Unreasonable grooming anxiety

[Cath2907]

Not the dog - he is fine - he knows nothing about it yet! It is me. I booked my Bichon pup in to a well recommended local groomers as despite my best efforts at bathing and brushing he definitely needs a trim and some more specialist attention (he mats just looking at him). He is not a bath fan, he is not a fan of being left without me and he has never been to the groomers before. I have to take him in at 9:30 and drop him off for a few hours... He isn't going to enjoy this is he? Someone tell me to woman up and stop worrying he'll feel scared and abandoned!

Given that he will need regular trips to the groomers it is worth getting it right from the start. I discounted the first groomer I contacted because they wanted to have Cocodog for a few hours, why?
Found a groomer who suggested I bring her in for an hour for a puppy bath and a few bits trimmed with scissors, lots of treats. Next time the same but more of a trim. Now she goes every seven or eight weeks for a bath and a clip and nail trim if needed. We have an appointment, we arrive and I pick her up one and a half hours later. It isn’t her favourite destination but she is ok. I don’t think she would be happy being there for a few hours, she is always very tired when she gets home anyway.

When I first got my dog as a puppy a long time ago one of the things I read was a suggestion about taking the puppy to the vet a couple of times. Just to go in and have a look, meet the reception staff, have a sniff, maybe a treat or two so the puppy thinks this place is okay.

Sounds very much the same idea as thegirls's groomer does.

Perhaps if your little dog has found it all a bit much maybe you could do a couple of non treatment visits to the groomer to just let him have a look round before he has to go again.

Don't know if it would work as he's been already and had a full treatment, but just a suggestion.

Battendog is a large and hairy springer so typically takes about 3 hours to groom. We built up to this in stages, just an hour at first which was mostly play and a little bath. Then a little bit of clipping next time, and so on.

I made it clear to his groomer that for those first few sessions I did not expect a fully groomed dog back and that him being relaxed was more important - so if he was only half done, that was fine.

I really think this was worth doing as he's always been fine going there, despite being a dog that resisted grooming and hated baths etc.

I also think good groomers (both technically skilled but also great with dogs) are worth their weight in gold so if you find a good one, then really hold onto them and don't be afraid to switch if you are not 100% comfortable.