Dog grooming here is very expensive, at least it seems that way to me, so I always do my own dog grooming. We have two small dogs, onelonghair, and one shorthair. Chipper, the Yorkie-poo has to be groomed the most often, because his fine hair gets tangled easily. Tootsie just needs a bath now and then , f she gets dirty, or starts smelling "doggy".
I have had Chipper all of his life, and so he has been groomed since he was a tiny puppy, and has always been fine with having his bath and brushing. However, as he has gotten older, he has also gotten fussy and grouchy about both of these activities.
Even when I am just bathing him, he squirms and squalls like it was hurting him something awful. The amazing thing is that when my husband give Chipper his bath, he holds still and does not squall at all. Bobby just tells him to "man-up" andchipper will stand there and get his bath.
Clipping him is even worse now. Sometimes, it takes both of us to clipone little 6 lb dog ! Bobby will hold Chipper and keep him still, and then I can clip off the rag-tags that he gets in his hair.
I just found a small set of electric clippers on Amazon that helps out a lot. they are cordless, so I do not have to worry about chipper tangling up in the cord when I am clipping him, and they are also very quiet. I think that the noise of the larger clippers is part of what upsets him, since the clippers arenot actually hurting him at all.
I have though about sending him to a professional groomer; but I have heard that sometimes they drug the dogs, or hit them to make them behave when they are grooming them , and I don't want Chipper to have to endure anything like that; so it seems better just to struggle through the process myself, and know that he is not hurt.
