog used to being on a raised surface during grooming. Feel free to offer lots of treats as positive reinforcements.
Get Enough Exercise in Advance
Making sure your dog gets enough exercise before visiting the groomers can help keep them relaxed while there. If you bring your dog in with lots of energy, then your pup is more likely to have more anxiety and possible accidents. Walk your dog a few times before the groomers and play outside for 30 minutes.
When it’s time for the appointment, your pup will feel more relaxed having already got so much energy out for the day.
Take Your Time Choosing a Groomer
The groomer you take your dog to can have an impact on how well your dog does while there. Different groomers use different techniques and one groomer might work better with your pup than another. Never hesitate to research different local groomers before deciding where to bring your dog.
There’s also another option you can consider. You can groom your dog at a self-service dog wash/grooming service. Conduct a quick search for a self dog wash near me to learn what options are near you.
Bring Your Dog For a Tour
Once you do find a groomer you want to bring your pup to, be sure to contact them to schedule a tour. Ask to bring your dog to the groomer for a tour where your dog can sniff the place out and get a feel for it before the appointment. If possible, try to schedule the tour on a different day to give your dog time to explore the groomer’s clinic and then go home for the day.
The tour is also the ideal time to see how the groomer interacts with your dog and determine if that’s the right groomer for you and your pup.
Use or Ask About Special Equipment
Because it’s common for a dog to feel nervous while at the groomer’s, special equipment was invented to help keep these pups more relaxed and less stressed. For example, one special groomer’s equipment is a blade that has several different attachments on it. The groomer can then groom your pup with a quiet blade that still has the same effect as an electric blade.
Losing the noise of the electric blade can help make a dog feel more comfortable. There are also earmuffs made specifically for dogs to wear while at the groomer’s clinic. The earmuffs block loud noises, which may scare your nervous pup.
Be sure to ask the groomer about special equipment like this for your dog.
Make Sure the Environment Is Calm
There’s only so much you can do to create a calm environment for your pup at the groomer’s clinic. Visiting each groomer in person is a good way to determine which one offers the best environment for your dog. If you’re going to groom your pup at home, then you’ll want to ensure the space is calm and relaxing before you begin.
Choose a day to groom when no one is home, there’s peace and quiet, and there are no loud noises. It’s also important for you to keep a calm demeanor as well. If you’re feeling nervous or anxious, then your dog could feel these emotions and mirror them.
Do You Know How to Calm a Dog For Grooming?
After reading through this guide, you should be more familiar with a few tips and tricks on how to calm a dog for grooming. Coming across a nervous and anxious pup while at the groomer’s isn’t uncommon as these dogs are in unfamiliar environments around strangers and loud noises.
However, when you know how to calm a dog down, the experience is much more enjoyable for everyone. To find more posts as helpful as this one, continue to check back here on a daily basis!
