Don't Touch My Feet!

[Michele]

I have to take JC to the vet for nail trims. I can't touch his feet.

 

[PippatheMastiff]

1 step forward, 2 steps back. Her quick bed is growing out so I really need them cut soon. Talked to Dr Nick about it at work today and he suggested we do another trimming while sedated so I'm not in such a hurry to make progress. We will do that this coming week, then hopefully I can get her comfortable with it by the next trim.


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[Elana P]

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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[Elana P]

Charlie, couldn't care less.
He loves to hold hands, so the front paws are a breeze. The back ones, are a little more complicated, because they seem to be ticklish, but eventually we always manage.

Danny, my old boy, was terrified of the whole idea when we first got him at 5 months (a reserve rescue). It took the Vet, three Vet office people and me to go through all of his nails.
-Finally, I'd had enough of this nonsense. I laid him on his side on the kitchen floor, boxed him in with a couple of chairs and knelt behind him, treats in hand, leaning over him.
-Well the eyes started rolling when he saw those snippers, and the struggle began. Leaning over him and holding him down, I clipped the first nail and popped a treat into his mouth.
-While he was chewing it, I snipped the next nail, and so forth until we were done.
-Now at past twelve, I find that his nails are harder and he seems to be more sensetive, but we still manage.

Now my little Katy, is an absolute nightmare (must have had a bad experience before coming to me at five months).
- When she just sees the snippers, she runs .
-No conditioning has worked, no treats, nothing. It's like trying to hold a small greased piglet.
-I've had to pick her up, tuck her behind me on the couch, pull out one foot at a time, and snip as quickly as possible.
-Afterwards, she's always given treats and hugs and kisses, but she acts extremely offended for hours after the event.

I know that some groomers place the dog on a grooming table, with a loop tie around the neck, right under the jaws ( which is attached to a pole that is secured to the table), and pick the feet up facing backwards and go through them rather quickly.

Personally, I prefer to do them myself.

 

[PippatheMastiff]

Elana, sounds like fun! Pippa weighs 140 and is quite a handful!! But we're keeping at it


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[Hector]

Charlie, couldn't care less.
He loves to hold hands, so the front paws are a breeze. The back ones, are a little more complicated, because they seem to be ticklish, but eventually we always manage.

Danny, my old boy, was terrified of the whole idea when we first got him at 5 months (a reserve rescue). It took the Vet, three Vet office people and me to go through all of his nails.
-Finally, I'd had enough of this nonsense. I laid him on his side on the kitchen floor, boxed him in with a couple of chairs and knelt behind him, treats in hand, leaning over him.
-Well the eyes started rolling when he saw those snippers, and the struggle began. Leaning over him and holding him down, I clipped the first nail and popped a treat into his mouth.
-While he was chewing it, I snipped the next nail, and so forth until we were done.
-Now at past twelve, I find that his nails are harder and he seems to be more sensetive, but we still manage.

Now my little Katy, is an absolute nightmare (must have had a bad experience before coming to me at five months).
- When she just sees the snippers, she runs .
-No conditioning has worked, no treats, nothing. It's like trying to hold a small greased piglet.
-I've had to pick her up, tuck her behind me on the couch, pull out one foot at a time, and snip as quickly as possible.
-Afterwards, she's always given treats and hugs and kisses, but she acts extremely offended for hours after the event.

I know that some groomers place the dog on a grooming table, with a loop tie around the neck, right under the jaws ( which is attached to a pole that is secured to the table), and pick the feet up facing backwards and go through them rather quickly.

Personally, I prefer to do them myself.

Conditioning works. You just have to find the right approach and come up with a systematic plan and that is often the hardest part. My old female would run, snap, growl, pull away. She hated being restrained and it was pretty dangerous as she was only 60 lbs, but would bite once she's had enough. Took me 2 years to figure her out with no restraining. Don't give up. Reach out for help. Join Nail Maintenance for Dogs on facebook for ideas. Sometimes it's the clippers, sometimes it's how the dog is positioned, sometimes it's the reward delivery method, sometimes it's the sensation, etc. Sometimes you have to teach them to relax on their sides before you even begin messing with their paws. Some little dogs are completely calmed if their body is wrapped in a blanket. A client of mine just pins her dog on her side and holds each leg firmly for me to work on. This 60 lb dog is done on a regular basis every 3 weeks and she seems to be tolerating it better every time so it goes quicker and quicker. Some dogs hate clippers but doesn't mind the dremel even if it is used on them for the very first time. You can also teach them to use a scratch board.

Sensitive long quicked dogs do better with a grinder and people always think the dog must have been abused or had a bad experience, but that's often not true and shouldn't matter too much anyway. It's how you go about the conditioning process.

 

[Hector]

1 step forward, 2 steps back. Her quick bed is growing out so I really need them cut soon. Talked to Dr Nick about it at work today and he suggested we do another trimming while sedated so I'm not in such a hurry to make progress. We will do that this coming week, then hopefully I can get her comfortable with it by the next trim.


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Cutting nails that have long quicks often isn't much help. You need to grind them. Can you show me a pic of her nails?

 

[PippatheMastiff]

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[PippatheMastiff]

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[PippatheMastiff]

First 1 is dew claw 2nd are front paw, 3rd is back paw


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[Hector]

Honestly those don't look bad. Will you post a pic after they are cut?

 

[Boxergirl]

I agree 100% with everything Hector has said. I just wanted to add that if you don't have enough hand strength to make a good, clean cut, a dremel might be a better option for both of you. I had early onset arthritis in my hands and I caused two of my dogs discomfort because I didn't have the hand strength to cut their nails quickly and cleanly no matter how sharp the clippers were. In addition, sometimes a dog that doesn't tolerate clippers will do much better with grinding. That's my Al. He's still worried and anxious about it, but with lots of high value treats and patience I can do two entire feet at a time with my dremel. I could only do one nail every day or so with the clippers, and that was just tipping it.