Wednesday, January 13, 2010

How can you get a dog to let you clip his nails?

Okay so my dog Jack is two and totally paranoid about his feet. If we touch his nails he growls and tries to get away, but I don't really think he would bite. Anyways, so is there a way for us to do it at home? We don't really want to take him to a salon or the vet if there is a way that we can make him let us clip them.How can you get a dog to let you clip his nails?
My dog use to fight me every time I tried to clip his nails. At the vets he was a perfect gentleman. Why? My opinion was the table they put him on is slick topped. He may have been afraid of sliding off more than having his nails clipped. Anyway it worked. No more fights.How can you get a dog to let you clip his nails?
It's going to take a lot of time and patience.


I've brought my dogs up to be okay with someone handling their paws.


What you're going to have to do is get some treats, and make paw/nail touching a positive experience. Just touch his paws and nails and give him a treat. Repeat this until he is okay with you touching his nails.


Then introduce the clipper. Don't clip anything yet, just simply slip the clippers over the nail, take them off, and then give a treat.


Make everything as positive as possible.





This may not work in all cases however.


You may just have to get a few people to hold him down (depending on his size) purchase a muzzle, and try to do the best job you can that way.


Again after everything is done, give him treats.





I also would suggest getting a nail grinder possibly.


This apparently stops or reduces the risk of getting the quick, so it would reduce the risk of creating a painful experience for the dog.



If Jack is a big dog, I'd say you'd have your hands full trying to clip his toe nails. It would be bad enough with a small dog; esp. since you have already said he has growled at you.


I would advise, despite the cost, to get your vet to do it, or a dog groomer. It would be well worth the cost, rather than someone getting bit or putting undue stress on your dog by you doing this. Dogs can sense your nervousness, and so it makes them even more nervous.





In future, if you get another a pup, start working with their feet from day one that you have it, by holding and rubbing each individual foot and toe nail a period of time, cutting the hair around the toe nail, (if it has long hair), and simply by introducing the pup to the clipper, by letting him smell it, etc.





Also, did you know, by walking and running dogs on hard surfaces such as sidewalks and blacktop, it will help wear their nails down without having to clip them as often.
I used to help at a doggie day care and the owners would sometimes pay the place to cut their dogs nails for them. I think the daycare did the perfect job, how they did it with a paranoid dog was to put a collar that not only goes around the neck but the mouth too then someone would hold up the dog and make sure they keep the dog still as the other one clips off the nails. The dogs started getting used to it even though some, with no reason, still hated it and keep howling but the people at the day care got the job done without hurting any of the dogs. After make sure to reward your dog (ie if he likes dog treats, give him one) to show him that he gets something good out of it
You should ask someone to help you with this. Who ever is better at the clipping part have the clippers ready on standby. Now, have someone hold his jaw closed and cover his eyes. Don't squeeze to hard, but don't let him get free to bite the person clipping either the person holding his mouth should be kind of hold the dog between his legs. So he can't stand up. Talk to him nicely while you do it, and clip his nails quickly. The nail clipper person will have to hold his paw still and make sure not to make him bleed, because he wont want to do it again. Making sure the dog can't see will help ,because he wont know exactly what's going on.
STart giving him daily ';paw massages'; before you try to clip his nails. Reward him with a treat when you're done for good behavior. IF you do this daily for a while eventually he'll start to realize that having his paws touched isnt such a bad thing. Once he's more comfortable try the clippers again
my dog speedy hated cutting hes nails...so i used to lay him on hes back rub hes belly for a while then slowly try to cut hes nails...if he started to wiggle, id let him go for a while...then id ask some1 to hold him for me while i did it...





you can ask some1 to wrap him in a towel and cover hes face and body and stick hes feet out, but dont suffocate him!haha...


then when ur done tell him hes a good boy and give him love, and a snack...
Take it to a vet who specializes in cutting nails of dogs that are paw sensitive. My Dachshund has to be done by a vet for that sensitivity to touching his paws.
take it to the vet
make your dog stay

No comments:

Post a Comment