by https://thegoodsforpets.com/
Good Hygiene practices are vital for a happy and healthy dog. Grooming your dogs will keep your pet free from diseases or pests and enhance its activeness. Nonetheless, grooming for dogs may not be as easy as feeding them or providing them with a suitable company. The reason is that most dogs dislike the grooming process; thus, they’ll always struggle or get anxious when you restrain them.
Therefore, regardless of your dog’s size, age, or breed, it’ll be imperative to understand how to restrain them while grooming. Proper restraining helps you to get the animal comfortable and prevent any injuries that may result while they’re struggling. You can use a grooming hammock or van for dogs as the appropriate way to restrain the dogs. Furthermore, this article discusses more helpful ways of restraining your dog at home while grooming.
1. Identify and Work on the Anxiety Triggers
Your dogs might struggle or feel uncomfortable due to various triggers, such as rough or unsuitable grooming tools and procedures. These triggers may be affecting your dog’s comfort or causing pain. Significantly, identify the specific grooming part or experience that makes the dog uncomfortable or panic and tackle or seek the proper solution.
For instance, if the grooming table or mat frightens the dog, you can consider alternative options like stairs or ramps to keep them calm. Additionally, you can consider placing anti-slip mats or towels under the grooming surface to prevent slippery or cold conditions. Providing proper conditions will be imperative to ensure the dog is comfortable and panic-free during the process. You can use lightly dampened towels or facial wipes to prevent destroying the hair of the dog grooming with running water.
2. Choose a Proper Restraining Method
Choosing a proper restraining method is the appropriate way of reducing anxiety when grooming your dog. We've got various methods, such as lateral restraint, overhead restraint, and the standard method you can choose when grooming your pet. Significantly, it'd help if you had the right grooming hammock for dogs to ensure you groom your pet safely and comfortably. You can seek recommendations from professionals or veterinary personnel on the right choice suiting your pet grooming.
3. Use Comfortable Restraining Tools
Restraining tools will be the best option for calming your dog during grooming. We've got various restraining tools for your dogs, but it'll be vital to choose comfortable ones. For instance, a nonslip table, mat, or grooming van for dogs are suitable and comfortable tools for grooming your dogs.
For instance, when using these tools, you can place the dog in the grooming van and use a comfortable loop to hold the dog's neck to restrain it. Furthermore, if your pet likes biting, you can use a correctly installed restraint and muzzle. Besides making the restraining tools firm, it’ll be imperative to consider the dog’s comfort to prevent it from becoming anxious.
4. Minimize Unnecessary Treats while Grooming your Pet
Some treats may be vital to keep your pet comfortable while grooming them, but it'll be good to avoid providing unnecessary treats. If your dog is struggling or showing some signs of anxiety while grooming, it's good to calm them by speaking to them gently. Experts advise against providing rewards or treats as the dogs struggle to escape. It'll confuse them, as they may think it's good behavior.
Significantly, the best time to provide these rewards or treats is after grooming them. Experts recommend that you give them the rewards or treats while they’re still in the restraining tools. It’s a good approach that aims at providing a positive association with these tools and the grooming process. Nonetheless, ensure you only provide them after calming down.
5. Show the Dog Positive Attitude during the Entire Period
Most dog owners have been wondering how professional groomers keep their pets calm during the whole grooming process. The main trick is to keep a positive attitude to ensure the pet is assertive and calm. Apart from calming your dog, a positive attitude ensures that the dog remains still while grooming them.
Staying calm ensures the hair of the dog grooming is clean, and the skin doesn’t suffer any scratches during the struggling. The best way to achieve a positive attitude when grooming your dog is to speak to them assertively or calmly before, during, and after the process. Find a proper tone, and reduce any signs of frustration or anger when speaking to the pet.
6. Train your Pet to Enjoy the Grooming Process
Grooming for dogs may seem challenging once the pets develop anxiety or uncomfortableness during or before the grooming process. The appropriate way to restrain them while grooming is to ensure they're calm. You can keep the dogs calm by ensuring they enjoy the grooming process, as it'll make them comfortable.
While keeping the dog calm, it'll be vital to identify what causes or trigger the anxiety then seek the appropriate solution. The triggers may be the tools, water, or the entire grooming process. After identifying the trigger, experts advise introducing the triggers gradually while giving them positive associations and wisely treating them. For example, you can place food next to them to show them that the grooming procedure isn't threatening.
7. Administer Calming Medication or Aids
When grooming your dog, it’s necessary to ensure it’s comfortable during the entire process. If you notice any form of anxiety while cleaning the dogs, you can administer appropriate calming medications. Before administering the medication, it’ll be vital to seek proper guidance or recommendation from professional veterinary or dog health experts to get the proper medications and dosage.
When looking for the appropriate medications, Benadryl, dog-appeasing pheromone, melatonin, and other herbs offer the best calming effects. Importantly, administer the drugs properly before your dogs show any signs of being anxious, as the drugs will only work when the dog isn’t nervous. The best time to administer the drugs is before the dogs realize that you want to groom them.
Conclusion
Grooming is essential to keep your pet clean and free from pests or other diseases. Nonetheless, grooming for dogs isn’t easy as most get anxious and uncomfortable during the process. It’ll be vital to learn safe and proper ways to keep the pets still while grooming them. The above tips are appropriate to keep your dogs happy and comfortable while getting your dog clean. Remember, these tips aren’t about restraining them but also calming the pet to keep them in one place and comfortable during the entire process.