How to know when to stop brushing your dog
Dog Grooming The Secret To Brushing Your Puppy
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if you're like most people you probably
haven't had great luck in brushing your
dog now i mean maybe the tolerance is
there but she's not like really happy
about it that's how it goes for most
people but it doesn't have to be that
way this week's video is going to really
help you with the basic tasks that all
dog owners have to do brushing now with
the help of the students in my online
course we are going to get your dog
loving this activity and i'll answer
some of the common questions about the
best types of brushes and how often you
should be doing it now i used to work as
a dog groomer so i've got some
experience to share with you today
michelle here with how to train a dream
dog
[Music]
did it surprise you when i said i used
to groom dogs for a living did you think
i was only a dog trainer i've actually
done a lot of things with dogs including
boarding training for tv commercials
grooming and even running an exercise
gym for dogs i'm gonna probably keep
surprising you with all the experience i
have when it comes to dogs so if you
want to get notified when i share more
great stuff from all my experience hit
that subscribe button now before we talk
about brushing i want to dig into those
pictures we saw earlier this is going to
be a great lesson in body language
understanding the body language of a dog
is actually one of my favorite lessons
to teach our students and we have a
pretty intensive lesson on it in my
online course my students loved it so
much we created additional mini lessons
in the course now in those lessons we
review different body parts on your dog
and what each one might be telling you
it's a lot more detailed and it's super
interesting but today i'm just going to
point out a few things that i noticed
from these pictures so take a look at
this one now i see the eyes are closed
the tight facial muscles the leaning
away and in the extremely flat tongue
and he's panting these are all signs of
stress and discomfort so check out this
picture here this dog is actually
looking away which is his way of saying
i'm not a threat but you're making me
uncomfortable the whale eye and the
rigid body and the ears pinned back also
indicate that he's really stressed now
this one might seem like the dog is
smiling so he's okay right
nope he's actually got a closed eye a
wide mouth he's panting with a tongue
far out and he's actually looks like
he's leaning away all signs of stress
now if i were the groomer i would have
stopped at this point and i would be
working on helping the dog become more
comfortable some people say what's the
big deal just get over it nah that's not
my style not only is it dangerous for
the human but it's really not at all
kind or loving to the dog listen dogs
have a pretty high tolerance for stress
they're already adjusting to their
natural instincts and to live in a human
world we're asking them to go potty
where we want to not eat food from
certain places in the home even if it's
available to them to refrain from
chasing the cats avoid jumping when
excited and to not chew on their
favorite humans now if you really think
about it dogs in a human world are a lot
like a square peg in a round hole but
they do amazingly well fitting into our
world so when it comes to an activity
that they don't like but we have to do
we owe it to them to introduce it and
carry it out in a way that causes the
least amount of stress now the same goes
for things like nail clipping vet exams
and teeth brushing this is so true for
other animals too have you ever seen
elephants being treated at a
rehabilitation center or a zoo or
someone taking care of horses hoofs did
you think that those professionals could
just walk up and grab the animal and
start doing their thing
there's no way those animals are way too
big and too strong and they could
probably hurt the handler so those
handlers use what we call cooperative
care when getting their job done one of
my favorite books on this topic
is written by deborah jones she really
does a deep dive into what we're talking
about here today so if this is the kind
of thing that interests you or you're
thinking of being an elephant handler
you should probably get the book
cooperative care means gaining the
animal's trust and asking permission to
do the task we do this by
desensitization of the task and pairing
it with something positive usually
involving food and also watching body
language carefully it also means giving
the animal a chance to say no or not
right now when the animal asks to take a
break or stop the activity we listen
over time this builds up trust between
the animal and the handler now this
approach might take a little bit longer
in the beginning but it saves so much
time and stress over the lifetime of the
animal now i also want to say that
simply because we can doesn't mean we
should that means that just because we
can stronghold most dogs into being
brushed it doesn't mean it's going to
benefit you your dog or your ongoing
relationship it'll probably do the
opposite okay a few tips on brushing
tools before we get started here are a
few brushes i recommend now i love this
one here the combo brush it also is
called the pin brush for longer hair
dogs because it gets close to the skin
and can loosen up those mats and the
softer side can be used on the tummy or
around the face where the hair shorter i
like slicker brushes for short-haired
dogs that shed a lot these are the kind
of brushes that help loosen up the
shedding hairs and pull them away from
the body and metal combs are great for
longer hair dogs that mat easily now
these combs allow you to get close to
the skin where the mats start to form
first those are the ones i really like
but there's also one that i suggest that
you be careful of it's called the
furminator people often think that they
are the best because they seem to pull a
ton of hair off their dog but you can
easily give your dog brush burn if you
brush it for too long although it will
get a lot of hair off what people don't
realize is that the little combs on the
brush are sharp little blades that
actually cut the hair so it's going to
always seem like you're never done
brushing your dog in addition many
undercoats of dogs are actually designed
to keep them a little bit cooler so
taking away a lot of that hair is not
necessarily a good thing okay before we
get to the good stuff here's my last tip
on brushing many people ask me how often
you should brush well it's going to
actually depend on your dog and on his
or her coat this is actually a good
question to ask your groomer and will
really vary based on your dog's genetics
and breed so i actually brush pickles my
cavalier two or three times a week
harper my great dane gets a brush about
once a week or every other week she
doesn't need a lot and wesley my
standard poodle needs daily brushing
poodle owners you know what i'm talking
about now let's get started on helping
your dog enjoy brushing i want to break
this training down into four phases for
you now i do this because the number one
human error on this task is going too
quickly so start by lowering your
expectations and prepare to take it
takingly slow it's gonna pay off in the
end now we recently worked on this exact
process with students enrolled in my
online course at the pro level now these
puppy parents are in the private
facebook group served by three certified
trainers including me they can ask as
many questions as they'd like and they
get detailed knowledgeable answers every
time and they can also attend three
group zoom calls each week to get great
advice they also have access to some
additional training resources including
a workbook and lessons on challenging
puppy behaviors we try to make it fun in
that group while we're all learning a
lot so in may we did a challenge it was
called the may i brush you and it was
all about brushing our dogs with their
consent we outlined the process in four
distinct steps and we challenged all our
puppy parents not to rush the process
now even if the dog seemed pretty okay
with the brush we really wanted everyone
to take it nice and slow and even begin
the introductions all over again all
right here's the four phases of how to
introduce brushing to your dog during
phase one you're going to show the brush
to your puppy without bringing it close
to her then you'll remove the brush and
deliver a few tasty treats on a snuffle
mat now the snuffle mat allows the dog
to sniff and hunt for the treat which
they enjoy and it also brings down their
heart rate so it keeps the activity calm
and pleasant now if your dog appears
comfortable you can repeat the process
about three to five times then put the
brush away and end the session with a
treat scatter now you might do this
every day for a few minutes or you might
do it every few days it really depends
on how comfortable your dog is now you
can do it more often if she's
comfortable but less often if she's not
so sure i know that it might be the
opposite of what you thought but that's
how we build up a positive association
by not pushing this too fast this is
simone and oakley you can see that
simone is simply showing the brush and
tossing the traits she's using a snuffle
mat and oakley is having a great time
the body language is relaxed he's
participating without hesitation and
there are no signs of stress like we saw
in those pictures earlier i love this
video because everybody's calm there are
no distractions around and it seems like
nothing's happening at all good training
will look like this
oakley is learning that the brush is no
big deal all right here's another one
for you this is debbie and archie i love
this video because debbie is so patient
and calm and is letting archie take this
time to return to the exercise humans
often rush the process but if we take it
a little slower it often progresses
faster now in this case archie's
building up a further positive
association because he's sniffing around
and enjoying himself nice job being
patient debbie now i also like that both
of these videos show the puppy parents
on the floor now if either of these
students had been standing up it could
have easily changed the dynamics of the
game it could have been intimidating for
the pup or it could have been promoting
some jumping for treats now don't make
it any harder on your dog to be
successful a lot of dog training takes
place at their level not ours all right
let's move on to phase two of this
training now you're gonna wanna advance
to the second phase only if your puppy
is saying yes when the brush comes out
now your puppy saying no might look like
these pictures i showed at the beginning
of the video or your puppy's moving away
or trying to bite at the brush or your
hand now in phase two i want you to
slowly move the brush towards your puppy
but do not touch the brush to your puppy
yet then deliver a few tasty treats on
the snuffle mat and then remove the
brush i'm gonna have you repeat this
about three to five times then put the
brush away and end the session with a
treat scatter again you can do this
every few days or even once a day if
your pup seems to be loving it you can
probably guess what phase number three
looks like you're gonna slowly move the
brush towards your puppy and lightly
touch it to their green zone alright a
green zone is the location on your pups
body that they have enjoyed having
touched when the brush is touching your
puppy deliver a few tasty treats on the
snuffle mat now when the pup looks up
from the snuffle mat this means you can
continue the exercise this is your yes
signal repeat this about three to five
times and then put the brush away and
end the session with a treat scatter
this is tonjala and master isn't he the
cutest little thing he's pretty
comfortable with the brush coming out
and even looks to tonjala for the treat
that's a great sign notice how slowly
and calmly tonjala is doing this work
that keeps the entire process enjoyable
for everyone this is carrie and roxy i
love this video because carrie started
to notice that roxy was giving a clear
no thank you when it came to the brush
and being touched so carrie took a step
back and worked with it from a distance
for a little bit longer this is actually
a great example of cooperative care
where you're letting the dog have a
decision about the interaction now you
can see here after a few days of taking
it slower and not getting the brush so
close carrie had successfully gained
permission from roxy to touch her with
it now this is kathleen and josie now
you can see that she's getting a little
further into the process by holding the
brush there for a little bit longer now
josie was fine with this advancement in
the process and is also almost ready for
the actual brushing now after this video
we advise kathleen to give it just a
little bit more of a pause between
brushing touching fur and the treat
coming out now that sounds like such a
simple little adjustment but those are
the kinds of things that trainers will
recognize and help your training go more
efficiently okay our last phase is where
the brushing happens you're probably
saying finally
you're only going to want to advance to
the fourth phase if your puppy is saying
yes please when the brush comes out now
in this exercise i want you to slowly
move the brush towards your puppy
lightly touch it to their green zone and
just do a few brushes deliver a few
tasty treats onto the snuffle mat while
the brush is touching the pup now if the
pup looks up from the snuffle mat that
means you can keep going repeat this
three to five times put the brush away
and then end the session with a treat
scatter here's kathleen again with that
final phase of the challenge as you see
she's now brushing josie and josie is
content with being brushed this is the
goal we're working on and this is an
excellent example of how we can work up
to it in a way that builds a
relationship with our dogs but also
allows us to get necessary grooming done
now at the end of the challenge kathleen
told us this challenge definitely gave
me a sense of the sequencing the timing
and the mechanics and pacing and the
assessment needed with exposure to
anything and i've applied it to other
parts of our training kathleen is a
teacher and often comments how much
overlap she sees between training josie
and teaching kids alright that's all the
time i have for you today but wasn't
that fantastic if you like that you're
gonna love being a part of the online
course where we do a fun challenge like
this every month alright check out the
link in the description below for the
details on the course in the comments
below tell me how old is your puppy and
how does he or she feel about being
brushed
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