nails

[hmbmarohl]

Hi. my rescue (ive had him for about 3 months now) wont let me do his nails. i use a dremel on my lab and my moms 3 labs with little to no resistance from them...so i tried that first and got the pulling away from me and then he tried to bite. so the next time i had him sit in the room while i did all the other dogs first, then i put the dremel next to him and turned it on and put it on his leg (to get used to the vibrations) but it didnt help any. today i tried to clip them with a regual nail clipper and he wasnt having any of that either--now i did give up a little early on it (only got one dew-claw done) bc last night he tore up his pads on his front feet and hes already upset from that and me spraying "liquid bandage" from R-7 on them. i bought a muzzle but its too small (going to exchange it this week). my question is, should i continue to try to do his nails myself or should i take them to a groomer or a vet? i worked as a "pro bather" at a pet salon for about a year and i've done nails on difficult dogs before---but i also had a table with the noose on it for help. i dont want him to not trust me, bc we are still building that...and i dont know how his nails were done previously. they arent long enough to be causing any problems yet...but they will need trimming soon.

[Kate@JIm]

This method will take a lot of time and patience, but this worked for me, and its now 7 years later......

 

I have my first border collie that fought me since a puppy when doing nails, he doesn't like his feet touched, and would pull away and then later tried to bite .

He reacted the same way to a dremel and clippers. I thought about a muzzle, but he also fought me and I'd be worn out.

There was no way I going to put up with this the rest of his life so I started completely over.

 

First, I got out "the nail stuff" and just gave him treats ( his favorite liverwurst or cheese and then went and played Frisbee his favorite activity) Next day same thing, following day, had him come near the "nail stuff" and he got treats, every day, for a week. Then just touching his nails, but not clipping or filing them. After about a week I started doing just one nail, followed by treats and frisbee. I didn't rush to do all nails, setting a positive pattern was more important to me. In time, was able to do 3-4 nails followed by his reward. Calm voice, gentle stroking. Within 2 weeks he was coming to the place when I clip and laying down on his own. One nail - treat another nail,- treat, always calm, always followed by play. Within a few weeks I was doing all nails calmly and quietly, with NO struggle!

 

Seven years later, still able to do all nails, but still give treats and play. He knows the routine and loves it!

Set a different tone, and use different words then you did before..............good luck!!

[waffles]

I second Kim's response. It should be no different than other fears. You'll have to go slow and build positive associations to the situation/thing that scares him. It could easily take a few weeks before you get all the nails done but it's about helping the dog not just preventing a bite (with the muzzle) while the dog still freaks out. Working at a grooming shop, I wish I could tell this to all the people who come in with dogs who fight terribly for nails. It doesn't have to be that way for the dogs entire life.

[bn_here_b4]

Kate@Jim's method is working for me withboth my border collie and golden retriever. I used to get the nalis cilpped but am now trying to do it myself to save money. I quickly found out that what the groomer could do with no problem they will have none of from me! Brushing = ok. Baths and nails = not from mom.

 

We are doing the little at a time routine described above for both baths and nails. It really works. I am at the clip one or two nails and done stage with both dogs so I have to try to figure out where I left off each day.

 

I was nervous about cutting their nalis at first (one of the reasons the groomer always did it). I think they were really sensitive to the fact that I was uncomfortable about cutting their nails. My lack of confidence didn't help the dogs feel better about the process. Going a little at a time has helped me too. Since I know I'll be coming back to a toe in a week or so, I don't have to worry about cutting it way down and risking going too close.

 

Good luck!

[bc4ever]

Scooter learned to tolerate me cutting his nails. Never a problem at the vet's when they did it--they were always so surprised that he didn't put up any kind of fuss.

 

I started slow too. I'd get out the clippers, let him smell them, then just leave them on the floor and walk away. He'd continue to smell them, push them around a little and eventually lose interest. Didn't use the treat reward-he was never a food motivated dog. I also did the one or two nails at a sitting thing and it seemed to work--kept the anxiety level down for both of us.

 

Good luck!

[hmbmarohl]

thanks! i will try this as soon as his pads are healed, i feel bad enough having to hold him down to put stuff on them and then wrap them. maybe i will leave the clippers around for him to check out while hes healing.

[arf2184]

Meg and I battled over grooming too. As said already, try to make it as positive as possible and go slow. I use the dremel for nails too. Meg was very afraid of it at first so our first step was getting her comfortable around that while it was on. Then we had to work on her letting us touch her feet...she did not like that, so every night we had a 'play with Meg's feet' session where everyone in the family (not all at once) touched her feet/held her paws and she was rewarded for it. Now she has no concern about us handling her paws.

 

Once the fear of these two things was surpassed, then came putting the two together. That was the hard part. With Meg, I had to just be persistent and not give up or give in (no matter what she did, I was not going to go away), but at the same time, not push too much. The first few times we only made it through one paw. Eventually she just gave up fighting me on it, and now we can do all four paws without issue. Its not a 'happy' time for her, but she seems to have a 'just get it over with' attitude about the whole thing. She'll willingly come to me and lay down in front of me when I have the dremel. She'll sniff it, and then lay on her side and let me do her nails. Occasionally she pulls her foot away, but not often. Afterward we play and she becomes the happiest dog in world.

 

Meg also had issues with brushing and cleaning her ears. With brushing, the head, chest and shoulders was ok, but anything behind the shoulders made her pull away or even growl or snap at me. It took about 6-7 months to work past that. She also snapped at the vet when she tried to look in her ears so we had to work on that too. I'm proud to say we now have no grooming issues.