In order to train your dog to handle the groomers, you’ll need a few things that simulate the experiences they will have at the groom shop. Luckily, you don’t have to rent a booth at a groom shop for 6 months to help with this experience. Most of what you need is already in your house or can be made readily.
Required Equipment (in order of use)
- Lots of Treats
We want the dog to be happy to get his nails clipped, teeth brushed, and yes—even a bath. The best way to your dog’s heart is through their stomach. We’ll be using a lot of treats to train this!
If you’re concerned about your dog’s waistline during this process (and you should be, see our final lesson) feed less kibble/dog food to make up the difference. We use a variety of enticing treats to train our dogs ranging from cut up hot dogs and string cheese to baked chicken breast cubed up.
The linked treats are expensive, but you get hundreds if not thousands of treats precubed up into little squares, most dogs go crazy for them, and they’re also a complete and balanced diet. This way if you think you’re going to go over 10% of their daily food intake in treats, you know it’s still balanced.
I personally use cut up hotdogs, each slice cut into quarters, but you can use what ever your dog loves the most, assuming it’s safe for dogs to eat. - A clicker
This is optional, but as you’ll find out in our crash course for dog training, a clicker makes this so much easier to do. Here’s a link to my favorite clicker. - A Solid Platform
We’ll be platform training our dogs to simulate a groom table. This does not have to be an actual groom table. It can be any raised surface your dog can step onto and off of from the ground and have all four paws on it.
We made one of out plywood, but you could use a sturdy wooden box, an agility table, or basically any stable large platform. Here’s a link to an affordable “Dog place board” if you want formal dog training equipment, but really, unless you have a Great Dane and need a whole pause table to train him, a step stool works just fine. - Something to make a loop out of
We’ll be teaching a dog how to put their face through a grooming lead, something lots of dogs avoid. You don’t need to buy anything special for this. Your dog’s leash held with a big loop will work. Bonus: if your dog acts like it’s a bull in a rodeo when you try to put their harness on, this will teach them to be much better. The hole they need to put their head through is the same idea as a grooming lead! - A wobble board
This helps your dog learn how to handle unstable surfaces. We’ll teach you how to make one, but you can also buy one very affordably online. - A place to ‘wash’ your dog, a foot bath
You probably already have a place to introduce water to your dog at. This could be a bath tub, a faucet that has running water for the sound, etc. This is going to be broken down to a second step, which is voluntarily entering water. For that we’ll need a shallow basin of water that your dog can get into and out of, with no more than an inch of water in it. - A blow dryer
You probably already own a blow dryer for your own hair, this is fine (set it to cool.) If you don’t own a blow dryer and don’t want to buy one, ask to borrow one off your local ‘Buy nothing’ group. If you want to buy a whole dog blow dryer for this I won’t stop you, but I don’t think it’s necessary for groom training. A human hair dryer simulates sound and wind well enough, without the expense.
Please note, I’ve never used the linked velocity dryer above, the only one I’ve used is this one which lasted forever and did a great job, but costs a mint. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to spend $500+ on a dryer only being used to introduce a dog to the blow dryer, but if you have a husky, poodle, or other dog that really benefits from a blow dryer this might be worth it. - A vacuum or similar looking hose
The big difference between a human hair dryer and two other types of dryers is that the air comes out of a long hose instead of the shorter hair dryer. In order to simulate this, you’ll want a long hose. This doesn’t need to be functional, it just needs to look the part for desensitization. - 1-6 tiles
If you have slick flooring in your bathroom, use that. You can buy some tiles to work on, or you could even take your dog somewhere with slick floors and work there. I believe working at home will be easier and less distracting, but it’s an option. - A Muzzle
Every dog should have a muzzle that fits them in their emergency kit anyway. If your dog doesn’t already have one, this is something you should get. I’m using a custom made muzzle by Tye-Dye Muzzles in my videos, but any muzzle that fits your dog will work. - Basic grooming tools
At the minimum you’ll need a brush, some cotton balls, ear cleaner, a set of nail clippers, and a toothbrush for your dog. A set of paw pad clippers will be handy because of the vibrations, but anything that vibrates in a controlled way will work for conditioning your dog. Good options might include a cheap electric toothbrush, like the kind from a grocery store, or even your phone set to vibrate. - A kennel
We will be kennel training as part of this. If you don’t already have a kennel and don’t want to purchase one, we’ll talk about alternatives that simulate a kennel in this section.
For the brush, you’ll want a zoom groom for a short haired chihuahua, a metal comb or a slicker brush for your long haired chihuahua. If your dog gets any work done with scissors, you’ll also need a pair, but any kind will work–even kitchen sheers. No actual hair cutting will be happening, it’s just to desensitize your dog.
Tips for Affordable Training
Let’s face it, grooming is expensive. Literally every item you can conceive of has gone up in price. I do not want to create this only to price people out of it because they can’t afford the objects needed.
Because of this, I wanted to include a few tips for sourcing these items free or low cost.
The nail clippers don’t have to work for the training process. You can even call your groomers and ask if they have a broken pair they’re going to throw away for training purposes. These are a visual aid to get your dog used to seeing the object and having it touch their feet.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to neighbors, friends and buy nothing groups to see if you can borrow these things for free. Your groomer will be grateful for any amount of training done. If you can’t afford to purchase an item for that section, move on and do your best with the next section.
If you really think your dog needs work in an area but you can’t afford the item, be creative in asking around. Your neighbor may have a pair of dog nail clippers lying about you can use. Someone has a hair dryer in a drawer they’re not using right now. If you need something and you can’t afford it, ask around! Most of these items are relatively common and should be easy to borrow.
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Similar Posts:
- Overview of Groom Training Course
- Review of oneisall Paw Pad Clippers
- Best Nail Trimming Tools for Chihuahuas
- How To Maintain Your Pet’s Weight During Groom Training
- Review of the Andis AGC2 UltraEdge
That’s a really helpful checklist! It’s great to see you breaking down the training process in such a practical way – I’m sure lots of owners will find this useful.