Psychological Well Being of Your Shih Tzu

The dictionary says “Shih Tzu grooming” means cleaning and training your pet. However, the realistic meaning extends much beyond these two aspects. It also means conditioning your pet to adapt itself to your home environment, live comfortably with your family members, and greet your visiting guests. Let us see how you can prepare the ground for these tasks.

Physical grooming

This involves brushing, bathing, potty-training, exercising & walking and related activities. Of course, this also involves conditioning your Shih Tzu into accepting the grooming voluntarily, rather than forcing her to do so. It may take some time depending on the steps you take to prepare your pet psychologically for this.

• Always use standardized and quality pet-toiletries for brushing and bathing your pet. It is better to avoid chemical-based products, as they can have allergy, skin irritation and other side effects.
• Bathing once in two weeks with lukewarm-water can keep her clean, preserve the natural-oil contents of her skin & hair and keep her away from dirt. It is better to avoid hot-water.
• Brushing her hair everyday and keeping it knot-free can keep her fresh and active. Deep and gentle brushing to her skin level is preferred. Remove the knots (if any) with your fingers.
• While cleaning her ears & eyes and trimming her toe-nails, ensure that she is comfortable. Rewarding her every time she cooperates with grooming could encourage her into “accepting” the procedures voluntarily.
• Always use pet-recommended products and avoid human-usable toiletries.

Psychological Grooming

This is not a rocket-science which you need to master. All you need to do is be patient enough to learn about her preferences and liking. Initially you may have to let her have her way to some extent, like while cleaning and training her. Once you have won over her confidence, she will voluntarily start following friendly commands.

• It is better to give the task of grooming to her most favorite person in your family. It takes less time and effort and avoids resistance from her.
• You can have a fixed schedule for grooming time. This will naturally prepare her psychologically.
• Span her training into easy steps, one day at a time. Give her some some time to get conditioned to one set of exercises before teaching her new ones. Once you start working with her, you will become conscious about her needs and wants very quickly.