How can pet owners make grooming less stressful for nervous dogs?

[Chris]

Hi DMC, this is a forum just exclusively for cats and cat owners and is not really an area for posting questions about dogs. However, I can provide some basic tips since some of these same concerns and strategies may apply to cats, especially with nail trims, brushing, and bathing.

The first thing to know is that every animal is very different in terms of stress in different situations and environments and so there is no one size fits all approach. I have seen some folks, for example, really struggle at home for nail trims for their cats and find that at the vet hospital, the cat is actually very easy to do a nail trim on.

For nail trims specifically, I have counseled owners on doing everything possible to make it a positive experience. That usually involves food. I worked with my own cats from a very young age to sit on my lap, kind of on their backs (sitting kind of like a person with their little bellies sticking out). Right after the nail trim is done, they get several of their favorite high value treats. This approach continues to work after 18 years.

When trying to first acclimate a pet to nail trims (and this can go for anything else like brushing or bathing), it can be important to have a low expectation for how much to get done at one time. If you can only get one foot done at a time or just a couple nails before the experience starts to turn in a bad direction, just stop before it does, take a deep breath, and provide treat rewards so we’re rewarding the good behavior before it sours. The hope is that over time, you’ll be able to do more and more.

For baths or grooming, this might just be a little entry into still water but no hose or spray or soap or anything else. For brushing, maybe it’s just a couple brushes in a low sensitivity area.

For mild stress, there are supplements available, like Zylkene or Solliquin, which have very modest effects, but may be helpful.

Medication for sure has a place if nail trims, grooms, etc. are very stressful. These things need to happen and for some pets, perhaps because of too many previous bad experiences that have conditioned them that way, we can’t perform some of these things without.

Oral sedative medications can be helpful even just as training tools at home. Unless a level of fear and anxiety is brought down to a reasonable level, you’ll never be able to institute any kind of training or positive conditioning. However, if you’re able to bring that level of fear down and institute positive conditioning, there is a chance that the conditioning gradually takes over and the medication can be gradually reduced or removed.

There are unfortunately some pets that need full injectable sedation to have these things done. If we don’t do them, you’ll have nails growing back into their feet or very unhealthy skin and coat from heavy fur matting. It’s not just about appearances, we can see health concerns result from poor grooming.

I always suggest seeing what owners are able to do at home within reason. Sometimes, an in-home trainer may be helpful, especially if there are any other behavioral concerns as well.

As far as mobile services, I think this needs to be an individual assessment too. Some folks believe their pets may do much better in the home environment vs. at a clinic or groomer only to find this doesn’t work well. Like I said at the beginning, I’ve seen some pets do better at locations vs. at home. You might equate it to human kids testing their parents’ patience constantly at home but then they’re perfect angels at school or daycare.

The type of groomer and the connection they make with your pet is also very important, just like in the way you should establish veterinary care. I have seen some groomers make amazing connections with individual animals, knowing how to handle them in the best way and where their limitations or sensitivities are.

Cats also know their home environment really well, so they will find their best places to hide and become difficult to get out. Dogs may be far more protective of their home environment vs. at a clinic, making coming into the home problematic (and of course some are opposites).

Having conversations with your vet about what works well and what doesn’t, and if sedation may be helpful (and to what degree) can help to cater an individual grooming plan for your pet.