Puppy's First Grooming

[Laura and Angus]

Hi there everyone!

So I made an appointment for Angus to get his first grooming on Friday - he'll be 18 weeks. He's going to get a full grooming - scissor trim, nail clipping, ear cleaning, etc etc.Does anyone out there have any recommendations for how I might ease him into first visit? He'll be staying at the grooming place for 4 hours, so I want to make sure he's prepared. Should I take him over there this week to check it out and sniff around?

What did you all do for the first grooming? I'm a nervous puppy mom over here... 

Thanks in advance!!

[Chris & Abby]

I took Abby every 2 weeks for a bath/blow & brush, nails, ears/ sanitary trim. I started at about 15 weeks. The groomer offered this at a very low price if we came every two weeks to get the pup used to the salon, groomer and being worked on. She just had her first full groom with hair cutting at 25 weeks and Abby did great. Since Angus hasn't been there, I would definitely take him for a look sniff around. It can only help! Good luck to you and Angus.

[Laura and Angus]

Thanks :) That's what I was thinking. I'll definitely plan to do that this week!

[Teresa Joyce]

Hi Laura, I am a groomer and own a cage free salon. For first time grooms or new clients, I schedule an extra half an hour so that the newbie can just check out the shop and get use to me before the bath and grooming session. I would call the salon that you have booked the appointment at and see if they have already added extra "get to know you time in your appointment".  If not and you decide to go over, it might be a good idea  if you call and set a time as it would be best to do it when the salon is not super busy and the groomer can give you a little time.  Good luck!! 

[Laura and Angus]

Oh that's a good point. Maybe I will see if we can come in together early, so I can ease him in to the groomer situation. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I just took Ned and Clancy, but for our very hyper Springer, I gave him something to calm him.  This was both for the groomer to be able to work on him and to help him chill his hyperness.

[Laura and Angus]

Hmmm...good point. What did you give him? Something like Benadryl? 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Lucy's first professional groom was just a shampoo, blow dry, face detail and sanitary trim. By the time she had a full groom a month later, she did fine. Before Oscar's first professional groom, he'd had plenty of home grooms, including baths and blow drys, and he'd done so well that I'd scheduled him in for a clipper cut that first pro groom. All the people at the groomer's commented on how mellow and easy going he was upon arriving to pick him up. If you have a 'spirited' doodle, I'd suggest taking him in prior to get him accustomed to all the people, sounds and handling. It might not be a bad idea to schedule some light grooming too, before the full groom.

[Laura and Angus]

So we've bathed Angus a few times, cleaned his ears, brushed his teeth, cleaned his eyes, and brushed his fur. He's used to a fair amount of handling and poking and prodding form us at home. I've also clipped the hair on his face a little bit to get it out of his eyes, so he could see. He would not, however, let us blow dry him. I would love to get a "light grooming" in advance, but he really needs to have his ears cleaned out, sanitary trim, and nail trimming. His ears have a lot of hair and thus build up wax and have been bothering him lately. I definitely think I will try to get there early with him to mill around and/or take him there in advance to let him check it out and get used to the sounds and whatnot. Thanks so much for the great advice! I appreciate it :)   

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Ears cleaned, sanitary trim and nail trimming are all considered a light groom. A full groom includes all that, plus a bath and blow dry, as well as a clipper and/or scissor cut. Whatever you decide, I'm sure Angus will do fine. Many good groomers will only go as far with a groom as 'first timers' allow, meaning, they take the dog's subtle signals that they've had enough, and stop at that point.

I'm curious. Did you use a regular hair dryer on Angus or a high velocity pet dryer? My 2 hate regular blow dryers, but are very tolerant of the HVD.