What can you use to safely sedate your dog before grooming?
If your dog needs sedation to be groomed, you should make an
appointment with your veterinarian to examine the underlying cause
- is the grooming facility or handling by the grooming staff
causing anxiety? Does your dog have separation anxiety? Does your
dog have an underlying metabolic disturbance that is exacerbated by
the stress of grooming? If the problem appears to be a learned
behavioral problem (associated fear/anxiety/aggression), a
veterinary behaviorist or certified dog trainer may be able to
help. Be warned - retraining a dog to overcome the learned
fear/aggression is a very long process and may take a year or
longer. You will need to work with a veterinarian for grooming
needs during this process - your veterinarian is not a groomer but
he/she should be willing to trim down a dog's nails or hair coat
under sedation when it is a temporary resolution.
Your dog should not be under chemical sedation without a
veterinarian being on site at the grooming facility - a
veterinarian needs to be available in case there is an unusual
reaction or the sedation needs to be reversed.