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ChinaMark · Apr 25, 2005, 06:52 AM

I'm asking a lot of questions recently but I'm 37 years old and this is my first dog and the first time in my life where I now have the free time to be able to devote enough time to raising one.

My 3 month old Rough Collie is perfect in every way.. so far I haven't had any problems house-training or crate-training. She doesn't bark or whine, she's eating and drinking well. She is a bit 'mouthy' when she gets overly excited but I'm working on that to teach her that any teeth to skin contact is unacceptable behaviour.

It's when it comes to brushing her she goes beserk. I'm not sure if she thinks it's a toy and I try to be as firm with her as I can but that makes her even more excited. Her seeing the brush is the only time I've heard her bark. What am I doing wrong?

I've read that Rough Collies need a lot of grooming because they are constantly shedding and also that grooming helps with bonding... I don't want to miss out on that!

I live in China and dog grooming is non-existant here so there is nowhere I can take her to but then I really want to be able to do it myself anyway.

Any advice please.
Mark

labman · Apr 25, 2005, 07:02 AM

I am not sure why dogs react that way to brushing. They enjoy it, but seem to fight it. When she gets excited, try putting the brush up and walking away. The one thing the dog doesn't want is to lose your attention. They instinctively desire company.

ChinaMark · Apr 25, 2005, 09:23 PM

Well I persisted with her this morning, I left the brush, let her attack it and bark at it and ignored her until she got bored with it. After a few goes she finally gave in and let me brush her... I think she even realised it was a nice experience to be brushed. Maybe her old owners never used to brush her. I gave her a little treat at the end too so that she will learn that brushing is a good thing!
Thanks.