# Scared of spray conditioner bottle



## Graciep0o (Apr 23, 2010)

Hi all - I'm new to the forum. I've been reading the posts and must say that this site has been a great source of information for me.

I have a 5 month old puppy, Oliver (see profile pic). He's been a joy, despite the usual puppy antics. My particular question is regarding his daily grooming. I read on the site that you shouldn't dry brush the coat so I bought some conditioning spray to lightly wet the coat before hand. Plus Oliver's coat is a little bit on the coarse side on a strip from his neck to his tail so I was hoping this would soften it up. However, for some reason Oliver is terrified of the bottle and won't let me go anywhere near him with it. I've resorted to spraying it on the brush or spraying it on my hand and applying it to his coat which probably doesn't let me . Does anyone else have this issue with their puppy or can offer some advice?


----------



## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Welcome to the Forum! Your profile picture is not showing up on the thread. 

I would continue to spray the conditioning spray on my hand or brush until Oliver got use to the sound of the spray.


----------



## Graciep0o (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks for your advice. I will keep doing that daily till he gets used to it. I think I figured out why he's scared of spray bottles in general - my husband used to use the bitter spray on furniture to deter him from chewing. We've stopped using that a while ago, mainly because it didn't really work that well.

I've fixed my avatar picture so you should be able to see it..


----------



## pacehavi (Oct 20, 2008)

If you have someone to help your or are coordinated (something I'm NOT) then you could also work to link the spray with a very small treat, something he'll really love like boiled chicken . First spray on the comb and treat him. Then as he calms down with this go closer to him and spray on him, always linking with a treat. I betcha unless he's really terrified you'll see good results with just a few short training sessions.


----------



## Graciep0o (Apr 23, 2010)

I will definitely give that a shot. I haven't been too diligent about training him with it so its probably something we need to work on a few more times. Thanks for the advice!


----------



## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

Roscoe was scared of the spray bottle, too! I spritzed it into my hand to get him used to the noise. I think he didn't like the cold feeling from the spray, LOL! Now he doesn't mind, especially since lately it's been in the 90s here


----------



## Graciep0o (Apr 23, 2010)

I think it's probably the cold feeling too. At first I thought he didn't like the smell, but he was ok with it when I put it on my hand and then on him.

On another note, Oliver has a strip of coarse hairs down his back. His fur everywhere else is very soft and silky. Does this stay or will it fall out when he blows his coat?


----------

