[JoeyP]

I'm not surprised that a rescue will have issues with things coming close to his face
I think you might wanna try something that a groomer friend of mine did
Take a comb and put some dog food on it
Let the dog lick the food off
and at the same time just place it close to his face
don't try to brush him yet
keep doing this again and again to get him used to the comb being close to his face and not be afraid of it and see where this gets you