Terrified Of Nail Clipping

[Guest ultraviolet79]

Hello,

 

My Watson had a horrible experience getting his nails clipped at the groomer's back in December (see my thread about it: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/293015-dog-injured-at-groomers/?hl=groomer). Since then we've been avoiding clipping his nails, but they got so long we had to do something! A friend of mine is a vet tech, and she offered to help. She came to our house and attempted the clipping. Poor Watson FREAKED OUT. He is clearly scarred from the bad grooming experience, as it was never a big deal to cut his nails before it happened. I have never seen him so upset-it got to the point where he was snarling and trying to bite. It's a good thing he was wearing a muzzle. We got most of the nails done, but we had to stop because he was getting way too stressed out. The friend suggested using a sedative next time.

 

Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this, or what kind of sedative might be safe? My friend said ACE is probably a bad idea and was looking into other options. I was wondering what others' experience has been with this kind of medication. Thanks.

[pabozem]

At one of the greyhound gatherings years ago, someone was doing nails. There was one dog who was acting like yours, and the groomer had someone pick her up and hold her in the air. She was so focused on being high up that she forgot about her feet! I've seen people do this several times and it always seems to work.

 

Could you possibly work up to using a Dremel on them? That's what I use on my girls (well, except for one who won't let me touch her feet). It takes a little while to get them used to the noise and sound, but treats and patience usually work.

[Batmom]

I wouldn't bother with a sedative. I would recalibrate him to let folks handle his feet and then start back with a dremel. Process should go something like this:

 

0. ALWAYS tell him what you're going to do, same phrase, same tone of voice every time: "Let's do toenails!" bright and cheerful. You don't want him to think you're going to do this every time you approach.

1. Touch a foot, give a "good dog!" and treat. Repeat until he is calm about, if not actually looking forward to, having his feet touched.

2. Grasp a foot the way you'd have to hold it to do the nails, "good dog!" and treat and then let foot go. Repeat as above.

3. Get your dremel. Do not turn it on. Grasp a foot, tap or swipe the dremel across a nail or two. "Good dog!" and treat and then let the foot go. Repeat as above.

4. Get your dremel. Turn it on and set it aside. Grasp a foot, tap your fingernail on his nail. "Good dog!" and treat and let the foot go. Repeat as above.

5. Get your dremel. Turn it on. Grasp a foot, tap the running dremel across a nail. "Good dog!" and treat and let the foot go. Repeat as above.

6. If the dog really was moderately calm for #5 above, you're ready to actually do some toenails! Congratulations! Either do just a very quick pass of all feet or do just 1-2 feet more thoroughly. Do the rest next session. Don't forget the "Good dog!" and treats.

 

If you work at that for @ 5 minutes 2-3 times a day, you should be able to do his nails within 2-3 weeks. Use a muzzle if you feel the need, no shame in that. You can cut hot dogs or cheddar cheese into slivers that are easy to offer through the holes of a basket muzzle.

 

Good luck!

[Sambuca]

You can also do something similar with the clippers to what Batmom suggested with the dremel. I'm a fan of using the clicker. Bring out the clippers, and just put them on the ground. When Watson just glances st the clippers, click and treat. Once he figures out that looking at then gets him a reward, wait until he touches the clippers with a toe or his nose, then click and treat. Then pick up the clippers and click and treat if he looks at them. Then click and treat if he touches them. Then just click and ready while opening and closing the clippers away from him. Gradually bring them closer while opening and closing them and clicking and treating. Then while keeping them closed, touch his feet, click and treat. Play with his nails when the clippers are out and click and treat. When he seems comfortable with all of this (can take weeks, so don't rush it) clip 1 nail, click and treat and throw a party. Just do one nail at a time for awhile, then 2 nails, and you should be able to eventually do all at once. Always give a treat after every nail though.

[3greytjoys]

We have a couple of extremely paw/nail sensitive hounds. Our most difficult hound to nail trim requires two humans. We go into a carpeted transition room (away from dog's "safe zone" dog beds). We basket muzzle him first. While dog is standing, one person keeps hounds attention by non-stop hand feeding from a big pile of small high value treats that hound never gets any other time. He also holds hound's collar. Second person wears small head/hat light (to help prevent cutting a quick). We don't let dog see/notice the head light. We keep a blood clotting product with paper towels within arms reach, just in case. All of our hounds allow dremeling which is ideal, except this boy. He still freaks if he hears the dremel, even from afar. Another option we reserve for especially sensitive nail clipping times (like if he's been to the vet's office within the month), is smearing peanut butter inside a stool cup in his muzzle.

[Guest gr8hound47]

Have used holding a dog up in the air also and works well. Sometime difficult with a large dog. Sophia Yin has a website and she has a good video on deconditoning/counter-conditioning a dog to nail trims.

[philospher77]

You can find the video here. Note that they say the entire counter-conditioning session that they did was 4 minutes! http://drsophiayin.com/resources/video_full/training_a_dog_to_enjoy_toenail_trims

[cleptogrey]

i do both batmom and cesar milan's approach.cesar doesn't work on the dog until it's calm and in the position YOU want him to be in. but until receintly i made sure dh was help holding the collar and feeding cheese to crazy felix as i dremeled away. i just started clipping his nails and shaping them w/ the clipper before dremeling. i'm now doing it myself and felix has learned- put your head down- we do it in a dog bed w/ his head hanging on the floor. it's been 4 years of a slow learning curve, but i'm doing it myself most of the time. the trick is to work on his nails a lot-even if you are only doing one on each paw. nails can be trimmed every other week(or even weekly) w/o any problems. the two of you will become more confident the more you practice.

[Guest ultraviolet79]

Thank you, all. I'm going to try conditioning him to see if we can use the dremel. I really think it's the clippers themselves (and the pressure of the clipping) that bother him, as I seem to be able to touch his paws without him getting upset.

[silverfish]

I wouldn't bother with a sedative. I would recalibrate him to let folks handle his feet and then start back with a dremel. Process should go something like this:

 

0. ALWAYS tell him what you're going to do, same phrase, same tone of voice every time: "Let's do toenails!" bright and cheerful. You don't want him to think you're going to do this every time you approach.

1. Touch a foot, give a "good dog!" and treat. Repeat until he is calm about, if not actually looking forward to, having his feet touched.

2. Grasp a foot the way you'd have to hold it to do the nails, "good dog!" and treat and then let foot go. Repeat as above.

3. Get your dremel. Do not turn it on. Grasp a foot, tap or swipe the dremel across a nail or two. "Good dog!" and treat and then let the foot go. Repeat as above.

4. Get your dremel. Turn it on and set it aside. Grasp a foot, tap your fingernail on his nail. "Good dog!" and treat and let the foot go. Repeat as above.

5. Get your dremel. Turn it on. Grasp a foot, tap the running dremel across a nail. "Good dog!" and treat and let the foot go. Repeat as above.

6. If the dog really was moderately calm for #5 above, you're ready to actually do some toenails! Congratulations! Either do just a very quick pass of all feet or do just 1-2 feet more thoroughly. Do the rest next session. Don't forget the "Good dog!" and treats.

 

If you work at that for @ 5 minutes 2-3 times a day, you should be able to do his nails within 2-3 weeks. Use a muzzle if you feel the need, no shame in that. You can cut hot dogs or cheddar cheese into slivers that are easy to offer through the holes of a basket muzzle.

 

Good luck!

 

Do this - whether you dremel or clip! It's the way we desensitise dogs who freak out: Jeffie was terrible with his feet when we got him, he'd growl if I so much as touched one. Now, though he's still fearful, I can do one foot, and part of another without him getting upset. I don't mind splitting the job over several sessions since it keeps him content.

 

Some dogs prefer to have them done standing, most of mine have been happier if I do them while they're lying down. The 'holding them up in the air' idea is interesting, but would probably take more strength than we have!

Edited February 17, 2013 by silverfish