Grooming "Lesson" Cut Short By Broken Comb

Wally still has a few fears left, and one of them is getting combed. I've been trying to help him feel more comfortable during being groomed (since he has no behavior problem with being groomed, either for me or when I take him in, but he seems so scared, I hate to see it), and was giving him some pieces of those veggie straws he loves every so often while grooming him, especially if I have to pull out tangles.

We were getting into it (and into some mats due to him changing his coat still to accommodate the warmer weather), and he was getting rewarded and I could see the signs of him getting a bit more relaxed. The shaking in his back legs slowed, he didn't pant as hard, and when I gave the verbal marker, he was quickly looking towards the treats on the floor and ate them readily.

But the comb could take no more. It's been getting stressed near the handle for a couple weeks now, but it was holding on.

Tonight, though, was the end. My faithful ally against all things matted-coat finally used the last of its strength.

Alas, here lies a faithful and capable Untangler comb.

Fortunately, they are not expensive at all (if I get it from Amazon anyway, when I looked at one other site, they wanted to charge me a minimum order fee. Seriously? A fee for not ordering so much? No, really, seriously?!), so a new Untangler comb is on the way.

Meanwhile, I'll have to go back to the greyhound comb I suppose. I liked the Untangler because the teeth rotate so it pulls less on the coat, even when taking out mats. It's either that or cramping my hand trying to hold half of a half-a-comb...

Hopefully, his coat will "behave" until then so that can be a scenario we can avoid, both for his comfort and my hands.