It's a good age to be working on Thunder's grooming and handling. Most dogs don't come to us with the love of having their ears cleaned, their nails trimmed, or their hair brushed. But, if we introduce it early, we can make those tasks much easier for Thunder and the person doing the grooming/handling. Handling Thunders feet while you are relaxing with her is a good way to get her use getting her nails done. If she is resisting, you may need to go slower. You can give her treats for calm acceptance of handling.
I like to bring the nail trimmers out during times when I am not trimming nails. If she has a nice, pleasant association with the trimmers, you are less likely to have a dog who runs the other direction when she sees them in your hand.
I'm going to handle her ears the same way I do her feet. I practice this handling a lot before I ever need to clean her ears. I don't want her first experience with someone handling her ears to be when that person is pouring cleaner into her ear. More on this later but there are ways you can clean her ears that isn't quite so shocking as pouring in the ear cleaner.
She is getting use to having her teeth brushed with the finger brush. When she's really good at it with the finger brush, we'll start to introduce the toothbrush. Right now we are just getting her accustomed to the tooth brushing. She still has her baby teeth in so it's not necessary for her teeth to get brushed right now.
One of the things we do with the service dogs is teach them to cradle (lie on their back on our lap). It's a nice way to groom them, it's relaxing, and it helps with bonding. If they are struggling, we wait until they are calm before letting them up. Thunder relaxed right away and was happy to have her feet, ears, and mouth handled.
We're taking it nice and slow with the Gentle Leader so she will be more accepting of it. We are at the point where I am feeding her small meals with it on so she starts to get a nice association with it. She eagerly puts her nose through the loop because she knows it means food is coming.
This girl is burning off the calories here so she's happy to have small meals throughout the day to practice.
It's a good thing she is doing well with her grooming and handling. The way this girl likes to play in the dirt, I suspect she'll need a lot of grooming as she gets older.
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