Cutting toenails - Page 3

Rem never ever thought about using her mouth but she would carry on to beat the band, screaming and moaning- I'm sure the neighbors for 5 miles around thought I was cutting her into teeney tiny pieces and boiling her in oil. For such a big strong bad ass girl she was a total wuss when it came to nails. Of course in her defense she had thick nails made out of stainless steel that were impossible to cut and never ever tipped so you would always draw blood and to make it worse she did not have wonderful feet so of course they grew incredibly fast. We did find one thing that worked. Stuck up on a picnic table, have Zoli our helper semi hide behind a wall right in front of her and while she was focused on him we went snip snip w/ narry a problem.

I did have one bitch of my breeding years ago who lived with my sister who literally was a bitch and was willing to use her teeth because she knew she could intimidate my sister that way. Over time when she would come to visit I would have come to Jesus meetings w/ her on the nails trying techniques that had worked with other dogs - up on the bed or another raised service so they are not comfortable and might fall off if fighting, of course just the opposite and all the positive reinforcement stuff, wrapping her in a blanket with one leg out etc. I would get it done  but neither of us were happy until one day I hit the magic combination. She had an Elizabethan collar on for some reason and I had popped her on top of the bed ( easier for me than getting on the floor) and low and behold she lay there and didn't even think of protesting. I think she somehow understood she had no hope of using her mouth with the collar on. From that point on even my sister could do her nails.

Nan if he is having a pano issue do they use either tramadol or rimadyl to help the pain? if so give it to him about a half hour before you start and see if it makes a difference. My personal feeling is the muzzle usually makes them fight more cause they want that darn thing off. I've also reverted to subtefuge when the helper trick is not possible - one nail at a time when it's accidently presented to me when she would roll over and extend her leg ( Remy liked being upside down when she was happy)

Now I'll throw out a question. I've always felt you can tell right from the very first get go of snipping puppies nails with the baby clipper whether they are a fighter or willing to cooperative. What has your experience been?

What worked for me (for a fearful rescue that would growl and at one oint elevated to an air snap):
1) Teach the dog to target the nail clippers. (No command necessary, just a reward for touching/playing with clippers). This will help reduce any anxiety that is currently beginning when you take out the clippers.
2) Once the dog is targeting the clippers on his own, this is when you start moving the clippers. Just rest them on his feet (DO NOT OPEN THEM OR TOUCH THEM TO HIS NAILS- baby steps) or for really scared dogs, on the ground near his feet.
3) After playing the above game, you advance to touching the nails quickly with closed clippers. 
4) Slowly increase the amount of time you hold the clippers to his nails. 
5) Start playing with his feet before touching him with the clippers. Start with a quick touch and advance to manipulating the nail the same way you would when trying to position it for a trim. You can reduce the amount of time the clippers are touching his nail to make easier for him and then build back up.
6) Now that you are manipulating the nail into the cutting position and he's VERY comfortable having that done, you can put the nail in the clippers but don't cut. Now you are asking a lot so you may need to start this off with a treat before and after so that it is extra rewarding.
7) The big step - you are going to cut the first nail! Give him several treats before-during-after if possible. Only do one nail!
8) Now you go back to previous steps so they are less challenging and you can end on a positive note. 

Your first few sessions you will likely not cut a nail. 
Each time you go through this series, he will advance to each step quicker. 
Eventually you can cut multiple nails in a single session.
If you have another dog that is relatively easy to trim, do that dog first (after playing the nail trimmer targeting game with the scared dog) and let the scared dog watch - this takes advantage of any social learning that may be available.
Reward during the entire process - don't be stingy!

A good video that is a much faster process than what I did:

This is a good video on nail length and angle. I started cutting my dogs nails like this after the video. Unfortunately, I don't have a dremmel or file:

As for the puppy question. Like I said above, our rescue was very fearful of having nails done when we got her at 5.5months. She is fantastic having them done now.

Of the 9 dog's i've had ove the last 20+ years only two were bad for nails, both females and both bad from  the start. Maggie my AB/Plott hound, shw would squirm, jerk, toss her weight around, and act like a complete bitch, But she know better then to try and bite me. 14 years of fighting her for ther monthly nail trim and all but 2 of her nails were black.

Payne doesn't like it at all and she doesn't like a bath either. Little brat. But she also knows batter then to try and bite me. (Heads will roll.)

Ivy my female i got at 6 months would politely hand you her foot and was never a problem for her nails.

Her daughter had the thickest nails i've ever had to clip. Gladys would get sedated for the semianual show cut.

Her brother Luther had nice normal light colored nails. And he was always a gent on the table. (But a rapiest in the tub! Bath time was sexy time! I had a female bather tell me to take him to Sexaholics Anon!)

Tell you who the worse nails trims are, Pugs! They never bite but it's like holding a greased pig! They scream and thrash!

The worst dogs I ever cut nails on were bassetts. Their nails are made of iron. They also have the worst teeth to clean. Nice dogs, but between the nails, the teeth and the fact that they never shut uo for longer than an hour, I would never own another.