Some brushes, combs, and HAIR!

Training a puppy to be brushed and groomed is an important part of growing up puppies on any persuasion but is absolutely essential for the dog that you will be showing. For one thing, unless the dog is short coated, it will require that it be brushed or groomed throughout it's life. Even a short coated dog needs to learn that it's ears and feet will be handled. So you should begin working with your puppy on a daily basis so that it comes to accept handling of its ears, mouth, feet, and all parts of its body with out fussing.

You should have a grooming table. Especially if your dog is a small dog. Especially if your dog is a BIG dog! You NEED to have a grooming table. Brushing your dog out on the floor does NOT work at dog shows! But you can start out training him, if you must, on the floor.

It is best to wait until the puppy is relaxed, ready to doze off. At that time you should settle with the puppy, perhaps in your lap, on the floor. Simply begin by touching his body, fooling with his ears, picking up his feet, touching the tips of the nails, etc. Do this on a daily basis for at least a week before you actually begin using "tools" such as a brush or a comb.

Puppies with long coats will do best if you brush them every day. It is good to use an antibacterial wipe to clean out the ears. Use dampened paper towels to wipe out the eyes.

Introduce the toe nail clippers gradually and clip one toenail a day, gradually building up to more. Give treats liberally, give verbal praise liberally, let the puppy come to understand that grooming is a special time when you are paying absolute attention to him.

Be sure that you have the right tools for grooming. Steel combs with the right kinds of teeth, wire brushes, slicker brushes, grooming gloves, shedding rakes, etc. The selection of tools will depend upon the breed of your puppy but some things are necessities for any breed: nail clippers or grinders, toothbrush and toothpaste, (yes , you MUST keep your puppy’s teeth clean!) (or regular visits to the vet for this process), spray bottle with plain water or a mixture of listerine and water for “misting”, wipe down towels and grooming scissors. For some breeds you may need thinning shears and/or clippers. A really great thing to keep handy is a spray bottle with a fine sprayer. On a hot day you can "mist" your dog. Just before you brush, you should lightly mist the dog's coat, and mist as you brush, It is better for the coat and prevents the hair from breaking. For some breeds such as the pekingese and the maltese, a fine light oil is sprayed and some handlers also use a fine dusting of powder, all of this is to keep the coat from drying out. Some breeds will have "snoods" for the ears, to keep the hair ends from breaking or splitting. Your breeder can show you how to care and condition your puppy's coat. Even short coated breeds do have requirements, some of the terriers have "stripping" knives rather than clippers or combs.

It is great for a long coated breed to have a dryer, and if you do have one, start training your puppy early to get used to the dryer. Be patient and allow him to just hear it at first, then begin by just letting the air from the dryer touch at his rear, while he is getting “cookies” up front. (It helps to have an assistant for this). Gradually move the dryer up farther along his body and give plenty of praise and reward. If your dog is long coated, you May find that if you do NOT have a dryer or table, that you will just be better off paying to have your dog groomed at the show. Usually there are such groomers available or handlers will do it also, for a fee. Of course, in the end, you May hire a handler anyhow. But it still pays to have your dog trained as well as you can to be groomed on a regular basis.

When you are grooming your puppy, never allow him to nip at you or at the grooming tools. Be fair and above all be consistent. Should he nip or paw at you to remove the offending tool, quickly correct him, first with your voice and also with a sharp tap on the shoulder or muzzle, just once, to remind him that you do not approve of his behavior. a "scruff pinch" is also okay if necessary. Remember always that human responses such as slapping, yelling, etc., are exactly that: "human" in nature. Use the body language his mother would use, growling and pressure or small nips (hence the scruff pinch).

I will admit here to one small relapse that I had one time. I had a large nine month old male newfoundland who REFUSED to stay on the grooming table. Took four people to groom him at a dog show! I took him home from that show,told him "You have GOT to learn to stay on the table" and I set the table up in the middle of the living room floor. Got him up there and started to groom him. He jumped off. I screamed, yelled, threw the brush, stomped my feet, and threw a temper tantrum. (didn't touch the dog!) he ran and hid under the bed. Of course he didnt fit, only his head was under there, but he thought he was safe! I went in and got him, put him back on the grooming table, and began to brush him. He quivered all over and trembled....but he never jumped off again! (Moral: Sometimes "human" body language works just fine! )

If you keep up with daily grooming sessions it will be a short jump to bathing, clipping, etc. and all of these will be commonplace in his life as he reaches adulthood. So might as well make this be a
PLEASANT experience for all concerned. Speaking of bathing, it is never a good idea to bathe your dog with the garden hose. The water is usually much too cold. Always try to bathe the dog with a mixture of both warm and cool water. This can be accomplished by simply connecting a double hose connector to the hot and cold faucets and run the two out through the end of one hose with a spray attachment. You can rig up most anything if you have a mind to. But the TRUE dog show enthusiast will have a regular bath setup in the basement or outdoors or both!

I mentioned dryers earlier... . They come in all sizes and shapes. Some are on tall stands, so you can aim a nozzle at the dog and have both hands free to brush and blow at the same time. Some are the hand held variety. And some are double motors and very very powerful. When you set up in the grooming area at a dog show, it can be crowded, with hardly any room to move, and crates stacked on top of each other. There are always dryers blowing. Get your puppy used to this noise and confusion ahead of time if at all possible.

the kitchen sink will work in a pinch

next page: showing "tricks" and "tips"