# Grooming Issues -Thinks Brush is Toy, Etc - Help



## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

So this morning I tried yet again to brush Ella out because she has been shedding a bit more this last week. I've tried quite a few times to brush her before, since I first got her, but she seems to think the brush is a toy and keeps trying to bite it. Mostly I've tried using "leave it" but that does not appear to be working. Today I resorted to holding her head to the ground (gently), which she seemed to tolerate, in order to get her to stay still long enough for a quick brush. She tried getting her head up a bit to bite the brush but she didn't try to get up and get away from it or anything.

She has gone to the groomer's twice and they said that she did great, other than being nervous during the bath time.

I want to do more of her grooming myself to use it as more bonding time, but at this point she is still too wiggly where I don't trust myself to do certain things. I know she is afraid of the hair drier (don't know how to tackle that either without scaring her half to death). I'm afraid of her moving too much and me cutting her if I try to trim the fur sticking out between her paw pads and trimming her nails. I was thinking of getting a dremmel for her nails but I have a feeling that she will be afraid of that noise as well.

Anyone have suggestions?


----------



## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Tayla does the same thing so I smear peanut butter in a mixing bowl and she licks it out while I brush her. Works for us.


----------



## Roushbabe (Feb 20, 2011)

I would take small steps in reaching your goal. These are the steps I would do personally because it worked on my boy Keisel around this age. He always thought anything in my hand was a toy. 

Get a bag of treats beside you ready to mark what behavior you want. Have her either sit or lay down beside you.

1. Bring the brush out, as soon as she looks at you instead of the brush mark that behavior with a treat. Repeat several times till she completely ignores the brush. 

2. Place the brush on her paw and hold it there, let her sniff the brush but again, once she looks at you - mark it with a treat. You are basically teaching her - if you ignore the brush, you get a reward. 

3. Brush one small section (maybe the top of her paw) for two strokes and then stop. If she tries to bite the brush then go back to step 2. Only treat her when she ignores the brush.

These are just suggestions like I said, I'm in no means a professional but I've gone to many different Puppy K classes as well as obedience classes. What also helps is to have them somewhat tired when teaching them new things. If she is super excited beforehand, she will most likely fail the training exercise. I would take her out to play fetch for 20 minutes and then try to teach her this. I hope this helps! It helped me out with my older boy Keisel and now he practically sprawls out with legs in the air when the brush comes out! LOL


----------



## Wenderwoman (Jan 7, 2013)

I have the same problem and we are trying a gradual approach. We try to catch her a little off guard so that we can brush her a little before she gets bonkers. Once she shows agitation, we stop.

I've also tried "sharing" brushing. I'll bring her in the bathroom with me and brush my hair a bit and then brush her a bit (using different brushes.)

I'm going to try the peanut butter thing.

I don't know though, my girl is really feisty about the whole thing.


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

I did it in stages. Very slow stages. He still likes to chew on the brush, and he is almost 18 months old!! 

For the feet, I put him in a down, and I would pick up his foot. Treat and praise. Set it down. Pick up the other foot. Treat. Set it down. So on and so forth. 

When I started trimming his feet, I sat with a huge bag of treats on one side, and all my grooming supplies on the other side. I let him sniff the scissors and everything, and he was praised and treated. He has already mastered his "leave it" at that point, so I would put a treat on my thigh, and pick up his foot. One cut from the scissors and he got a treat. 

And we slowly worked out way up from there. Less treats for more work. 

As for the blow drying, we just started that recently, now that his coat is getting fuller. I started with blowing my own hair in the bathroom, and occasionally pointing it towards him. He LIVES for the wind in his face, so he likes it, but he gets confused and tries to eat it some times. In the end, when I tried it on him after a bath, I had him lay in between my legs (like he's done countless times before and since his surgery), and I would work on a little patch and praise him endlessly. Yesterday, was the second time I used it on him, and the little hussy actually rolled up and shook his junk at the dryer. Silly boys!!


----------



## JayBen (Aug 30, 2012)

I had the same problem your having. Every time I would try to brush she would think it was play time. It was like wrestling a chicken. I didn't resolve it until I made a grooming table. This could be why she's fine with the groomer.


----------

