A Puppy's First Groom and What to Expect!

Your family has grown by one furry friend! A lot goes into bringing home a new puppy. You need to learn so many things about each other, along with training and tricks! Sit, lay down, wait, and now get groomed! Did you know that the grooming process for puppies also takes training? It starts at home and continues inside the salon.

We highly recommend getting your pet into grooming as soon as possible, even as early as 12 weeks! Getting them in early and making regular salon visits helps desensitize them to the process, letting them know grooming isn't so scary! A lot goes into grooming, and there are so many new sounds and sensations your puppy hasn't experienced before. It's normal for dogs to be afraid of the water and dryers at first, even the feeling of the clippers vibrating on their skin! The more often they come to the salon during that critical developmental stage, the better chance we have of making sure they know the salon is safe.

What Should I Do at Home to Prepare My Puppy for Their Groom?

Training starts at home! You can do a few different things to help get your puppy ready for grooming. Before you start, make sure you have lots of high-value treats and patience! They have a lifetime of being bathed and groomed ahead of them, so patience and treats are the keys to ensuring they don't get overwhelmed. We always recommend starting with brushing their body and touching their feet. They need to get used to the feeling of being worked on; run your brush down them and give them treats! It's good to make brushing a routine habit. If there's one thing a dog will wiggle around for, it will be their feet. We recommend just holding their paws and giving them treats. Try not to turn any of this training into a game of biting; when they bite you at home, they will bite their groomer!

Some tools you can use for desensitization:

• Brush - To brush them at home.

• Spoon - You can use the spoon's handle to hold it around their face and eyes, acting like your groomer is putting shears around their faces.

• Electric toothbrush - run this on their backs to simulate the feeling of clippers on their back.

It's important to remember not to overdo grooming training at home. For the same reasons as inside the salon, we don't want to push them through things they aren't comfortable with, as this can cause the opposite reaction to what we want. Small doses of this training can set your puppy up for success!

What to Expect at the Salon

When dogs come in for the first time, we usually try to keep the appointments as short as possible; we want to "dip their toes" into the grooming experience! These short appointments expose them to things they might find scary and help desensitize them over time. During the first visit, even the first few visits, it's normal for a puppy not to be able to handle the whole grooming process. They are babies, after all! We want to avoid forcing them through any part of the grooming experience; this can make them afraid of grooming for life. Our velocity dryers can be loud and intimidating at first; they may not be able to be dried the first few times! The clippers can be noisy, and the vibrating sensation can be overstimulating. Instead of shooting for an all-over groom, we recommend doing face, feet, and sanitary trims! Face, feet, and sanitary trims introduce the clippers to them in small amounts so they can slowly get used to the sensation. Once they start to understand the clippers aren't going to hurt them, we can start trying to get full haircuts finished!

The next step is to book an appointment for your pup! Call our salon at (360)900-4551 or book online at rainydaygrooming.com. Let's set your puppy up for success!