First visit to the groomers

[Puppypuppypuppy]

My mini poodle has his first visit to the groomers this week for a puppy session. I have really tried to get him used to being brushed at home but he's.....not great. Will tolerate for a small amount of time with treats or lickimat but I certainly don't manage to properly groom, let alone do it properly on areas like his legs. Weirdly he's ok with head and ears! So I am slightly apprehensive for this first session.

Any words of wisdom or advice for me? How did your pup's first groom go?

Yes I was worried about this. We still can't get near pup with a brush.

But he was an angel for the groomer! We chose one with a lot of experience as we were v worried about it and she was lovely and he behaved fine.

The groomers are v laid back and super experienced and highly recommended! So am hoping will be the same! However I think from the new puppy thread your pup seems super confident and mine - whilst improving - is less so.

We bought the table and stuff ourselves and the breeder showed us how to do it, she also groomed the dogs from an early age so its not all new, make it part of a daily routine, brush check mouth check paws etc. You might have to show them who is boss a couple of times though

Groomers tend to take the first puppy visits slowly to get them used to the noises and vibrations. Maybe anticipate a slightly wonky cut if they have to back off to keep the visit positive.

Mine went for his first groom this week. He hates me got near him with the brush, he constantly tries to climb out of the bath on the couple of occasions we tried to wash him.. and as for the hair dryer.. he went mental at it! So at 17 weeks I booked him in for a puppy groom, I said I didn't expect anything to them but if they could clip his nails that would be great! Well he came back smelling gorgeous after a wash and blow dry and they clipped his nails... apparently he was as good as gold at the groomers! I guess they just have the knack and know how to handle dogs.

I have a mini poodle. Great choice!

He was also a bit excitable when I brushed him but he came back from his first groom looking and smelling great. They said he was really well behaved.

He used to pull me over to the groomer's door every time we went nearby. They clearly used a lot of treats and he got lots of lovely attention.

He's two now and gets wriggly with me brushing him but he's fine at the groomers. Fell asleep a couple of times!

Poodles do need good upkeep of their coat. I get mine clipped quite short all over every five weeks which means he doesn't need a lot of brushing at home at all. We just do it a couple of times a week now. And that's mostly just to keep him ok with us grooming him.