# Afraid of being brushed



## ked1203 (Mar 31, 2009)

Help! I have a 10 month old female golden who will not allow me to brush her. This has been going on since we brought her home at 10 weeks. She runs when she sees the brush - I have tried everything!
I have given her treats to slowly introduce the brush and grooming process - no way! She is too slick! As soon as she sees me with the brush in hand off she goes! I have owned 2 other goldens and never encountered this problem, they loved being brushed and groomed! I am at a loss! Any suggestions? She really does need to be brushed! Even tried the grooming glove, first of all its a terrible brush, does nothing, she hates that too! Help! She needs to look pretty, especially with Christmas coming! lol


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## Simba_Golden (Aug 31, 2017)

ked1203 said:


> She needs to look pretty, especially with Christmas coming! lol


Sorry, I started laughing out loud here hahaha :laugh:


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

Maybe try smearing some peanut butter on a plate and have someone hold that up for her to lick while you gently brush her. Try to make the brush have a good association.


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## Olympia (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't know if this will work for you, but both of my dogs hated the brush as well, so what I did was grab a soft furry blanket and lay it out on the floor, collect some toys and the brush, and I would sit on the blanket then they would come over to play with the toys, I would pet them and let them see the brush but if I tried to brush either of them they would scamper away, so I would then brush my hair with it, then set it down near the toys so they could get comfortable with it... I kept repeating this until I made contact with one of the dogs once they realized it felt good they loved it...it definitely took some time but now when they see the brush they fight over who gets to go first lol


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## LdyTlfrd (Jan 11, 2017)

We have the same problem with Luna whether it be the brush or the nail clippers. She sees it, she runs like heck and has been this way since we brought her home at 2 mos. and now at 1 1/2 yo. 

All we can do is to brush/clip what we can before she does the dash. If I can get hubby to help, he distracts her while I clip a couple of nails. I managed to do one paw while he distracted her & gave her treats. That was the most at any one time. The rest were done over a matter of nights. 

Brushing is the same, if we can get one area done & a treat given, its a good day. Hopefully as she ages, she will grow out of this fear.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

She has learned that she can in fact run away from you so she does. First put her on the leash then take her to where you have your brushes staged. or have them in a tote that you can easily grab once you have her on leash. Try to not let her figure out what your going to do you want to prevent the running away. Blitz came to us with a fear of brushing so I have been down this road. He does not like it still for the most part but will sit quietly while I do it. I walk him to where I will be brushing and sit down on the floor next to the brushes and the treats I run my hands all over him and I do not permit him to leave. I don't rush pull or yank on him but he is expected to sit or down quietly with me. If he is very stressed I will let him stand. I reward all behaviors I like and pretty much ignore what I don't like. I start small with a soft mixed bristle brush and spend just a few minutes brushing never staying in any one area to long. Then I stop relax reward wait a few mins then do a bit with my slicker I use a high quality slicker that has a cushion under the pins it works better and is less likely to jab into the dog. I use Chris Christensen brushes available on Amazon. This is one I have 
https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Christ...718&sr=8-4&keywords=chris+christensen+brushes

I keep brushing sessions short but do them every single day till I can do the whole dog. In Blitz case I did five minutes several times a day, then switch to every other day. I expect my dogs to be able to handle about 15 mins of brushing. If your dog loves play use that as a reward but use your leash so there is no option to run away at this point your retraining for a behavior you want in place of avoidance they don't have to like it but you should build trust and confidence in you and the brushing so they will accept it.


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## Neciebugs (Nov 18, 2017)

Daisy is a bit afraid of brushing... especially the slicker brush. I think it is the sound. But, I give her lots of treats and hold her head over my shoulder (like a hug) and brush her while saying calmly good dog... She still fights it at times, but the brushing time is longer each time.


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## Cooper Golden (Jan 11, 2018)

Quick note to say the post above about smearing peanut butter on a plate worked for Cooper! He kept trying to bite the brushes and/or run away and play when I tried to brush him. I wasn't getting anywhere with treats since biting the brush seemed more appealing to him and we seemed to be going 5 seconds between treats and/or brush bites - he's always in land shark mode at 12 weeks!  

I smeared a thin layer of peanut butter (<1tbsp) all over a small cutting board (now known as Cooper's grooming cutting board) and held it up against a wall with my knee. He happily licked away for 20 mins until he got every bit of peanut butter off the board and paid me no attention as I brushed him.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Doesn't the peanut butter get on them though? 

When my guys were puppies, I'd just put a collar and leash on them and hold them with one hand while I brushed them. 

Avoid brushing bellies which have sparse hair (more scratching of skin), do very quick brushing of butts (dogs don't like getting their stuff getting scratched), and more brushing of their necks and chests (which they love). 

Do this every night. 

You will get to a point where you sitting down on the floor with a brush has the dogs fighting over getting their turn at being brushed. 

I only bribe my guys when it's time to clip nails. And that's usually a piece of bread after each foot.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

From the time my pups are small, I treat them while I fake brush with the back of the brush. I also let them sniff and investigate the brush. While you are at it, do something similar with whatever you will be using to trim nails. Be patient in conditioning.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Peanut butter on a dinner plate worked for Murphy!!!


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