[hARVEYSMUM]

Hi guys, i have a standard poodle who hates being groomed, as you can imagine his coat is starting to become matted, i have tried myself, but he will not let me do his legs. I have tried proffessional dog groomers, but Harvey will become very snappy and i have had to muzzle him. Any tips would be great. Thanks Harveysmum

[Tamara]

Try stroking his legs with your hand while you are grooming his body. And gently in short intervals interchange the brush with your hand and pet his body. Maybe the brush is uncomfortable on his legs being a more sensitive area?

[animalcraker]

Get him used to being touched anywhere and everywhere while you're not grooming him. If he has a problem with his legs than focus on that. Once you get him used to his legs being touched then you can slowly introduce the brush and start grooming him. You may also want to arange some grooming lesson with a profesional groomer and learn how to properly groom his type of coat. It could be that you or someone else was not grooming correctly and accidently hurt him by tuging at his fur and now he has developed this sensitvity to his legs baing groomed. You should also making grooming a fun experiecnce for him, giving him lots of praise when he does what you want, and praise him the whole time your grooming. You may also want to give him treats or cover the fridge in peanut butter to distract him while he's being groomed.

[Raggs]

See if you can find a groomer that will allow you to stay and watch while they groom him. I do a few St. Poodles that are horrible to groom because there past experiences haven't been good. But they are all becoming much better because I take my time and don't push them and don't stress them out.

[DoggyMoments]

When we first got Gizmo he was awful about being brushed. We started slow as others said getting him used to being touched. We would say belly and rub his belly and give him a treat, which got him more comfortable on his back. Then we'd give him a treat something he had to chew on while brushing him for a little bit. We progressed then to brushing in small increments saying "all done" and then he gets a treat. Progressively spreading it out to encompass a whole grooming session.

I realize if your dog is already matted, you may not have time to start this way. A groomer may need to just shave your poodle and start over. Take your dog somewhere new so he doesn't have a bad record or bad memories with them. We started Gizmo getting groomed very young taking him to the same place, which happened to be PetSmart, his favorite place in the world so he was very excitable. We have switched to a local groomer and Gizmo is there most well behaved client!!! We caught them making him wave to greet everyone who entered the salon. (One of his tricks) They'll squeeze him in anytime and we get a great discount!

Hope this helps. I grew up with toy poodles and I know what it was like to brush them, I can imagine a standard must be daunting.

~Cheryl