Introducing Your Dog To Nail Clipping And Brushing

Parenting a dog is no less than parenting a toddler. They can be mischievous yet fill your heart with overwhelming emotions.

As much as you love to play with your pet, you need to teach him good grooming habits too.

Note that grooming etiquettes are a part of your parenting regime.

However, you should know that dogs, like all other animals, tend to avoid grooming. It’s not always what the popular TV shows and movies depict – No dogs don’t necessarily love grooming.

So, as a parent, you need to introduce your dog to some essential grooming habits. And, also make sure that they love it.

To keep it simple, we will only focus on two aspects of grooming – nail clipping and brushing.

Introducing Your Dog To Nail Clipping

Before you start clipping your dog’s nails, you would need to let your dog make friends with clippers.

Usually, dogs can get aggressive when their nails are clipped off. They have a natural tolerance for outgrown nails. But, you know it’s not healthy for your pet and you too.

Besides, clipping nails is not so easy. One wrong move, and you can end up hurting your dog, causing pain and bleeding.

Nonetheless, here are a few tricks that you can try to introduce your dog to the clippers.

• Try placing your clipper on the ground and put some treats around it. The treats would invite your dog and let him familiarize himself with the clippers simultaneously.
• Next, once your dog is familiar with the clipper, you can try desensitizing him about the clippers. Take it close to their paw nails and reward them with a treat. You can try jerky for dogs or any other treat that your dog loves.
• When it seems your dog is not afraid of the clippers anymore, you can try cutting small bits off their nails. This should slowly make them fearless about nail clipping.

Introducing Your Dog To Hair Brushing

Well, for starters, it is easier to introduce hair brushing to your dog than nail clipping. 

Most dogs usually like it when they are brushed. In fact, they do it naturally by licking their paws and belly all the time.

Nonetheless, you know it brushing is the more hygienic way to do it.

Keeping that in mind, here’s how you can introduce your dog to hair brushing.

• You can start the same way with a hairbrush like you introduced your dog to the clippers- put it on the ground and spread a few treats around it.
• Once you know your dog is not afraid of the brush, you can start reaching your dog with the brush. Keep a check on their reaction when they see a brush coming close.
• In the end, you can simply make contact- touch the brush to your dog’s fur and groom. However, when brushing for the first time, make sure you don’t do it too aggressively. Aggressive or harsh brushing can break the bond and make your dog hate brushing. In short, the first experience with brushing should be a soothing one, and you as a parent need to ensure that it is.

To sum it up, teaching your dog grooming etiquette is not as difficult as it may seem at first. With a few considerations towards your dog’s behavior and letting them make friends with the grooming equipment is the first and the most crucial step in this regard.

So, use the tips mentioned above if you are a new parent or have had a pet dog for the first time.