Building the foundations for your Puppy
Welcoming a new puppy into your life is one of the most exciting experiences, but it’s also a time of learning, both for you and your pup. At Just Think Dog, we believe that setting the right foundations early on helps create a lifetime of positive grooming experiences. That’s why we’ve designed our Puppy Grooming Course, which offers a step-by-step introduction to grooming in a way that builds your puppy’s confidence, ensuring a calm, stress-free environment as they grow.
Start Them Right Puppy Course, what is it?
Our puppy grooming course is designed to introduce your puppy to the grooming process in a safe and supportive way. Rather than waiting until their first full groom at a later age, our course helps your puppy gradually adjust to the grooming salon, making it an enjoyable part of their routine. Here’s what it involves:
1. Introduction to the Salon and Handling
The first step is to familiarise your puppy with the grooming salon, but it’s not just about the space—it’s about building trust and clear communication from the start. During this stage, your puppy will explore the salon, getting used to the sights, sounds, and smells of grooming equipment. We’ll show you how to handle and communicate with your puppy, using positive reinforcement to ensure they feel safe.
We’ll also begin to introduce general grooming cues and commands—such as standing still, being calm when handled, and responding to simple touch commands. This builds the foundation for a positive, communicative relationship during grooming.
Once your puppy is comfortable in the environment, we move on to gentle handling. This includes touching sensitive areas like paws, ears, and the tail. By using reassuring techniques, we help your puppy learn that being handled is safe and even enjoyable.
Included in this session is also how to care for your puppy's coat, what brushes to use and also the technique to effectively brush your puppy. Brushing is often the most frequent grooming activity your puppy will experience, so we start with a gentle introduction to brushes and combs. Your puppy will learn to enjoy being brushed, starting with soft, puppy-safe brushes and gradually moving to the more robust tools used as they mature. This helps them get used to the sensation of being groomed and prepares them for regular brushing at home.
2. Introduction to Equipment
A key part of building your puppy’s confidence in the grooming process is ensuring they feel comfortable around the various tools and equipment used during a typical grooming session. In our puppy grooming course, we gradually introduce your puppy to the essential equipment, ensuring they understand that these tools are part of a positive experience.
Dryers: The sound and sensation of dryers can be one of the more intimidating aspects of grooming for many dogs. We introduce your puppy to the sound of the dryer gradually, starting at a distance and allowing them to get used to it in their own time. As they become more comfortable, we’ll gently introduce the airflow, ensuring it’s a calm and non-threatening experience. By slowly building their confidence around the dryer, we help prevent fear and anxiety later on.
Clippers: Clippers are essential tools in the grooming process, but their sound and vibration can be unfamiliar to puppies. During this stage of the course, we introduce these tools step by step. First, your puppy will hear the sound of the clippers from a distance, followed by gentle exposure to the vibration without actually using the tool.
As they grow more confident, we will allow the tool to lightly touch their fur, always taking care to move at a pace that suits the puppy’s comfort level. The goal is to make sure your puppy feels relaxed when these tools are in use, reducing any stress during future grooms.
Scissors and Trimmers: Finally, we introduce your puppy to the quieter tools like scissors and trimmers. Although these don’t make the same noise as clippers, it’s important for puppies to get used to their presence and movement around sensitive areas like the face, paws, and tail. By carefully introducing these tools, your puppy will learn to stay calm and cooperative during future grooms, making the process smoother for both groomer and dog.
3. Introduction to the Bath
The bath is a big part of grooming, and we make sure your puppy’s first experience is a positive one. We’ll introduce them to the sensation of water, the sound of running taps, and the feel of being gently bathed. Firstly just using warm water, we ensure the process is calming and enjoyable, allowing your puppy to build a positive association with baths.
At this stage, we will also teach you how to help your puppy feel comfortable around water and drying equipment, laying the groundwork for a stress-free grooming routine at home.
We only use water at this stage as we do not want to overwhelm the puppy during this time.4. Mini Puppy Groom
To round off the course, we provide a mini puppy groom, which involves a light brushing, gentle drying, and a small amount of trimming if needed (such as around the paws or face). This final stage allows your puppy to experience the feel of grooming tools in a relaxed and reassuring manner.
By the end of the course, your puppy will have had a complete introduction to grooming, from the environment to the handling and grooming processes. The goal is not just to make them look good, but to help them feel good about the entire experience.
Why Start Early?
Puppies are naturally curious and adaptable, which is why starting early is key to building a positive relationship with grooming. By introducing your puppy to the grooming process in a calm, structured way, we prevent the development of anxiety or fear, setting your puppy up for a lifetime of happy, stress-free grooms.
At Just Think Dog, our puppy grooming course is more than just an introduction to grooming—it’s about laying the groundwork for a positive, communicative relationship between you and your puppy, one that will last a lifetime.