grooming advice

[jill]

my little man is such a handful to groom. he hates baths loves to watch the girl get bathed will stand on the side of the tub as happy as can be but try to lift him in there forget about it! trimming the nails what a challenge both me and my husband have such a hard time and the vet/groomers they have just as hard of a time but i feel we are more gentle with him, my sweet girls make it a pleasure to trim nails we can even paint with doggie nail polish thankfully they are easy to care for.

ear care is the biggest battle when it comes to my ollie, he hates it he is such a sweet boy but so bad when it comes to cleaning his cute little bat ears! i can't believe how strong my little guy is! right now we are dealing with a ear infection and have been cleaning the ears daily for a week and drops once a day and i think when its over he not going to like me very much if he does not hurt himself in the process any advice on how to make this a pleasant experience for him i tried to sneak up waited till he is asleep (thats the best) but i am afraid he is not going to trust us anymore. i have a vet appointment saturday and am considering asking if i can have them clean ears for me weekly. he will let me clean his face and nose wrinkles i just am so tired of fighting him over the ears and bath time.
is there any advice on a better way to help him and us make this a positive experience for both of us please let me in on the secret.

[Kristy]

My little guy hates his ears being cleaned also. He's a little more tolerant since we started giving him a few kernels of food when we're done. Also we take a cotton ball and put some ear cleaner on it and let him sniff it so he gets a little used to what we're doing (our Vet recommended we do that). That said... it's still a little bit of a battle but not as bad as it used to be.

[jill]

Is he food motivated?? Maybe if you had some really tasty cheese or meat and someone held him in their arms while standing (so his feet aren't on the ground) and you did a little and gave him a treat, a little more and a little more treat. Try making it a very short and positive time followed by very good rewards. You may have to spend more time in the beginning but in the end he might be more receptive. Just a thought. :)
As for bathing, sometimes the dog feels more secure if you fill the tub up to his tummy line and scoop the water onto him as opposed to a spray or a loud running tap. Again, just something that has helped our dogs at times. Best of luck!

[Leroy Brown]

for cleaning ears we distract out lil guy by holding him to close to my face, letting him give all the kisses in the world why my gf cleans his ears with q-tips, usually damp them down with warm water.. helps a lil if you dont mind your face being licked!

[jill]

thanks guys however my guy is to smart. not a real big eater very picky won't eat cold cuts cheese most doggie treats its so weird cause my girls love everything food related his favorite is buffalo and duck jerky now he won't touch his favorite treats cause he thinks were going to groom him. it did work in the beginning but now he won't take a treat if we are both around until he checks both of our hands for cleaner and cotton balls. it seems to be getting worse with age because we could do anything to him just a few months ago. he leaves the room when i go for the meds or treats even if it's not even time to get a ear or nails looked at. he will watch the girls get groomed and then he avoids us at all cost. poor guy won't even relax after your done just on edge for hous after you do anything to any of our bullies. we love him so much and are doing our best to make it a pleasant experience but is it just a male thing my girls are so easy to care for.
ollie loves to play outside roll in the grass play in the dirt and take long walks outside just want him to feel clean and smell nice since he is a inside frenchie who sleeps in my bed, travels with my family every where we go and i also take our three dogs to work daily and its so hot here in florida i know dogs don't sweat but they sure get stinky when there outside playing, thankfully he loves to be wiped down with a moist towel and patted dry a least he will allow that and most of the time he is okay with wiping off his paws and tummy . we will keep working on this thanks for all the help

[Eric]

i've most of these same problems with ear cleaning as the rest and had to deal with a little infection also, but luckily according to the vet we caught it very early and just had to use some drops for a few days. Like someone said using a cotton ball covered in ear cleaner is by far the easiest way to get in there and do it, rather than using the bottle which has become a sign for "run away" to our dog. Rewarding with some good "smelly" treats also seems to help sometimes too, just use consistency and eventually they seem to come around. As far as bath time I cannot comment because Frankie loooves the tub, if he thinks a bath is coming he'll jump into the tub before I even start running the water