As well as being touched, your puppy must learn to enjoy being brushed. Adult dogs will need to be brushed regularly–it cleans the coat, removes loose hair and stimulates the oil glands of the skin for a shiny and glossy coat.
Brushing allows you to become familiar with all the parts of your dog’s body and you’ll notice early on anything unusual that may require veterinary attention. Your pup will see brushing as just another form of petting and it is important to make this experience enjoyable.
Use a soft bristle brush or similar and gently massage your puppy by brushing in the direction of hair growth. Brushing against the hair pattern may be uncomfortable for your puppy. Begin to brush at the head, and work towards the tail and down the legs.
Make sure you reward your puppy with treats for a job well done and to associate your grooming sessions with pleasant outcomes.
Puppy handling check list
Pick 3 or 4 of these each day and work on for 1 – 2 minutes until your puppy is mature. Work through the list and then start again. Remember, to give lots of yummy treats for good behaviour – this is the key.
Check list
- Touch your puppy’s tail
- Touch your puppies ears
- Touch the top of your puppy’s feet
- Touch around your puppy’s lips
- Gently hold your puppy’s muzzle
- Gentle grab your puppy’s collar
- Lift your puppy’s tail up
- Lift your puppy’s lips up to look at their teeth
- Run soft brush from head to tail
- Run a brush over belly
- Pick up your puppy’s feet
- Brush around feet
- Touch your puppy’s nails
- Run a brush over your puppy’s back
- Get your puppy to lay on his side
- Look in your puppy’s ears
Just a few minutes a day of time focused on touching your puppy all over can make a huge difference to the behaviour of your dog as an adult. I promise you it will be time very well spent and will reward you with a dog that is comfortable being patted and groomed as an adult.