Visiting a groomer can be a traumatic experience for a dog.  The loud and unfamiliar sounds of dryers and clippers can be overwhelming. Standing still being touched all over can be tiring.  We recommend starting to groom puppies between 3 and 4 months.  After 4 months the process of desensitizing a puppy to grooming and making it an enjoyable experience is difficult and takes a lot of time and patience. 

We don't have set times for puppy grooming, we like to let puppies decided when they have had enough.  As a guide we will spend between 30 minutes and a maximum of 90 minutes grooming a puppy.  We start with introducing ourselves and the Barkbus with a good sniff around.  The groom starts with brushing and combing and an attempt nail clipping.  Then a nice warm bath with a Blueberry facial.  We move on to a good towel dry then onto the specifically designed grooming table.  There we will introduce them to the high velocity drier on the most gentle setting.  They are given treats and praise when they accept the air flow on their body.  Once they are dry (or close too), we introduce the clippers in the same way.  Then the scissors around the face and paw pads which is the most difficult to get them use to.  By the end of the groom we usually see them use to the drier and the clippers.  Your puppy won't be going home with a proper designer groom but will be clean, dry and well on their way to being a super model!