Grooming a New Puppy

All dogs need some form of grooming. The manner of grooming depends on your dog’s coat type which will determine how often brushing and bathing is required (see our section on Coat Types). But most importantly, Professional Pet Groomers work with sharp objects and noisy equipment.

Expectations

First time professional grooms are not meant to include scissoring or clipping the body. This is the time to introduce your puppy to the table, bath, blow dryer and equipment like clippers. At this time a maintenance groom is performed in which the area near the eyes and pads are cleaned out with clippers, nails trimmed, sanitary area clipped, bath, blowdry and brush. If puppies are confident and able, scissoring is introduced by scissoring the head and feet.

Timing

Timing is key to successfully prepare your puppy for the grooming salon and home maintenance. The first 16 weeks of your puppy’s life sets the stage for their entire life. During this time, their personality and behavior is highly influenced and formed by their experiences and environment.

According to Leslie Sinn, CPDT-KA, DVM, DACVB from Behavior Solutions for Pets, “This is the time that exposure to their environment establishes many of their behaviors. Socialization helps normal kittens and puppies learn to be at ease in their expected living environment through exposure to different humans, environments, surfaces, sights, and sounds and to novel objects.”

Puppies need to be exposed and trained with bathing, brushing and the entire professional grooming process immediately. The veterinarian community in many cases will contradict many breeder’s recommendations. As recommended by on of the top Veterinarian Schools, UC Davis School of Veterinarian Medicine, “The risk of your puppy developing serious behavior problems from being poorly socialized is far greater than that of infectious disease. But to be safe, only let your puppy interact with dogs that you know are physically and behaviorally healthy and vaccinated. In addition, don’t let him play in unclean environments”.

The issue of disease exposure is low as long as you find Professional Pet Groomers that requires all dogs over the age of 16 weeks that enter their facility to be vaccinated (assuring herd immunity) and that their facilities stay clean. If you are unsure about cleanliness, then check to make sure your state has a local Professional Pet Grooming Association which adheres to the National Professional Pet Groomers and Stylists Alliance (PPGSA) Standards of Care, Safety & Sanitation for Professional Pet Groomers & Stylists and visit the business for a tour.

Based on UC Davis and the AVSAB, We recommend scheduling your first grooming appointment by the time the puppy is 12-14 weeks old for an introduction to grooming.

Home Training

Preparing your puppy for the grooming should be a top priority. Professional Pet Groomers work with sharp objects! In a professional setting, your puppy will be exposed to a variety of unique sensations that you will not necessarily be able to fully mimic at home. The first 16 weeks are your most important for new experiences. This training has another advantage that most resources do not even mention. It helps prepare your puppy for veterinarian exams and for home grooming maintenance. Please note, crate training also helps reduce anxiety at both grooming and veterinarian visits.

Specialty Handling (standing on a table, gently holding the face while scissoring, brushing with various tools)
New Touch Sensations (water, brushing and clippers)
New Visual Sensations (clippers near the eyes, combs and brushes near the eyes and muzzle)
Loud Noises (clippers humming, nail grinder’s drill sound, and driers which sound like vacuum cleaners)
Vibrating Machines (clippers and nail grinders)

Specialty Handling

For all the handling techniques we recommend, use short intervals for training sessions and lots of small bite-size training treats. We will present each section using positive-reinforcement techniques as described in our Training Section under Resources.

Table Training

Most groomers and show handlers, teach puppies to stand on a table. When puppies and dogs refuse to stand, by continually sitting, laying down, or twirl around, it creates a very dangerous atmosphere. This type of fussy table behavior can lead to an unintentional serious accident. We recommend the following surfaces at home to start the process:

Table
Counter
Bed

Some sources recommend the floor or lap, but we are going to recommend avoiding this for now. When puppies are in your lap or on the floor, it usually represents cuddle or play time. We don’t want to send mixed messages. Groom time needs to be distinguished from play time.

Stand your puppy on the surface by gently supporting their body by placing your hand between their rear legs, underneath their rump while holding a training treat in the opposite hand slightly above their nose. Once they stand still and look at the treat say “yes”. Repeat this three times.

Next, place your puppy in a standing stance. If they immediately sit down, do not give them a treat and say “uh uh”. Put them back into a standing stance. The second the puppy does not attempt to sit down immediately say “yes” and reward with the treat. The more often you practice this, the longer your puppy will be able to stand.

Once your puppy gets comfortable standing on an elevated surface, we begin introducing the puppy to experience limb manipulation. Put your puppy in a standing, hold the treat above their nose. Reach down and gently hold one paw and say “foot”. If your puppy tries to wiggle your hand away just keep gently holding. Once the wiggling stops immediately say “yes” and reward with a treat. The goal is to teach your dog to stand and have their paw held or raised slightly. This prepares them for their pads being trimmed, nail trimming, scissoring in some cases, for veterinarian exams and for you being able to wipe or inspect your puppy’s pads later.

Face Holding

Mastering this technique not only allows your groomer to easily scissor your puppy’s face but also lets your vet conduct exams and allows you to clean the eyes and brush the face more easily.

Make sure you have plenty of training treats next to you. Use your non-dominant arm, elbow down and touching the work surface while you firmly but gently hold the hair under your puppy’s chin. Do not let go of your puppy’s chin while keeping your elbow firmly on the work surface. Most puppies will start pulling away and sometimes get vocal. Remember, your puppy is pulling away, and you are not tugging them. Say “uh uh”. The instance your puppy stops tugging, say “yes” and give a reward. The key is to wait them out patiently. This usually takes us a couple tries with lots of positive rewards for remaining calm while the face is held. Once your puppy makes the connection that good things happen when your puppy’s face is held, start gently brushing the head, first at the top and then at the sides. This will take a few times of practice but it is worth it.

After this has been mastered, hold the chin and gently rub the muzzle and area above the nose. This handling technique desensitizes your puppy so that you will be able to clean the eyes and allow your groomer to easily remove the hair from in front of the eyes.

Brushing

The tools needed for grooming vary greatly by the genetic coat type of your dog. To get your puppy use to brushing, use the same area you use for your table surface. Again, we want to distinguish between groom time and play time. Brushing is a texture that is foreign to puppies. The sensation on their skin is different and like human children, the more you brush the more the skin adjusts to the sensation.

Start off with allowing your puppy to sniff the brushing tool. When the puppy shows interest and sniffs say “yes” and give a reward. This creates a positive association with the brush.

Using a pin-tipped brush, brush your puppy in the direction the hair grows. Most coat types do not have the genetic ability to move in different directions easily. The goal is to use a technique professional pet groomers use called “line brushing”. Line brushing is a method in which the coat is brushed out in a consistent pattern. Consistency is key. Using a pattern allows you to speed up brushing versus a scattered approach. A basic “line brush” pattern is as follows:

Start at the back of the back base of the head working down the back toward the rump
Start at the rump on each side working down each rear leg on the outside and then the inside.
Start at the top of the shoulder working down each front leg on the outside and then inside.
Start under the chin and work down the neck and over the chest.
Brush the top of the head and then the outside and inside of each ear.
Brush from the side of the face down toward the muzzle on each side.
Brush from the front of the belly to the back

Most groomers hear clients say all the time that their dog has been brushed. In reality the back has been brushed but everywhere from the shoulder down, the muzzle, side of face and ears are forgotten or their dog does not allow these areas to be properly brushed.

The goal of the first brushing session is to associate brushing with a positive sensation. Start brushing your puppy use a light pressure while holding a treat above its nose. If your puppy does not wiggle or fuss, say “yes” and reward. If your puppy wiggles, lighten the touch and keep brushing until the puppy stops wiggling at which point you can say “yes” and give the reward. Another method groomers use when they start brushing puppies is to offered a hollow rubber toy with a filling added to distract the puppy and also create that association with positive reward.

Advance this training by adding more pressure while brushing to be able to have the brush grab the coat at the base of the skin and move upward. Another matting issue groomers run into is when a client “surface” brushes their dog. Surface brushing is when only the top portion coat is brushed and lower portion is completely ignored. Once your puppy gets use to more pressure start using a comb after brushing. Combs are key to most coat types. Combs will help you check for tangles and makes sure you brushed toward the base of the skin.

Regular brushing is incredibly important to make sure your puppy’s coat stays tangle/mat free and dead skin is removed.

Bathing

A great way to introduce your puppy to the bath is by smearing some peanut butter, wet food or cream cheese at neck height in the front of the tub. We recommend one spot and not all over the tub. In a professional setting, a dog that twirls around the tub, sits, lay down or moves away to the opposite side makes it harder to bath as well as it makes the process take longer.

Get a pitcher or small bucket full of slightly warmer then luke-warm water. We don’t want the temperature to be too cold to be uncomfortable or too hot to scold.

Place your puppy in the tub and let your puppy start licking the reward. A few seconds after your puppy starts licking the reward, gently pour the water on your puppy starting at the back of the neck and down toward the rump. Avoid the head. Most groomers use a gentle spray, shower hose to get the head and face. You want to avoid pouring water on top of the head so that it doesn’t run into the nose or ears. You can take a wash cloth to wash the face or using a smaller container pour small amounts on the side of the face (under the ear opening) to wash this area. Use a puppy or tear-less, pet formulated shampoo. Do not use human products which are not formulated for canine skin.

Thoroughly work in all all shampoo on every area of the body and use your finger tips to scrub sections just like you would your own hair. just placing shampoo on a dog will not necessarily get the scalp clean. Rinse and then use a separate conditioner working into the coat and rinsing. We always recommend a separate conditioner for most dog coats. Conditioners help with tangles and moistens the skin to prevent dry, flaky scalp.

Please note, wire coat breeds that are hand stripped should be wiped down with Witch Hazel and should not be bathed often. Conditioners should not be used with dogs that have wire coats and specific breeds with coarser guard coats.

Drying

Professional pet groomers use high velocity driers and huge stand driers. Both are loud. To help prepare your puppy for drying, have your puppy join you in the bathroom with the door closed while you dry your own hair. The goal is to get the puppy desensitized to the noise and to also learn by watching your reaction.

After a few times, start blowing the dryer using a cold setting on your dog while giving rewards, starting with the rear section of the body. Eventually working your way up toward the head. When drying the head, always aim the dryer from the back of the head forward or from above the head down. Do not point the hair dryer directly into the nose and face.

Once your puppy gets use to being blow-dried, we recommend then placing a vacuum cleaner outside the bathroom and turning it on for background noise to help sensitize to noise. We discourage using the vacuum as a play object. Dogs that bark or lung at vacuum will also do that to a groomer’s dryer creating a dangerous situation

Home Care Tips

Brushing: The key to brushing is making it a routine and making it an enjoyable habit.
- Puppies with hair will rotate into their adult coat which tangles and mats faster.
- Puppies with hair should be brushed daily especially focusing on the head, ears and tail.
- Puppies with hair should be brushed directly after the bath when wet. If you let your puppy air dry first, the hair starts to mat.
- Puppies that shed should be brushed weekly
Bathing: According to Dr. Cecilia Friberg, DVM formerly at Vetmed “there is no hard, fast rule to dog bathing” She recomends “bath when needed”, but has advised us to remind clients that because bathing can strip away healthy oils from the skin, especially with frequent washing, use a separate conditioner. Conditioning shampoos will not fully help replenish good oils that have been stripped away. There is a wise saying with human and animal dermatology regarding treatments - “when wet dry, when dry moisten”.
Drying. Puppies should be blot dried with the towel. Puppies with hair should not be rubbed with a towel or you will start to mat the coat.