Don't Touch My Feet!

[PippatheMastiff]

Since she was a baby, Pippa will not let me trim her nails. She's never been injured so I don't get it. Dr. Nick and I have wrestled with her, given Valium, and finally had to sedate her partially to trim her darn nails!! I've been working with her almost daily and still can't get her to hold still long enough to do the job. Any suggestions? It's time again and I hate sedating her for that.


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[glen]

Gandalf is our one, we tare ages getting him calm, then Glen sits next to him while I do the nails.we use a dremel. It will take time do what your already doing keep touching and holding the paw, praise her give treats do one give her a break. Stroke her give her attention before starting on the paw. We've got it now where he will let us check his paws daily.

 

[PippatheMastiff]

Thanks, I'll keep working at it [emoji51]


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[PippatheMastiff]

Glen, do you use a regular deemed or one designed for dogs nails?


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[teodora]

yeah Jack will give one nail for a treat. We tried to do 2 nails for a treat and he immediately sat on his paw and looked at us with an outraged expression: lol, we reverted to one nail for one treat. Who said dogs can't count...

 

[glen]

Just a regular one. Let her get used to the noise being around first.

 

[glen]

Haha dog a can count.there very clever,and they know they get more treats that way.

 

[teodora]

Haha dog a can count.there very clever,and they know they get more treats that way.

He was really offended we even tried lol...

 

[Hector]

How have you been working on her nails? First work on foot tolerance and then introduce the clippers by tapping and then reward. Stop with small successes and do multiple sessions a day. You have to be smart on when to progress. Sometimes small victories = end session and huge rewards.

 

[Hector]

A huge dog with nail phobia is very dangerous. Glad you are trying to work on it. For bigger dogs the owners usually hold their front end with them standing then I prop my knee under their stomach and lift their hind leg backwards and bend the paw and clip.

 

[PippatheMastiff]

We are at foot tolerance now. I touch and count her pads and reward. I can touch her nails as long as clippers not in sight. Try to make a game. I also run the clippers along her back, scratching it, and down her legs. That's as far as live gotten since I've begun trying to do this slowly. Had a horse that was tough to clean & trim hooves and it only took about an hour of conditioning before he was ok. Lol. So yeah guess conditioning is really what I'm doing here now. Thanks for all the tips! Especially how you trim back feet. I will show Dr Nick. He's very tall so that should work nicely for him. Thanks again!


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[PippatheMastiff]

So Hector, after 3 sessions with breaks in between I can hold her paws without her pulling away. I did what you said and tapped her nails gently with clippers. She didn't freak out and pull away. So it won't be long now. I think I was humanizing her before, not thinking about conditioning. Training has come so easy to her I forgot how to do the harder stuff. [emoji16]


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[Iulicris88]

I don't really have to trim my dog' s nails because he spends a good part of the day running outside, and they keep themselves short. I only have to cut the ones that are higher up on the legs and don't come into contact with the ground. He's pretty good about it, maybe because I like to play with his toes whenever we cuddle, and he's used to me touching them.

 

[DennasMom]

I do Denna's nails like hoofing a horse - she stands and I pick up one foot at a time. The extra focus she needs to stay upright helps take her mind off what I'm doing to her toes.
I also put the treats right under her nose (or near by), so she can sit there and drool thinking about treats instead of what I'm doing, too.
She's now where I say "good" at each clip, and then she gets a big pile of treats once a foot is complete.

She was getting antsy a few weeks ago, and it seemed like my clippers were getting dull... I bought a new pair, and that must have helped, 'cause she was almost an angel during our last session (almost, HA!).

Put on your "nurse" hat - calm, no nonsense, no BS allowed... if Denna twitches and pulls and/or runs away, I don't move... I just call her back to "take her medicine"... and that works for us.

And like Hector and the others said - reward for each small step in the right direction. Sounds like you're getting there!

 

[Hector]

So Hector, after 3 sessions with breaks in between I can hold her paws without her pulling away. I did what you said and tapped her nails gently with clippers. She didn't freak out and pull away. So it won't be long now. I think I was humanizing her before, not thinking about conditioning. Training has come so easy to her I forgot how to do the harder stuff. [emoji16]


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That's great! You don't have to run the clippers on her body and all. That's not what you want to condition. You want to condition the feet, clipper to feet contact. I would mainly focus on holding the paw with some degree of pressure. Hold and release and reward. I would also work on putting pressure on different nails. If you can get the dog to hold still while you put pressure on the paw and tap a nail 5x, I think you will be able to successfully tip the nail without any fussing. Be quick to reward and know how to read your dog. I like to teach my dogs to lay down either on their sides on the floor or just in a lay position on a couch where the paws hang over for me to work on.

Sometimes dogs are greedy enough that you can occupy them with a stuffed treat. I used to use a can of baby food in those glass jars on one of my dogs. Sometimes I froze a silicon tray of wet food to keep her busy while I messed with her feet. Of course a baby bottle or a tray didn't get me through all 4 feet, but it got me through 1-2 feet. Eventually I phased that out and got her to a point where I clipped and treated and even got to use a grinder on that girl. The whole process took me 2 years of trialing and error with that dog. She taught me a lot and she was a tough one to convince lol. Hector was so easy. The typical counter conditioning stuff worked on him no problem.

Choice of clippers is very important . Dull blades make the job harder and I think it scares the dog too with the amount of twisting and recoil it causes. I use millers forge red handled clippers you can get on amazon. It's not for everyone, but I have bought over 15 pairs of clippers and I always end up using those. They slice the nail instead of pinching and snapping the nail off, but in order to get the slicing effect you have to take off slivers and not a huge chunk at a time.

One last thing once she trusts you to clip her nails is to study on the anatomy if you aren't already familiar with it. It will less likely be trial and error if you know what you're looking for. Also, have quikstop before you begin!!

 

[Hector]

It looks like the nail trim thread I started is lost. I had lots of pictures on there. I have them all on my comp still if you would like any references!!

 

[Smokeycat]

Jiggers hates to get his nails done, always has. Unfortunately with him it must have something to do with me as he is compliant for groomers. What I found works for me is that he has a very strong 'stay' command. As soon as I'm done he gets released and we play fetch as it is the ultimate reward for him.

 

[PippatheMastiff]

Thanks! I trim nails at work so I have the anatomy down. And I have quick stop and a new clipper. So hopefully today's the day we get it done. I rubbed clippers along her body because she was scared of them. I wanted her to be ok with them in my hand and now she is. I have no clue how she became so afraid since she hadn't any previous experience with them. I really appreciate the help @Hector


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[Iulicris88]

Thanks! I trim nails at work so I have the anatomy down. And I have quick stop and a new clipper. So hopefully today's the day we get it done. I rubbed clippers along her body because she was scared of them. I wanted her to be ok with them in my hand and now she is. I have no clue how she became so afraid since she hadn't any previous experience with them. I really appreciate the help @Hector


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Mine was ok with the vacuum cleaner, as a small pup, now he wants to rip it's head off. The minds of our pups work in mysterious ways

 

[Hector]

Thanks! I trim nails at work so I have the anatomy down. And I have quick stop and a new clipper. So hopefully today's the day we get it done. I rubbed clippers along her body because she was scared of them. I wanted her to be ok with them in my hand and now she is. I have no clue how she became so afraid since she hadn't any previous experience with them. I really appreciate the help @Hector


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Let us know how it goes!