Before you can shave his ears, you need to first train him to like the clippers.
Here are 5 steps to train him to be shaved. Follow each one and you should have no problems.
1. Start off by showing him the clippers and praising and rewarding him when he sees the clippers. Bring out the clippers several times a day at random times and each time praise him and reward him. I would keep the small clippers with me everywhere so in the middle of him playing, eating, etc, I would bring them out. This way it is unpredictable to him and will learn quicker to like the clippers. This will make him associate the clippers as a good thing where gets praised and rewarded. Once he gets this down and staying calm each time you bring the clippers out then you can move on to the next step.
2. Bring the clippers and turn them on. Don't put them too close to him, maybe about 2 feet away to where he can see and hear the clippers and feel secure about the situation. Praise and reward and do this several times a day. Always encourage him, the clippers can be a scary thing for them and they feel insecure about it, so let him know that the clippers are ok and he is ok and nothing bad is happening but rather something good to where he gets encouragement, praise, and a reward. Once he is comfortable with the clippers being on at a distance, you are ready for the next step.
3. Next, bring the clippers closer to him. Keep bringing the clippers closer to him a little each time. Encourage, praise and reward each time.
4. After he lets you bring the clippers really close to him, let the clippers touch him. Keep the clippers still on one spot to where he can feel the vibration if there is any and then you can move the clippers so he feels you moving them. Do Not put the clippers on the face, rather the back or a paw. Encourage, praise and reward. Then let the clippers touch each part of him, and do it in strokes, let the head be last as this is their most insecure point. Once you think he is ready, bring the clippers to his head to where they are touching him. And then move to his ears. Encourage, praise and reward.
5. Now you can start shaving his ears, start off just taking a tiny bit off, pause to see how he accepts it and then continue on. After you are done praise him like crazy and give him a very special treat!!
I have trained all my dogs any many others by using this technique, it really works!!
Keep in mind each dog is different, you may or may not be able to skip some steps and some dogs take more time than others but they will all learn it, just at different paces. This may take more time than you thought, but in the end you will be glad you did it this way and it will make things so much easier. It is sooo much better to do it this way rather than forcing it on them and having the hate and fear the clippers.
I wish you the best of luck with training!!!:
