Whether you’re a first-time puppy parent or adding another puppy to your furry family tree, there is always an opportunity to learn how to prepare your pup for the world that lies ahead of them. One of the biggest responsibilities of being a dog parent is taking care of your puppy’s health and comfortability with regular grooming sessions. Grooming is one of the essential elements of basic care for the health and wellness of your pup – no matter their coat length or type. Dog grooming can help promote healthy skin, coat, and nails while eliminating odors, matting, shedding, and identify potentially severe health conditions before they put your pup at risk. Maintaining a regular groom schedule also helps beyond the surface by promoting positive behavior, supporting emotional wellbeing, and can aid in developing a well-rounded, socialized pup for a lifetime to come. A pup’s initial groom experience is one of the most important, as it can set the stage for how they respond to being groomed for the rest of their life. To help your puppy prepare for their future grooming services, you can practice several handling techniques at home to ensure a smooth transition into the grooming salon, and so you and your puppy get the most out of every trip.

Introducing a Brush

Brushing your puppy’s coat is a great start to introducing the groom process. Using a soft groom brush, begin brushing their body with the back of the brush to help them become familiar with the strokes and pressure of brushing. As you’re doing this first step, include lots of praise and high value treats to reward them for being so brave – This will help build a positive association with the brushing process. Once your pup is comfortable with the back of the brush, begin turning the brush around and work in small areas for no more than 15 minutes at a time. Brushing in increments, with praise and breaks in between, is key to helping them understand the temporary nature of each brushing session so they can quickly get back to doing more important puppy things.

Nail Trimming

Most pups are not fond of having their toes fondled with, but with practice you can help them tolerate having their nails trimmed with one simple technique at home – As you’re lounging on the couch or cuddling in bed, start holding your puppy’s very delicate paws. Once they become comfortable with you holding their paws for a few moments at a time, take a step further and apply light pressure to their nail beds and paw pads. With consistency, praise, and high value treats, practicing this simple technique at home will build positive association behaviors for their future nail trims and in-turn build a tolerance to their toe beans being touched.

Holding Their Face

Helping your puppy learn to have their face held and worked around is another important part of introducing the groom process. Your puppy will need to learn to have their ears and eyes cleaned, and maybe even their face floof trimmed, if they are comfortable and confident with having hands around their face. The face is a very delicate area for puppies and the earlier you can introduce proper face handling, the more confident they will be during the grooming process. To help them practice, lightly hold your puppy by the chin and brush your fingers around the eyes, ears and visor to better acclimate them to having their faces washed and/or trimmed.

Key Takeaways

• Each of these techniques should be practiced in short 15–20-minute increments with lots of praise and high value treats to help reinforce positive behaviors.

• Keep your pup’s learning environment in mind – it’s important to practice these sessions in a quiet area of your home with minimal distractions for both you and your puppy.

• Always conclude your session with high value treats, lots of praise, letting them go outside to play, toss around a new toy, or snuggle for cuddles – further reinforcing the idea that they will be rewarded with some of their favorite activities when they learn to be patient and confident for the grooming process.