brushing is not fun

[Gina]

so lately, Fozzie has decided that he doesn't like me to brush him. It is a huge bummer because he has really thick hair, that is semi curly, that Mattes on his fron end, especially around his head...so lately, I have had to try and catch him when I have the energy to fight with him, try to comb through what I can, cut out what I can? Does anyone have advice on making this a more pleasant experience? He tries to chew my hands up the entire time I attempt to brush him, and his coat is taking the beating, its getting more matted by the day.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

My Jack loves to be brushed so much that he will actually bring me the brush on occaision. Ginger on the other hand is not a fan of it at all. I have found that if I wait until she is tired after an activity, or laying down, I can sit next to her and start by brushing her back which she likes and every 2 or 3 strokes go up to her head, which she doesn't like. I go very slow and sneeky and many times she doesn't realize what's happening. I coo to her the whole time and steer away from her ears, which is the hardest to brush. Doing this over time has made her tolerate the brushing better. They think it's a game if you chase them with the brush.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I do the same thing...wait til Blake's passed out and brush him out one side at a time...lol by the way Doodle Pose offers a perfect opportunity to get the belly and chest.....

[Tamara & Giada]

I keep mine short, so we don't really have to brush much!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I also had this problem with my poodle, who had been bred for show and had an extremely profuse, woolly coat. Along with what the others have said about waiting until they are tired & lying down, I would give her a marrow bone to chew while I was brushing her. If she ran away from me, she lost the bone. But it was still a struggle for her entire life. I have never had a dog who liked being brushed, but with a poodle-y type of coat, you've got to get down to the skin frequently or you will get horrible matting.
I hate to see dogs with gorgeous non-shedding coats shaved down for convenience sake, but you may have to keep Fozzie a bit shorter. You can leave the facial hair longer, and the hair around his face (I love the shaggy dog look, I think that's what makes them so cute!) and maybe have the rest of him trimmed down a little bit. As Tamara said, it does help keep the matting to a minimum.

[Sarah]

My Leisel is on the curly side and we've also found that we have to keep the coat relatively short to avoid the matting. During the winter I keep it a little longer for warmth, but in the summer it is short and the face is a bit longer. When we brush her, I close the door to the laundry room and she stands very still for me in there ( I think because it is a quiet place and the kids are not in there) and gets a treat when she is done.

[Adina P]

How old is Fozzie? Rosco had a hard time with brushing combing when he was a younger dog. One thing that helped him was me by Chris Christensen brush. However the kind I have isn't really for de-matting a matted coat.

If he really is matting up bad, it might be best to take him to a professional to get everything fixed. And once he's cut shorter, and brushing no longer hurts because there's no matts... Then you can start over and help him to love getting brushed and combed. In the meantime, use some amazingly delicious treats to reward him for even touching to brush or comb to his fur. As he tolerates that, only reward him for a light brushing or combing in an area that's less matted. And move on from there a tiny bit at a time.

[Elmo the Bear]

Elmo gets a brush by Caroline once a week at least and we also have him groomed every few months. He doesn't really like it that much but has got more and more used to it. I think it helps that the professional groomer is so, so patient with him.

[Gina]

You are all so sweet for the comments! I welcome the suggestions! I actually never thought of using the gentle leader while I brushed him...he too has a complete change of personality when we put it on him, all of his playfulness is turned into complete "business" with the leader on, I am definitely going to try that. Our groomer told us that he LOVED to get groomed the first time we took him, we cut him short so as to "start over" with the few mattes he had. The only place we are having issues is around his cheeks, his hair is REAL thick there...and he HATES to be brushed there. I am trying to get them out myself, but may resort to just getting him cut down again, and starting over one more time. I also will try to kong, never thought of filling that up prior to a brushing! Thank you all so so much!

[Tom Higgins]

Hi Gina - Have you tried a Les Poochs brush yet? Our Shiloh hated to be brushed until we switched to these brushes. Shiloh has a combination wool/fleece coat which mats easily. We have to give him a full brush out at least twice weekly to stay on top of things. We've also found that a creme rinse after a shampoo helps as well.

In the interests of full disclosure, my partner runs a business that sells them, so I encourage you to ask around to verify my thoughts on the topic. The brushes are available from multiple sources. But, they are by far the best tool we've found to manage the coats of our four ALDs. The brushes are not inexpensive but are worth their weight in gold in my opinion.

Good luck!

[Gina]

I have not? Are they sold all over?

[Tom Higgins]

You may be able to find them locally from groomers or breeders. They are also available over the web. Just search Les Poochs Brush on Google & you should see several options.

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

how old is Fozzie? Dexter gave us so much trouble for a long time. However all of a sudden after he hit 2 he got much better and now hardly every tries to run away :) We did use treats for awhile and that seemed to help. He still doesn't like it, but will sit/lay calmly and let me do it.

Oh - I found the following to work well...Start with the body, then go to the back legs and paws, then go to the front legs and paws, then brush the chest and finally the head. Dex hates having his chest and head brushed most so if I do those last it seems to be better.