Grooming Bing -- November 7, 2009

 

Well I’ll be darned…

That’s what I thought as Bing and I got back in the van after spending two hours at Lisa Titman’s Groomingdales last week. "HOLY CRAP!" and "WOOOHOOO!!!" also came to mind.

We had just completed a full grooming session with Bing, and never needed a muzzle! OMG!

Lisa and I have been working together since February of this year on Bing’s coat. I’ve known Lisa for years, and she’s groomed my dogs off an on (I always try to manage them myself and always realize I can’t do it!). But Bing is a special issue, of course. It’s just a given that when I need to take him somewhere, his muzzle comes along, whether it’s to the groomer, vet, or chiropractor. He happily puts it on and knows he needs it.

The first time Lisa worked on him, we agreed that I’d assist her and do the lifting and moving. I put him in the tub, wet him down, and Lisa instructed me on how to shampoo and condition him, and then to use the power blower to blow out his coat, which is a lifesaver for getting undercoat out of dogs who don’t like to be touched. Then I carried him over to the grooming table, where we dried him some more. At that point, I muzzled him because Lisa needed to feel his coat and know what she was facing (it wasn’t pretty…Bing has way more coat than a Belgian should have ….figures, for a dog who can’t be touched).

The first time we muzzled him for grooming, he did the usual sideways ears, growling, muzzle punching routine. He eventually gave up because he knew it wasn’t making a difference. We only muzzled him when Lisa needed to touch him. But even at the end of the first session, she was able to trim his back feet and legs without a muzzle. I still held his head, but no muzzle.

Each visit resulted in less muzzling. After the third visit, in August, I stopped giving him Xanax prior to the visit because I felt it wasn’t making a difference. On the fourth visit, in September, I noticed that he was falling asleep in the tub! His head was hanging and his eyes were closed. This could either have indicated an emotional shut-down or total relaxation. I saw no other signs of severe stress, so I had to believe that he was really enjoying it. He does love a bath, and often will hop into ours or indicate that he wouldn’t mind some warm water on him. I also noticed him falling asleep on the grooming table.

On that same session, Lisa was able to do some brushing on him without me holding him, and without a muzzle. He clearly was starting to develop a trusting opinion of her. By the most recent visit, on Oct 30, we got through the entire visit with no Xanax and no muzzle, and Lisa did more and more of the grooming and I stood back, and even left the room to go get my phone to take a picture with the camera on it!
This is just such an incredible success!

We are hopeful that in a few more visits I’ll be able to act like a normal owner and just drop him off, and Lisa won’t have to accommodate me on her day off!

 

Ali

 

 

 

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