How can I get my dog used to grooming or ‘handling’? - Seven easy tricks

What dog parent are you? The “My dog enjoys his grooming sessions” or the “he just doesn’t sit still. It’s so difficult to bathe him!” 

Very few would be the former ones, and would either have been lucky or worked hard to train their dogs. 

And if you are the latter one, you can definitely make your dog comfortable with grooming sessions by keeping these easy tips in mind:

1. First of all, understand that everything will happen gradually

There are a lot of ways in which you can teach your dog. But to expect overnight results is not fair to your dog. You’ll have to be consistent.

To make sure that you stick to the routine of training your dog, set up reminders on the Sploot app.

2. Start with basic grooming

Assign them a mat, and once they sit on it, you can brush their hair, or clean their ears. In between the sessions, keep giving them treats and rewards.

3. Give them freedom

As soon as they want to get up and go, let them. That is how you can build trust with them.

4. Make him comfortable with handling/touching

For your dog to get comfortable with bathing, the first step would be to make him get comfortable with your touching and washing him. Start with washing or cleaning his paws and neck after every walk, or simply just touching them every now and then. 

5. Make them walk into a space by using targeting

To make them sit on a mat, or make them enter the bathroom to get their paws cleaned, will help you. The nose touch trick is of great use in this scenario. You can find more about it here.

6. Reward them 

To make it a positive association, reward them. The only thing you’ll need to keep in mind here is that you should reward at the correct time, which is after the action is complete. 

7. Generalise in all situations

Make him practise the behaviour in every kind of environment. So that if on any day, they encounter another person or situation, they must be comfortable with it.

Now that you know the tricks, don’t you think it’s easy? Go ahead then, and remember to keep your patience!