I have a terrible confession to make: I really, really don't like long-haired GSDs. Besides the fact that no one ever knows what they are (Timber: "Is that one of those Belgian dogs?" Taenzer: "Is that a border collie cross?"), they are SUCH a pain in the butt to groom. Esp. in the spring/early summer when they're shedding. And really esp because my two hateHATEHATE being groomed.
This morning before I got up, Taenzer was all relaxed and cozy, so I reached for the comb I keep by the bed--I can often get some fairly thorough combing done when she's lying on the bed. As soon as the comb touches her, she whips around and puts her open mouth on my hand. I ignore this, and start at an easy area, her foreleg feathers. She sighs and lies back down. I work up her shoulder. Do the trouble spots behind her ears (everything a-okay; no tangles). Down her back. Into the trouble area, the area over her butt, her thighs, britches, and tail. Actually she was pretty good through this part, except when I found a couple of knots in her britches, but I got them worked out without too much pulling. I'd done her tail on a previous day, so I just gave it a few swipes this time, then told her how good she was. She leaped to her feet, gave me kisses. I was hugging her and giving her scritches and found mats on her chest, between her forelegs. *sigh*
Got her to lie down again. The fur on her chest is pretty short, so you can't really grab the knot so as not to pull when you comb. What got me laughing is that she's so like a little kid. First she pushed my arms with her forefeet. When I nixed that, she wiggled around and hid her face in the pillows. Then she tried rolling over so she had her back to me. If she could say "NO!" I'm sure she would have been doing it.
So eventually we were done, and I told her how absolutely beautiful she was with her tail and and britches all combed out and fluffy, and she gave me kisses. I didn't exactly comb a pomeranian out of her--she doesn't have that much coat--but I did get a Persian kitten.
I still have Timber to do, and that's going to be worse. Much worse. I can't get him to lie down for grooming. He's got much more coat than she does. His hindquarters and tail are just one big tangle. We've been working for--what? 2-1/2 years?--on desensitization and counterconditioning and I'm feeling like we've made minimum progress. I was going to say I didn't think we'd gotten anywhere, but that's not true, but it's not as much as I'd have hoped after this much time. Every spring I consider taking him to the best local groomer to just get his spring shed taken care of in one fell swoop, but I don't for a couple of reasons. First, I hate that he comes back smelling all perfumed, and it takes months to wear off. I *like* the way a healthy dog--or cat or horse--smells. There's just something *wrong* with a dog smelling like perfume.
Second, more importantly, there's the matter of trust. I'm not sure it helps him trust me if I take him off and leave him at some place where they bathe him and comb him and blow-dry him. Nancy is a very good groomer and very good with dogs--I trusted her to take care of Stella for 6 weeks--but Timber doesn't know her, and he's been dropped off once before and abandoned--how does he know I'm coming back? Also--does this sound too egotistical? I want him to trust me enough to let me groom him without a struggle. I'd like him to be able to enjoy it a little bit. Stella and I used to spend a good deal of time with her stretched out on her side and me brushing her, and I think it was relaxing and bonding for both of us. Course, Stella had a standard coat and we didn't have the mats-and-tangles problems. But I would love to have that kind of connection and trust with him.
On the other hand, I gave Annie a good sponge bath and brushing yesterday. She really enjoys it, she just purrs and purrs. I got a *lot* of dead hair off her, and she looks so much better. Cats are so persnickety about how they look, I figure she must feel better, too.
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3 comments:
I always thought that the owner should be able to groom her pet herself. That's what I do. Mine don't like to be brush either, so I do it in a couple of sessions. They have some spots where it itches and they love it when I brush there. The new tool helped a lot this year. I think you are doing great! ;o)
Oh, I agree! Partly because I don't want to pay someone else to do something I can do, and partly because I was just raised that way. I groomed my own horse (and if I'd had the manuals available today, I'd probably have shaped her hooves), and I expect to groom my own dogs. I don't brush teeth, but brushing, clipping claws, cleaning ears, giving pills are all things I expect to be able to do. The Ts are very good, they really are, they just have these little quirks. Taenzer's convinced I'm going to cut her toes off when I get out the nail clippers, and Timber is a big sensitive baby and hates having his hair pulled. And they're not completely impossible to do, they don't throw big fits or anything, it's just more of a hassle than it needs to be. I'm hoping as they get older they'll start realized they're not actually being killed and will be able to relax a little.
What new tool did you use this year?
I just realized right now, that you respond to my comments this way. As to your question. This year I found (on another blog) the "FURminator". I posted about it on my blog some time ago. It takes off the undercoat like a breese, whole bags full of fiber! ;o)
I don't think Sam will ever be comfortable when touched by his feet. He lets me, but tries to move them away from me. Maybe because his legs, feet did always hurt? When I cut their nails I distract them with little treats, they are too busy eating them to notice me much. I don't bursh their teeth either, should have started earlier, Biko's teeth are getting yellow (almost 6 years now). Oh, and Biko is the one swimming in the pool. After I have to rubb her down with towels to get her at least a little dry. Sam never gets wet, but he comes and want his rubb down anyway, that's really funny!
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