Grooming Tips & Tricks- New Puppies

Hey, again , I'm Amanda and I'm a dog groomer. I'v been grooming for a little over 10 1/2 years. I wanted to make a couple blogs with some basic tips and tricks to help keep you're furry friend looking and feeling great. Today I wanted to discuss the importance of grooming for puppies!

Getting a new puppy can be a very exciting time. Theres lots of thing to do to prepare for your new friend. One thing that many new pet parents may overlook is the importance of grooming. Starting as soon as you get your puppy you should work on getting them use to the brush. Start off small and just brush a portion of them (puppies have very short attention spans so doing anything to long will be to much for a puppy) Make sure to give frequent rewards when your new friend allows you to brush them ( for more information on brushing and to find the proper brush for your breed of dog please see my other post https://steemit.com/pets/@justfordogz/grooming-tips-and-tricks-brushing.) Make sure to play with your dogs feet a lot when they are young, this will get then use to someone touching their feet to trim their nails later in life. If you have an electric toothbrush turn it on and use the butt of it on their paw pad, this will get them use to the feeling of a nail dremel. Both of these things are very important for pet parents to do at home, but it is also a good idea to get your dog used to going to the groomers, especially if they are a breed of dog that's going to need frequent haircuts. Getting your dog to the groomer as early as 8bweeks will help get your dog used to everything that's going to be going on during the grooming process. Lots of salons have puppy specials which include an introduction to different things in the salon that the puppy is going to have to get used to, many of these packages include bath, toenail trimming, ear cleaning, anal gland expression, and sometimes even tooth brushing. Your puppy's first time at the groomers maybe scary for them, you're dropping them off at a place where they don't know anyone and are in a new surrounding with lots of strange smells. Make sure you find a groomer who will be patient with your puppy and give them the most positive experience possible. Anytime I have a new puppy come into my salon I try to get them in and out in roughly an hour. These shorter visits will help instill trust and confedence in the puppy, that nothing scary or bad is going to happen while they are in this new place. I make sure I go slow with puppies and give them a chance to get used to everything that I'm doing to them, always keeping a positive, upbeat vibe going. If at anytime I see the puppy is too stressed or getting scared I'll give them a little break in the cage, even if it's just a few minutes. The first couple times you take your new puppy to the groomers it will probably be in your best interest to just get them a bath. All the things that are going on in the grooming salon are already a lot for your puppy to handle and trying to give them a full haircut on top of that can be to much stress for a puppy. The last thing you would want to do is to make your dog fearful of the groomer for later visits.





I hope that my post could help give you some information for your new puppy. Please feel free to ask any questions if you have them!