 There are some excellent suggestions in this thread
Just to throw another one in...
My hubby and I watch a movie every night while we eat, but of course the movie takes longer than eating dinner. We bring the dogs on the couch and they camp out, and we just gently brush them then while they're relaxed and just happy to be with their people. They tried to bite at the brushes when they were younger, but now they often sleep through it.
As far as mats go, only one of ours gets mats. She was badly bred and was a rescue, so her hair is very coarse rather than silky like better-quality Yorkies. I use a mat breaker (available at any pet store) for tiny tangles, but I put coat conditioner on to try to work out any that aren't tiny. I never have any very large mats, but if you get those, it's better to just carefully clip them out if you can't work them out gently. If the dog is already skittish about brushing, you'll make it even more skittish if you are yanking on a mat to remove it. |