grooming
it is always tuamatic trying to groom my male shih tzu Lui, He is very much loved and i started grooming him as soon as i got him at six weeks old. We had to change his groomer as the original one was very posh but i knpw somethimg happened to traumatise him as he was gradually fetting better until about at nine months old she more or less said she didn't want him ther again, he bit her and she couldn't cut him properly, One time in particular he was so upset when i collected him and he refused to have anything to do with us and was darting around very strangely, i phoned the salon and they said nothing apart from his usual running around the table had happened but i knew it had and i think that he was accidentally hurt with the scissors because he panics and gets ready to bite when he sees them. I only took him one more time after that and found another groomer this time a male, although he bit him steve could tell it was a fear bite but nevertheless i now take his muzzle to gat him groomed and he growls warning me off when i bath him but i dont start off using the muzzle but if he still growls i do put it on him. Funnily enough he doesn't mind the hair dryer. I can only brush him very gently but because he needs a thorough brush i usually end up putting his muzzle on because when he gets matts i wont try to brush them but use scissors to cut them out.
He has bitten me on twwo occasions, both times when i was trying to get him to drop something from his mouth and he didn't want to drop it . I dont know if i did the right thing but i put his lead on and led him to his bed and made him stay for about twenty mins. i am at my wits end because i have back problems and severe arthritis and it is very hard to keep him looking clean and tidy, he is quite a smelly most of the time.