Bentley hates being groomed

[Susan and Bentley]

I have a wonderful groomer who comes to the house.  She's been coming since Bentley was about 8 months old.  He is a year and a half.  He always growls a little when she starts, sometimes she starts with a muzzle on him, and then he calms down and lets her do her thing.  The last time she came,he was having some stomach issues, and he would not stand still and was  very unhappy so she stopped and came back 2 days later to finish, and he wasn't great.  Well, today, he started out fine but then he just lost is.  He was snarling and growling, and snapping.  She had to leave and I called the vet to get a sedative so she can come back on Monday.  I thought as time went on he'd get better, not worse.  He lets me comb him, no problem.  Any advice?

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

Sounds like he thinks he intimidated her into stopping, even if that wasn't the case. Now he thinks he has the upper hand and is escalating. Very specific behaviour modification training might be needed.

[Suzanne Newman]

Susan, 

My hunch is that you are having it done "at home."  They think they can push the boundaries when they are on their own turf, and thus, when they are outside the confines of their own territory, and they see other dogs being groomed, it's a different energy.  

You may want to try taking Bentley to a groomer where he can see other dogs being groomed and see what happens.  

[Susan and Bentley]

Suzanne that makes sense

[Suzanne Newman]

Susan,

I have seen my Whidbey have much more indigence and disobedience when I tell her things like "sit", or "get down", etc.  They think they have us snowballed, and they will naturally push the envelope.  If they think they have the upper hand, they aren't stupid.. LOL

Another thought- How much exercise does Bentley get before his grooming?  If you wear him out first, and THEN take him to a groomer, a lot of the pent up energy inside of him will be dissipated.  That also will reduce the need to get nasty and just give up and win.  

I am thinking if you take an exhausted Bentley to a new environment to be groomed, you might have a very different outcome. 

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

I used to groom and the master groomer and the shop owner used to give me the 'difficult' clients. Then they were perplexed when screamers didn't scream, growlers didn't growl, biters didn't bite. Because I practice reiki and Tellington Touch (T-touch) the so-called difficult clients were not at all difficult in my care. I also had to single-handedly shave matted cats. Yikes! Respect, love, patience and a calming touch are necessary for 'difficult' groomees. My mentor was a muzzle user. She was not interested in building a relationship of trust. So every time those 'difficult' clients returned they were full of stress on her grooming table. Kindness is fairly rare in the grooming profession, but I'd look for a groomer who cares more about the welfare of her 4-legged clients. That's my opinion.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Deb - I so agree with you!  If my groomer had to muzzle either of mine, I would be looking for another groomer.  My doodle Charlie has always had extremely sensitive front legs and feet and tail.  He will sometimes give me a little growl or whimper when I am brushing him and hit a little snag or am pulling a bit.  I wonder if some people and animals are sensitive to hair pulling!  I know my daughter is!  I do brush his head, ears and tail daily so there are no tangles when he goes to the groomer which helps.  My groomer tells me even though he comes in great condition, he still require a little extra TLC.  I can tell she is crazy about him and he loves to go see her.  I am thankful that my groomer owns her own business and truly enjoys grooming.

[Susan and Bentley]

I would love to know more about t-touch and reiki!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Since he is comfortable with you working on him would you consider grooming him yourself? You can learn all you need to know about home grooming right here on DK! :)

Since he has always been afraid of being groomed by a stranger it may be a fear response rather than a territorial response and in that case taking him to a grooming salon could be worse for him. But I guess you won't know until you try it.  Is it a specific step in the grooming process that upsets him? Some piece of equipment that you could desensitize him to? Does she groom him in your house or does she have some sort of mobile grooming unit? If so perhaps it scares him.  Just tossing some thoughts out...I'm sure it is upsetting for you to see him so upset...hope you can find a solution for the little guy.

[Susan and Bentley]

I am terrible with cutting, grooming - I would never even attempt it!  I do think he's more comfortable at home, which is why we chose to have her come here - she does it in my house.  It was when she got to his front legs that he went crazy - and he does chew at them every morning even though there's nothing there.   I don't blame her for the muzzle though, he would have bitten her.  As a puppy, he didn't like being picked up or held too close.  He lets us do it now, but not people he doesn't know well.  Ugh, I  just don't know.  The groomer is really  nice and she does love him.  She was surprised at him today, and I think she got flustered.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

LOL! Well, many of us started out terrible and learned by trial and error! Fortunately, doodle hair is great at hiding flaws! :) I groom Tara and find it to be a bonding time for us. She really was very stressed at a groomers. She is sensitive like Bentley especially about her front legs but has gotten much better with time-I work with them a lot to that end.  Deb has some great ideas about using calming techniques on the groomees. Perhaps you could schedule an extended session for him so she can slow down and move at a pace that he is comfortable with and she could use some T-touch techniques on him. I've used this on animals with great success too. Maybe she would be willing to learn it or you could learn it is show her what touches work to calm him. I agree with her that drugs and muzzles shouldn't have to be a part of grooming. It sounds like she is a nice person so perhaps she will be willing to think outside the box to help Bentley.

[Susan and Bentley]

can you tell me what t-touch is? 

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

Tellington Touch is a form of therapy designed by Linda Tellington of Vernon BC. It like a laying on of hands with very minor pressure in specific ways. The idea is to send different messages to the brain via the small nerves close to the skin. You can read about it on line. I took a course from Linda's sister Robyn a few years ago. The leash work was particularly interesting to me.