grooming my west highland terrier

Question
my west highland terrier has got her winter coat but every time i try to groom her she tries to bite the brush. i tried to muzzle her by the whole time she just  tries to run away and get it off.
what should i do?
thank you

Answer
Oh no! Sounds like she's telling you how it is! :)

I think a couple of steps may help (hopefully!). Westies can definitely be a bit ornery (but isn't that what we love about them?) so this will take some patience.

Hopefully your girl has a favorite treat (try hotdogs or chicken...something super yummy).

Tether your pup and maybe put her somewhere high up, like a counter or washer/dryer. Being up high gives your dog less of a sense of freedom and helps to keep her from running off. It may help to have someone help you by standing to her front with the tether and snacks and have you in the rear brushing. Keeping the tether taut but not tight will also help to ensure a bit of control

Now while holding her attention with the snack, and keeping the tether forward around her neck, keep the snack mostly in the fingers but let her lick at it, nibble at it; don't need to feed constantly, mostly just nibble little bits at a time... while simultaneously brushing. The point is to distract from the brushing while also providing a positive association with it.

I'm sure the first few times she'll be tempted to turn around and react but try to keep the food in front of her face, breaking her concentration on your bothersome brushing. Eventually she should let you brush more and more as she relaxes and realizes this is a treatworthy event!

Don't expect immediate relaxation, this will take a bit of condtioning for her to not associate the brushing as a negative experience. Grooming in your lap is not a good idea for the time being until she calms to the idea. You have to have that no-nonsense, this is business attitude.

Don't be afraid, also, of an occasional correctional "AH AH" if she tries to turn and bite. Let her know you don't approve. Don't be tempted to use her name as a corrector, as this makes her name negatively associated, as well.

I might also suggest posing this question to a dog trainer on this site, as I can give limited ideas being that I primarily groom. When we have an aggressive dog, we have the tether to help hold the head in the forward position so it is difficult for the dog to turn on us, and we use this time to verbally praise what we like and "AH AH" when the dog tries to turn around. Staying calm and in charge shows the dog that we aren't nervous about the situation and neither should she be.

Good Luck... It can be difficult to "untrain" a bad habit but with calm persistence you'll find she knows what is expected and how to get yummy treats.