Grooming bites

Posted May 14th, 2009 by Vonne123

My 8 month old bichon, Hedy, will not let me groom her! She gets mouthy and just wants to bite the comb or brush, or the hand that is grooming her. These are not hard bites, more like controlled puppy holds. I have tried to brush one stroke, praise or reward, try another stroke, repeat etc., but we never get past two or three swipes. I try to do this when she is tired out from romping in the yard, chasing balls, or just doing her "wild dog" herding routine. So far, we have not been successful in completing her beauty routines.

I attended a clickerexpo in march, but have not figured out the sequence of steps that would get us to starting and shaping the behavior so we both enjoy it. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated by Hedy and by me.
Christy

Comments

RE: Grooming bites

On May 14th, 2009 Aidan says:

Hi Christy, this is great, you know that you have to break it down but you're just not sure how FAR to break it down - and I can help you with that.

First things first - praise alone won't cut it. Use your clicker, and follow every click with a treat that she will work for. Food is the most convenient.

The first thing you need to do is get her to stay on the grooming table and to be comfortable up there. Make sure you put down something so that it is non-slip first. Most likely she will stand, or can be lured into a stand. If she is already quite comfortable up there then you won't have a problem, otherwise for on having her stand there second by second until she is comfortable standing on the grooming table for around 5 seconds without trying to jump down or change position.

Next we work on approximations of grooming. I start with using my hand to stroke gently, stroke her on the chest for a second then click and treat. Then stroke her side, click and treat. Stroke her back, click and treat. Work your way over her body. Save the paws and face for last.

While you are doing this have the brush and comb somewhere in sight but don't pick them up just yet. Wait until she is comfortable being stroked with your hand, which probably won't take long.

The next step is to pick up a grooming implement, let's say a brush to keep things simple. You pick it up, and so long as she is standing there and not growling at you or snapping at you, you click and put the brush down, then give her a treat.

See how this is a TINY step? You didn't brush her, you just picked it up and she didn't freak out so you reinforce that.

Next step is to pick the brush up and move it towards her. Don't brush her, just move it towards her. If she is standing on the grooming table, isn't growling and isn't snapping you click and treat.

You might not have got this far in your first session. Don't rush it, you haven't been able to groom her without fuss for 8 whole months, another day or two isn't going to hurt. Make haste slowly, as they say.

So now you're almost touching her with the brush, the next step is to touch her on the chest with the BACK of the brush. Don't try to brush her yet, just get her used to being touched with the brush. So long as she is standing on the grooming table, not growling, not snapping - you get the idea!

The next steps go like this:
- touch her in different places on her body with the back of the brush
- gently stroke with the back of the brush
- gently stroke different parts of the body with the back of the brush
- brush one stroke
- brush two strokes
- brush three strokes
etc etc etc

Does that make sense?

Split this up over several sessions of about 5 minutes in length. You can fit in as many of these 5 minute sessions in a day as you please. Don't skip any steps and don't get cheap with the reinforcers ;-) I recommend these 5 minute sessions because they are easier on everyone involved and keep the game fun. In this video below you may notice that Laura (the trainer) does this over a 45 minute session, so a longer session can work but remember that Laura is very experienced and this is a client's dog who has probably been booked in for an hour of training. This is nail trimming, but notice the approximations and high rate of reinforcement:

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

Wow!

On June 4th, 2009 Marniem says:

Hi Aidan,

I'm not Christy, but that video is amazing, and a great reminder to break things down into tiny steps. If I don't watch a video like this from time to time, I begin to start asking for too much at a time.

Thanks!
Marnie

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