Socialization 2
Grooming
So many people focus on having their dogs make friends with all dogs and people, but I want to focus on a series of behaviors that, unfortunately, doesn’t get as much attention even though it probably will make the most difference in your dog’s life: Grooming.
“Play with your puppy’s ears and feet” is something many groomers and vets will tell you, but simply playing with the ears and feet is not enough to introduce the puppy to handling because it doesn’t cover the important skills that actually affect all of the dog’s behavior.
Grooming has a lot of important skills attached to it that helps with every other part of dog ownership and even socialization. Done well, grooming will be another form of calm attention you can give your dog rather than a stressful experience. It teaches the dog skills of holding still, relaxing, accepting restraint, being cooperative, and being optimistic about handling. This, in turn, makes the dog much easier to teach loose leash walking, settle/stay, and self-control. These skills make it much easier to bring the dog out in public to socialize and have good experiences.
Grooming table
I recommend introducing your puppy to standing on a table and practicing at least once per week. The first session, all you would do is put your puppy on a raised surface. If your puppy has been on a table before, you can put them on a grooming table. If your puppy has not, I recommend trying bigger surfaces. For my puppy’s first table time, I give them treats and love and have my hands on the puppy the whole time so they cannot fall off of the table. I always take the puppy off of the table because I want them to learn to stay on the table unless I help them off of the table. This prevents launching off of the table (risk of injury) and also helps the dog understand how to stay on a raised surface until released—an excellent concept to have for training stays later.
Koroviev stands patiently in the tub.
Bathing
I believe that dogs should be socialized to the bathing process. Properly bathing a dog means you have to use quality product, rinse the product fully out of the coat, and dry the coat completely. It is actually a myth that frequent baths is bad for the skin and coat. The truth is that improperly bathing your dog with poor products, not rinsing properly, and not drying properly is what causes dogs to get dandruff, dry coat, hot-spots, etc. If you have a short coated dog, they tend to be able to dry off easily. However, a long-coated dog can take over an hour to fully dry with a high-velocity dryer.
Even if you don’t plan on bathing your dogs often, I recommend getting your dog comfortable with a high-velocity dryer if they have a long or thick coat. I also recommend getting your dog used to wearing a happy-hoodie so that they can comfortably wear them. Happy-hoodies protect your dog’s ears and head so the groomer can use a higher setting on the dryer, which shortens drying time.
Brushing
Bathing and brushing go hand-in-hand for maintaining coat and skin health, especially for long-coated breeds. The more you bathe, the less you have to brush. The less you bathe, the more you have to brush. If you opt for less bathing and more brushing, remember that how you brush is important. If you tear through the hair and hear a ripping sound, you are damaging the coat and damaged hair is more prone to matting. For most high-maintenance coats, line-brushing is a must-know technique. Not just to brush to the skin but also to prevent damage to the coat.
To teach your dog about brushing, I recommend figuring out a comfortable position to brush your dog. I usually brush my Akita on the ground and have her lay on her side. I ask her to switch sides. And then I have her stand to finish her brushing. I train the comfy positions first. I have my dog lay down and then I pet and praise them to teach them how to lay calmly. I then practice parting the hair as if I will start line-brushing. Once my dogs are comfortable, it is easy to add the brush. I recommend using a spray bottle with brushing spray to mist over the hair to protect it from damage.
Exams
I recommend practicing examinations on your dog. Not only practicing touching your dog all over, but also the common restraints they may experience in their life. For example, a common one is for the dog to be held across a person’s chest and for one hand to hold the head still and one hand to hold the body. Another one is to practice the dog standing still while another person touches the dog. Please review the video before to see different things to work on. It is more useful for the vets and groomers to have a dog who is cooperative and calm rather than a dog who is happy and wiggly or bouncy.
I examine my dog in a no-nonsense and purposeful way. I check their teeth and feel their bones and muscles under their coat. This is important because not only are you seeing what is normal or baseline for your dog, but if your hands are gentle, you are giving your dog a puppy massage. Many dogs like having their ears rubbed or their chest massaged. This has the added benefit of your dog learning that your touch is calm and soothing rather than always exciting.
“Poke the Puppy” Game
One of the games I play for the purposes of conditioning my dogs is the poke the puppy game. In order to play Poke the Puppy, your dog or puppy needs to know how to leave a pile of treats while you feed them one at a time and learn how to freely offer a stationing behavior like going on a mat, bed, or just a designated grooming area.
Here is the Poke the Puppy pattern.
Dog goes onto station, take out an open container of treats
If dog stays relaxed on their station, say “good” and pick up a treat and give it to the dog.
Say “OK, get it” and then throw a treat for the dog to chase
Wait for dog to return to the station. Pay attention to how the dog returns.
The step of the dog returning is how you decide how to proceed. If the dog returns promptly and without conflict stress, repeat but this time touch the dog. As you touch the dog, say “good” and pick up one treat from the open container of treats.
If the dog does not return promptly, use that as information for adjusting your approach. The dog is not so stressed that they are struggling or opting out because they trust that the pattern will always be the pattern: Hold still and get a “good” and a reward and then get to jump off of the station and chase a treat to resolve any conflicted feelings.
As your dog improves, you can choose to do more repetitions before “OK, get it” and throwing a treat to chase. Or you can increase the pressure/difficulty of Poke the Puppy. So, for example, if your dog is relaxed through having clippers touch their nails while you hold their paw, the next repetition, you can single out a toe and touch the nail with a clipper.
Conclusion
I recommend getting your dog used to grooming experiences because spending time conditioning grooming builds a habit in the dog of being more tolerant and cooperative to being handled. If the dog remains mindful and calm being handled, it’s easier to introduce gear like collars, leashes, harnesses without the dog fighting equipment. This makes it easier to train leash walking. Because a lot of grooming and handling is about being calm and relaxed while holding still, it makes it easier to teach solid stays and to have self-control.
The reason grooming is the first in-depth subject is because I believe it plays a huge part in socialization and shaping how your dog perceives the world, yet people often neglect this. Dogs will need to be groomed regularly for their entire lives. Rather than make grooming infrequent and traumatic, just make it a normal part of life.