u/morgoth_2610

Hey! I'm a casual noob who wants to learn to shave my boy to keep a trimmed coat at all times since he loves being active and swimming. He's 14 months and not a big fan of getting groomed but I decided to start exposing him to the process in tiny steps every day.

He loves bathing and shampooing but brushing and trimming not so much. He is not food motivated either so a lick mat doesn't work in keeping him distracted (he will ignore it no matter what I put on).

Today was day 2 and he actually let me shave his back and side torso and his front paws slightly. He's extremely wiggly and won't hold still, I'm grooming him on the countertop of my bathroom BC that's easier to clean.

Due to his size I have a difficulty reaching underneath and especially the inside of his legs and armpits when he's standing. I want to completely shave the high friction areas like his crotch and armpits to prevent matting but it seems impossible. The electric shaver is pretty much half his size :D do you have any tips? I own a set of dog grooming scissors and an electric pet shaver where I use the 10mm setting.

Also he won't hold still at all around his neck throat and head. I tried grabbing him by his chin hair but he will just roll his head constantly making it almost impossible to safely cut the hair Infront of his eyes with scissors.

I'd really appreciate any feedback on how to learn this properly. My goal isn't styling, just trimming him safely. I know it's a process and eventually he'll get used to it but I'm also concerned of hurting him when he wiggles. The dogs in the videos I watched always hold perfectly still or are highly food motivated :/

He doesn't understand the concept of an open window and is waiting for the rain to hit him