This video goes over all the steps to teaching a puppy to be relaxed and confident with handling and grooming. This video is not for adult dogs as with adult dogs different steps are needed to create a safe and fun training environment. Here is a link to grooming training tips for dogs of all ages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCJ0wh5cxi4

Here are the steps I will be covering in this video:

Puppy Handling Protocol

Step 1 Touch and feed a treat at the same time
Step 2 Touch your puppy, say “Good” or click and then move to feed a treat
Step 3 Add duration to the handling and teach the puppy to ignore the treats
Step 4 Keep changing the picture


Puppy Grooming Protocol

Step 1 Condition a positive emotional response to the grooming tools using training games that don’t involve grooming
• Grooming tool recall game
• Play training games where the tools are present
Step 2 Practice the handling that will be necessary during grooming before incorporating the tools
Step 3 Touch with the grooming tool and feed a treat at the same time
Step 4 Touch your puppy with the tool, say “Good” or click and then move to feed a treat
Step 5 Increase difficulty and duration in small approximations
Step 6 Keep changing the picture

Helpful behaviors to work on to aide with handling and grooming:

• Take treats nicely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXDWbtx44b8
• Default leave it from treat container https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re66qOiso28
• Sit, stand or settle calmly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr1olzgidMw
• Go to a mat or platform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2c5EkytNU0
• Targeting behaviors such as the chin rest and paw targeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9tOdmJLVl0
• Eye contact https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ASIKw-urY
• Relationship building games like the attention game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiziN7mluz8

If the puppy shows any signs of discomfort or dislike during either the handling or the grooming go back to a step to where the puppy is comfortable or work on some behaviors your puppy loves doing to take a break. All puppies are different but some common signs of discomfort are turning the head away, looking away, holding ears lower or back, licking the lips, ducking, lowering the body, withdrawing paw, backing away, putting the tail lower, tension in the body and arching the back.

Don’t panic if you see your dog offering these signs as you raise criteria, as sometimes they are unavoidable. The signals are just information to the trainer to break the steps up smaller or add variety to the training. For example if the dog’s toes are repeatedly being restrained in the training session it can cause the dog to find it an unpleasant experience even when getting a treat every time. So instead you can sometimes ask for high five, as well as sometimes just stroke the paw, sometimes lift it up and down and only 1 out of five to ten times restrain and hold the paw.

If the puppy needs to be groomed before the training is complete, choose a moment when the puppy is calm and let the puppy chew on a high value chew as you work. This is easier if you have a helper. It might be necessary to only do a portion of the grooming at a time, for example just one or two nails or brush just one part of the puppy to keep the puppy from having a negative experience.

Dogs can sometimes feel physical discomfort during grooming or veterinary care, for example if hair gets pulled, a nail bed is sore, the dog gets pushed off balance, the dog has pain in his body or a needle is used. A technique I learned from Ken Ramirez is to vary the training that is involved for procedures that can be uncomfortable for the animal. You can do this by teaching a puppy that something novel will happen during the grooming and handling procedures. To do this practice stroking, scratching, brushing, gentle poking and on the rare occasion a giving rabies shot or having to use a thermometer, rather than simply repeating something physically uncomfortable. Varying what you do will make it less likely for setbacks when something unexpected happens.

Check to see if your puppy is a willing participant by moving away from him or tossing a treat further away from you. If he is reluctant to move toward you after eating the treat it means you need to change your training plan.


A big thank you to:
The extremely talented trainer, Lisette and her Goldendoodle puppy Lucy

and Ansel the German Shepherd puppy for starring in this video.

Lisette and Lucy have their own instagram page with lots of cool training tips here: https://www.instagram.com/lucythepartidoodle/


#dogtraining #puppytraining #professionaldogtraining