need advice please

[hippychickuk]

although iv been very luck with pappy, very good natured,housetraining was very easy with him,does not chew furniture or anything else,and generally does not bit.i do find when i try grooming him,he does try nipping me.iv tried with a brush (double sided, soft one side,bit harder other side), and iv tried a grooming mit.and doesnt make a difference what i use.my hubby can groom him no problem.i did have same problem with my female german shepherd cross belgian shepherd.she did exactly the same thing to me.im not grooming to hard,in fact i go quite softly.so i dont understand why both dogs did this.im not sure if both dogs are playing,as even with gsd cross bsd,she didnt mark me at all.and neither does pappy.but i can feel the pressure hes getting in his jaws,so although it doesnt hurt loads,i know in time its going to really start hurting,his jaws are getting very strong.it does get worse when i groon his back end,sort of at the tops of his legs where fur is thicker.any advice would be apreciated.thanks

[Stuart]

Many dogs show a dislike to grooming the `pants` area, it is always a lot thicker there and if you are not carfull, you can end up pulling hair,..which of course the dog will not be happy about.

If both of the dogs did this to you and your o/h manages ok, then it is clearly something you are doing,.. though for the life of me I cant think of a reason as clearly you have tried everything.

I find I have to be carefull with Jazz [ my black long haired dog ], there are times I have to hold the base of the coat in order to get a comb through without pulling.

The only thing I would suggest is after your o/h has combed the dog and any tags are removed, you then have a go,.. spend a few minutes and finish without pulling at all,...I have no idea if it will work, but its all I can suggest

What kind of comb do you use?

[Sassysmum]

Try giving her something really tasty and rewarding likke a pigs ear when you start grooming to take the main focus away from what you're doing

[kelpiemad]

Hi it sounds like a bit of dominance if your husband is allowed to groom with no problems I am sure you are not hurting your pup if you are using a soft brush he is probably saying leave me alone when he snaps. I had the same problem with one of my Kelpies she would either run away or turn and snap. I couldn't even dry her with a towel if I touched her feet she would growl and snap. I solved it when a friend suggested that i should hold her by her collar standing over her with her back end between my legs and gently running my hand over her and picked up her feet stroked down her chest as if i was grooming her then released her with praise for standing I did this frequently and introduced a brush and then a towel which she hated before she now stands well for being groomed and no snapping or growling she didn't like grooming before and was just telling me I wasn't aloud to do it
Michelle

[Caryll]

I'd try what kelpiemad sugests - sounds like a good solution.

[Sassysmum]

Thing is if she is anxious about the female owner grooming her and this could be due to something that happened a while ago, just a knot that hurt that bit more when brushed and then you restrict her movement (restrain) you could actually increase her anxiety and increase the problem. She may even feel her only choice is to step up the way she chooses to show you her discomfort

I personally would try increasing the value of being brushed and try to make it a positive, rewarding thing rather than to force the issue.

[hippychickuk]

thankyou for everyones help.i will try all the suggestions.my hubby said it may be because of my experiences with dino snapping a little, pappy could be picking up on my anxiety.

[EllieMai]

When Sadie was a similar age she used to try and mouth at me whilst she was being groomed, and would become extremely playfull and stubborn. I put a muzzle on her for a couple of grooms (always giving lots of praise whilst she did as i wanted and treating her afterwards), and then tried again without and it seemed to have resolved the issue as I have had no further problems since!
She now loves to be groomed & towel dried, enjoys having wax massagedinto her her paw pads and her ears and teeth cleaned

Kelly xx

[nickynockynoonoo]

Try brushing very slowly.

[mackico]

Archie always nips when I brush him, and the thing is that I can't brush too gently because his fur is so thick, the brush would never even reach to the fur that needs brushing most! Even when I brush as hard as I can, there is still a patch of fur on his lower back where the bristles simply cannot get to the fur that needs brushing, so he gets all matted and I have to trim him off with the scissors every now and again. I also have to cut knots out of his trousers and tail, and from behind his ears, because the brush just doesn't cope with all that fur in those places, but his lower back is the worst.

I just tie him up on a short lead so he can't reach me to bite. Seems a bit mean, but if I didn't he'd never get brushed at all. He'd just end up being either really knotty, or manky and shaved in odd patches. Once he's tied up he's actually quiet enough, doesn't try and snap anymore, and he gets a treat after if he's stood nicely for me. I tried muzzling instead of tying up, but he kept shunting me and getting his face in the way.

He's got brushing commands like "move over," "other side," "other leg," and some others that I have forgotten, and he gets praise and pats when he does what I ask.