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I rescued my Springer Spaniel Max a few months ago. He's a really great dog, except for one thing I discovered this morning.
This weekend I took Max hiking, and the snow mixed with the mud created some pretty bad matts on his belly. This morning I decided to try to clip them off. At first he was just a bit miffed about being made to lie on his side. Eventually it escalated to him suddenly jumping up and trying to run off. I called my SO in to help me, but trying to hold him down just freaks him out more, and he tries to squirm away as soon as the scissors touch him.
He's sort of a nervous dog, and I'm tight on cash, so I really don't want to have to take him to a groomer (especially because it's just a few matts). I'm also hesitant to give him sedatives because he's epileptic and takes phenobarbital and I'm not sure if the two would react badly.
Any advice for how to get him more comfortable or calm him down?
This weekend I took Max hiking, and the snow mixed with the mud created some pretty bad matts on his belly. This morning I decided to try to clip them off. At first he was just a bit miffed about being made to lie on his side. Eventually it escalated to him suddenly jumping up and trying to run off. I called my SO in to help me, but trying to hold him down just freaks him out more, and he tries to squirm away as soon as the scissors touch him.
He's sort of a nervous dog, and I'm tight on cash, so I really don't want to have to take him to a groomer (especially because it's just a few matts). I'm also hesitant to give him sedatives because he's epileptic and takes phenobarbital and I'm not sure if the two would react badly.
Any advice for how to get him more comfortable or calm him down?