Congratulations on your puppy!
An exciting and fun time full of new impressions awaits you!
Especially with regards to grooming the saying goes “What is learned in the cradle is carried to the tomb”
For a puppy everything is new and exciting. Things like discipline and patience don’t apply to them yet.
As each new impression is overwhelming for a puppy, it’s essential that they be introduced to new stimuli like: other dogs, people, children, different situations, traffic, food, sounds, etc.
Early familiarization helps your puppy deal with all challenges that life has to offer.
Don’t wait too long as your puppy can develop anti-social, fearful, timid or dominant behavior which can lead to aggression in the long term and a problematic life for both puppy and owner.
It’s also a must for a puppy to get accustomed to grooming as soon as possible.
The importance of early habituation
All too often a puppy visits the grooming salon for the first time at the age of 6 months or older. Sometimes the puppies are used to getting brushed, often enough they are not and checking their ears has not be done before either.
Negative association
Consequence: a stressed, frightened, whining or squealing puppy with too much hair and clogged ear wax in the ears. Sharp teeth and toenails that damage the arms of the dog groomer badly and a first negative association with coat maintenance in general is a fact.
This is truly a shame, because a first negative association is hard to change into a second positive association and a puppy that is already scared and reserved by nature other could be scarred for life by this.
Ignorance in these cases can be disastrous for the well-being of the puppy and the owners unwittingly give it the wrong start to a lifetime of regular grooming.
Puppy coat maintenance
A puppy coat is loose, thin and airy and does not even remotely look like a mature coat of a Doodle or Water dog, which is much thicker, somewhat stiffer of structure and a whole lot longer!
Because the puppy coat does not tangle, a life full of regular coat maintenance seems to be far away. Still the early puppy period is already the time to let your puppy get used to a life full of coat maintenance, because what is learned in the cradle is carried to the tomb and the earlier you have your puppy get used to it, the less stressed and insecure she will be in future grooming sessions.
Brushing
To regularly brush the coat is important to keep the coat clean, fresh and to prevent matting. Besides that it is an exercise for the puppy to learn how to be submissive (discipline) and it strengthens the bond between puppy and owner. Brushing is an activity that should be done at least once a week by the owner and should be taught at an early age, so that the puppy remains calm and submissive during the brushing, does not bite in the brush and allow the whole ritual to happen in a calm way instead of breaking the house down.
Why habituate?
It takes a lot of energy for a dog to undergo a grooming session. A dog that gets a grooming session regularly will have less trouble with it than a dog that gets brushed every now and then at home, and only visits the salon twice a year. Because the coat of Water dogs and Doodles demand a lot of maintenance it is important to let your puppy get used to grooming sessions as soon as possible. The earlier you let your puppy get used to it, the more you will benefit from it later.
When should your puppy get its first grooming session?
The best thing to do is to have your puppy undergo a so called puppy habituation session when your puppy is about 12 weeks old. During this session the puppy learns what it is like to have to stand on a grooming table for a longer period of time, while someone is fondling with her body and coat, what it is like to take a bath and be washed thoroughly. And what it is like to be exposed to the Doodle blaster and hand dryer (which is a scary first encounter) and to get used to the lifting and cutting of the paws between the toes, the plucking and cleaning of the ears and so on.
The more the puppy is used to regular brushing, washing/drying, lifting the legs/paws, holding the head, looking at the teeth and things like that, the less stressful the first real grooming session will be. In addition it is very important that the puppy learns to remain calm in the hands of another, while the owner is not there to hold her and keep her save from the big bad world outside. With other words: the puppy learns to be submissive and to trust itself and others, besides the owner.
Puppy grooming tips:
To keep the coat tangle free, to help your pup get used to grooming and to establish your role as the leader of the pack or parent to your dog, you need to consider three things:
- The paws of your puppy need to be groomed regularly to make sure that no dirt, sand and little pebbles stay behind which will hurt during walks and ultimately make walking impossible.
- The anus needs to be cut free regularly, so its excrement will not stick to its hair.
- The ears need to be checked regularly. They need to be cleaned and plucked in such way that ear infections are avoided.
Do you want to get it right, right from the start?
I have carefully selected, especially for you, a puppy maintenance kit which contains all the items that you need, so you can offer your puppy the best there is on (coat) maintenance. This kit costs $ 100,- and contains all the professional puppy coat grooming equipment you need, including an info sheet with all the information about a proper coat maintenance for your puppy.
You can order this kit from the webshop.
