EDWARD SCISSORHANDS!

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

 

 

Ginger will not let me brush her chest or tummy.  She cowers (?) down and I can hardly turn her over.  I can brush the rest of her okay..but the chest and sometimes she pulls back her front paws too and hides them.  I have used several different brushes and combs, so I don't think that it is the tool I am using.  My son can hold a treat up high and she looks up and tries to get the treat, and I can get a little donebut not as much is I like.  The funny thing is, if I don't have a brush in  hand, she is ALL tummy and I can run my fingers through snarls, without a problem.  SOmetimes I wish I was Edward Scissorhands so I could groom at a moments notice!!

 

Any suggestions...please!!!!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Both Ned and Clancy hide their paws when I brush them.

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

I know..it's cute, but frustrating at the same time!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Sasha and Oliver tuck their paws in as well, I can do their tummies OK but the front paws are a bit of a fight !!!  Do you groom Ginger on a grooming table?  I find that it helps... Oliver is very tall so I have him on  the grooming table and sit in a chair so he is taller than me and I just brush away !!!!  Also you might want to lay on the floor with her and play with her and rub her tummy then with the other hand brush her then play with her some more.  Make the brushing a fun thing so she associates the brushing with fun/treat time.  Always do something she likes before and after - and be persistant they will get it soon enough :)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I was just thinking about this very thing yesterday as I was brushing out the girls and thought that I should probably make a little video and  give my suggestions in the event that someone else might be having the same problem.  Lucy as never been a fan of having her front legs brushed.  I could get them done, but it always took me a little while because she kept pulling them from me.   What I have figured out is if I lay her down on the grooming table (if you don't have a grooming table, you can use any high surface will work).  For some reason being up on a high surface seems to help a lot.  Then, when I'm ready to do her tummy I just pick her up and lay her on her side.  It took treats to get this accomplished in the beginning, but now she is fine with it.  Once I have her on her side, she lays there like a rag doll, just totally limp and relaxed.  I can brush her tummy, get those arm pit areas and she even lets me do her front legs just fine when she is laying down.  Don't know what the difference is, but if that's what it takes, that works for me.  Sophie on the other hand was always a little difficult until I got the Les Poochs brush ... now as long as I have that brush she is fine.  Let her see you coming at her feet with a comb though and the battle is on.

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

I will try putting her on a higher surface..maybe because I am on the floor with her, she kinda has the "home field advantage"  Thank you for the advice!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm no help with this.  Guinness is a real trooper when it comes to grooming...he'll just lie there.  Murph fights me all the way...he has never met a comb or brush that he liked.  We go through lots of treats.

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

LOL

[Sandi]

I just sit on the floor with my dogs.  They lie next to me as I brush.

 

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

Ginger will stay next to me, she just "hides" all the parts I need to brush!  You are lucky!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I would like to be a Scissorhand too!! LOL Tara doesn't like her front legs brushed and she and I have come a long way teaching each other how to get the job done! I taught her what "right paw" and "left paw" mean and she knows when to give me her feet. We use LOTS of treats during grooming and I have to be very slow and respectful around her sensitive areas which include the front legs. She will let me know (usually with The Look) when I need to slow down or be more gentle. If I get too over-zealous on her front legs she will start flinching like I have the brush plugged into an electric outlet!! So, we are still working at it too!! 

She has much more accepting of the CC gold pin brush and the rolling tooth comb. I don't know what you are using but the tools can made a big difference for them.

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

Thank you for the suggestion on the brushes..I will look into them...i have not hear of a rolling tooth comb!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yeah, the comb is pretty cool actually. The teeth turn so they have more give to them then a regular comb and don't pull as easily. Here is an example of what mine loos like.  I think they come in course, medium, fine.

http://www.lucysdoghouse.net/bamboorotatingfinetoothcomb.html