Show me your belly

[nosemovie]

Not you... sheesh.

In an effort to be more proactive about the cleanliness of my very hairy and smelly dogs, I'm in the process of teaching Rumble a "Show me your belly" behavior with the ultimate goal of him rolling onto his back and STAYING there so I can access all that damn hair and messy knots and such and clean him up.

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Little history

Comments

[minnathered]

Watching the video, you seemed to be pretty high energy for training a calm behavior. That may be because he was wired enough that you had to stay a little high to keep him in the game. Can you reward with a quiet cookie instead of a YAY! cookie? Skritching near the penis may be calming, too. Sort of.

Can you put a word on it when you see him chewing on his toys while lying on his back? Classical conditioning, and then you might be able to add a toy to the mouth for grooming some parts of his belly.

Denise Fenzi wrote a post for her pet-geared blog on calmness. Maybe it will have some thoughts for you. http://denisefenzipetdogs.com/2015/09/28/training-calm/

[nosemovie]

Ah yes... I am often WAAAAY to high in my training to mirror what I want from the dog. It's that energy thing! and I tend to reward a lot w/ my voice and action. I can calm it down... and see how low I can go and still keep him in the game.

I think a toy in his mouth when we finally get to the grooming part is a great idea. He won't do it while training (because ... TREATS!!) but the end behavior certainly could include a toy.

Thanks!

and I'll totally go read that Fenzi blog. She's really one of my heroes.

[multisylldogs]

Oh I dearly remember the dremel disaster with Ruben! One of the funniest stories I have ever read! You were so damn lucky that dremel didnt go through that television screen! Haha. But it is exactly why I've never considered using one. So thanks for letting me learn vicariously, ha ha ha!

[nosemovie]

I'm always glad when my cautionary tales help people avoid my stupid mistakes!

[dinahprincedaly]

Looks pretty good to me.
But He really doesn't like to be groomed? Stella zones out for it. Razz is like please comb my belly again, did you get my ears? How about my whole back? Could you use the flea comb again please?
Maybe you don't have the right grooming tools? There are some brushes neither of them like...

[nosemovie]

There is one brush they don't like. I need to replace or re figure out what I can use to do the same thing. I do have a simple comb, and a lovely brush with bamboo bristles. Both of those are easy and simple. It's not that he doesn't "like" it... it's just that he won't hold STILL for it!

[dinahprincedaly]

Maybe it has to be a two part trick. Show me your belly. And chill. The show me your belly is so cute! And rambunctious. We had to teach Razz "chill" when he was first going for a lot of PT post shoulder surgery. Chill is so useful... Even still

[nosemovie]

We might just KEEP "show me your belly" even if it doesn't work for grooming time.

[biggmellon]

is he cuddly and snuggly? Like not when you are trying to brush him, but like on the couch or in bed? I seem to recall that he sort of is, no? For sweet natured cuddly dogs I move into grooming thru building snuggle time into body work time, like when they are naturally snuggly I start working on massaging, and gentle handling, when they relax into it, I bring in a gentle brush on their backs, shoulders and neck. Then when the stay relaxed and zzzzz thru that I work on getting belly rubs being a part of body work, then bring the brush into that.

I personally found that with body work dogs are SO in tune with the person's energy, so I kinda zone out, love em up and move slow and soft, breath slow and soft, work in little bits when they are chill. I stop when they wake up and snuggle more. Just an idea that's worked well for me, make it more about relationship and chilling out together than exciting training. He seems like the good natured type that could learn to love it.

[nosemovie]

I think you are on to something here... maybe just forget the treats and the "training" of it, and have it become a routine time (like just before bed) where we massage and cuddle (he loves to cuddle) and then add brushes and combs into that.
I wanted to be able to do this in the garage for obvious HAIR reasons, but I could easily work around that.

Thanks!

[biggmellon]

once he loves it and sees it as cuddling he will love it everywhere. You just start the work where he is most relaxed and once he loves grooming cuddle seshs you can have them anywhere. Our dogs come and pile in my lap when I sit down on the floor with a brush because it's always been one big ol love fest.

[redwoodranch]

I totally screwed myself with Beam too by not working this, and his undercoat was horrible this year. The bath tub being raised high gave me the incentive to work on it. Literally every night for about 2 months, I'd spend 5-10 minutes with him and Peach working on grooming. Brush, treat, brush, treat. I've always done nails with them in their backs so everyone is relearning to be dremeled while standing. And I just isn't reward any frantic behavior (which the criteria changes over time). I also start off with a lot of love and massaging.

[nosemovie]

Yeah, I totally screwed up trying to pair it with dinner/training. He's just far too high then. I think Dawn is spot on that it will work better if I choose a mellow time, and bring the mellow myself.