Well, I mentioned in another thread that I've gone back a few steps with Shadow. To the beginning, in fact. He was really struggling with the Dremel, so I've binned that with him for now, and have been exclusively using the metal file. His nails are much softer than Willow's and the file does make good progress with them. However, he didn't respond well to the file on his back nails, and those have been growing faster than his front ones - or, rather, I've been concentrating on filing his front ones, whilst his back ones have just been growing. So I thought I'd see if I could slowly introduce the clippers, since he was never as twitchy with them as Willow was. Well, he didn't even flicker when I put them against his toe nail, so I went in for the clip. No reaction. Lots of treats. Repeat. Every one of his nails, front and back. Amazing. So, whilst I would still rather use the Dremel in the future, it's good to know I have options in the shorter term. All the handling of his feet has certainly made the clipping possible, anyhow; in the past, it was always a two-person job, with DH distracting him with a pouch of sardine mush whilst I clipped. Now, being able to do it by myself is a revelation.
Great videos @snowbunny, I ordered a Dremel which arrived the other day, I'd never be able to clip his nails as my hands shake too much. Thought it best to start training now before Dexter's nails get too long. I'll move on to an emery board first. I've enjoyed reading all the posts.
Hehe, Emily. No need to be jealous. It's been a long, long journey to get here, and we have a long way to go yet. And you have a couple of other things to do with your time
When I was a child, I recall our little white fluffy dog would scream when my dad would take out the nail clippers. But my dad being a doctor simply held her down and clipped away, old style, no cooey-coos. I don't recall any blood (ie if he cut the quick) but I always assumed it must be painful for a dog to have its nails clipped. As a adult with my own dog -- Snowie -- I took him to the groomers to have his nails clipped. But it didn't make sense financially, so for the price of two visits, I bought a very good nail clipper and then proceeded to read every article on the internet and watch every video before I dared use them. When I eventually did, I was surprised that Snowie didn't flinch, just lay there while I clipped each nail, no treats necessary. My husband is always amazed how accepting Snowie is -- he also recalls as a child how his dog hated having her nails clipped. For us the key aspects are: Snowie is used to having his feet handled (I made a point of handling all body parts regularly from when we got him); he trusts me completely; and I am careful, when cutting, never to cut above the straight line from pad to where I'd like the nail to end -- I place my finger flat on his paw pad and measure that way -- this being the guide the vet gave me, and I assume the quick hasn't grown past this point.
@MF unfortunately Ella has hated having her nails clipped ever since I cut one too short. I too would handle Ella's paws all of the time (as I do with eyes, ears, mouth etc.) but on one occasion she moved at the last second and I cut the nail really short. After a yelp and a lot of blood, Ella wouldn't let me touch her paws and would run away if I got the clippers from the cupboard. It's a long road back from there unfortunately.
That's brilliant,just shows it hasn't impeded your success by changing pace a bit when you felt you needed too.Very well done x I'm filing Dexter's with a big emery board when he lies next to me of a night relaxing on the couch.Chris says I'm cheating because he's asleep I probably am a bit .....but I don't feel we've started training proper and if he really hated it,it would wake him up and he'd move away I'm sure x
Ooh, I can understand why! If I drew blood on Snowie, I would definitely lose my nerve to cut his nails. Hence why I take ages measuring to make sure I only take off a millimetre at a time, I admit I am terrified of taking off too much. @Dexter -- I find when Snowie is asleep it is definitely easier! Otherwise he's too distracted and fidgeting.
I bought some new clippers on the recommendation of a FB group I'm on. They are revolutionary! They are by Miller's Forge and very reasonably priced: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Miller-For...&qid=1482962458&sr=8-1&keywords=millers+forge The best thing about them is that they are almost silent. My old clippers made a loud noise each time I cut, and it was hard to take a very thin sliver because they were too bulky. These ones are super sharp and so I can shave tiny bits off. Shadow is so much calmer with them. I've even managed to clip a couple of Willow's nails with them, and she wouldn't let me anywhere near her nails with the old clippers. I've started work on positive associations with both Dremel and clippers for Luna this week. I want to get this right from the start with her.
Thanks @Karen64 - this is a super old thread though! I no longer do Charlie's claws - once he returned to normal exercise he just keeps his nails really short himself because he walks on pavement enough to do so. His claws are perfect again now, without any input from me. Betsy's claws are another matter. She only does training walks on pavement, and is mainly on grass. So her claws were too long. But I just got her to sit still (that took a few days) then clipped them. She didn't care, apart from she kept trying to eat the nail clippers! Stopping her doing that was what took the time. And it is a BILLION times easier to do the nails of a yellow dog! You can clearly see the quick underneath the nail, no guesswork necessary!
Yes, I've just started this fun game with Luna. Apparently, clippers are tastier than cheese. Who knew?
