We do a LOT of pavement walking and I suppose it helps to keep Simba's nails down but I still need to clip them. And how's that going, you ask?? Well...I am making some minuscule progress. I am working on the lie down position (on his side) as a precursor. Now that the snow is falling I'll have more time for working on this. Sigh.
Taking it in baby steps means your much more likely to be successful in the end though... It's always the things I try to rush that go wrong.
Yes, that is true. I'm determined to crack this. And it gives me something to work on this winter, so that's good too!
We, too, are taking, tiny, tiny steps. I should have worked on the positioning before I got the Dremel, because it's too much to train the position and desensitise in the same session. So, I'm just accepting whatever position they choose for now and I'll tighten that up later. Shadow is the one that causes more issue with that, because he's a wriggle-bum. Willow sits facing me on the sofa, or lays down facing me, so that her front paws are close to me, which is great. I've got a lot further with W than S. He tries to bite the drill when it comes close (turned off), so I'm working on him looking away from it. I can get it so that it's a couple of inches away from his nails, but he's quite twitchy there, so I'm spending more time with it a little farther away, but with me touching the ends of his nails with my finger. When it's turned on, I keep it about two feet away from his body and do the same foot/nail manipulation with my free hand. With Willow, I can now get the Dremel, turned on, within a centimetre of her nail. It's so tempting to just brush it against the nail, but she's not ready for that yet. I look at how much she hated having her paws touched at all at first, and now she's more than happy for me to pick them up, spread her toes and play with her nail, so I want to make sure she's got that same level of comfort with the Dremel at it closest before I start thinking about touching. With it turned off, she's pretty comfortable with the drill touching her nails, and even scraping it on the end of her nail, although there's the occasional flinch that I'd like to fix before moving on. There's a real trust thing here, and she often looks at me as if to check that I'm not going to break that trust. She's not the most tactile of dogs, but she seems to really enjoy being physically fussed during these sessions, so I massage her shoulders, head and neck as we go, too. I must try to learn some TTouch at some point, because I think she'd really love that. Small steps, and the nails keep on growing, but I just can't rush this.
I think you are exactly right don't rush it,you sound like you've made a great start so it would be a shame to rattle that and have to go back .....good luck x
Man, this is slow progress!! I can touch the file to the nail when it's turned on for a split second, no more. I've reduced the treats for lesser stuff, so a touch with it turned off gets one piece of sausage, as does holding it close when it's turned on, but actually touching gets three pieces. Both dogs are learning the difference, but they are both resistant to it, which is fair enough. So I have to take it super slow. I'm looking forward to the day I can just be blasé about it and crack on. But at this rate, that will be in 2020 I'm allowing them both to make the decision to continue or not, by offering me a paw. I don't ask for it (I don't have a cue for this), but they've learned that by putting a paw on my leg, the exercise continues and they get sausage. I like this approach, because it means I'm not forcing anything and letting them dictate the pace. Having said that, I try to make sure I always end the sessions, and end them on a high, before they get beyond the threshold they can cope with. They get to lick out the treat pot to finish
I am so happy. I have just clipped all of Charlie's nails back and front. I sat on a low step stool with a tube of Primula and waited for him to give me his paws which he did no problem. I had to sit on the floor to do the back ones but he still offered them so snip, snip, snip all done in 2 minutes so he got lots of treats for that. I have been able to clip them but not with the offer of his paws so it made all the difference, Charlie was very relaxed and so was I. I wish you well Fiona, you will get there, it's a shame you don't have Primula.
Very impressed Helen. Charlie is a reformed character for sure - constantly full of surprises. You have done a good job on him x
Slow and steady wins the race. Not that it is a race, your dogs are your dogs, and what takes time for them is how it is. And with a gold standard technique. Nothing worthwhile is instant. I'm sure you'll get there, and then you'll also have trained 'give permission'. I'm sure that will transfer. Charlie's chin towel rest has, quite well. Bit of time now, pay back later....
Do you have tubes of condensed milk in your part of the world, Snowbunny? Primula cheese alternative....
We do. Isn't that full of sugar, though? People put it on toast!!! Weird.... Raw beef is number one treat for nail clipping, I've found. Willow let me hold the running Dremel against her nail (for a nanosecond) FOUR times for beef! I feel we're nearing a breakthrough with her. Shadow continues to throw behaviours at me to try and get the treats...
Hmmmm condensed milk....... Not sure I would put it on toast, but I remember by dad using it to sweeten coffee years ago. I bought fish paste in a tube recently from zooplus (where I get my Simpsons) Haven't tried it yet.
Thank you very much Jac. It is worth while spending the time on these tasks and to have him offer his paws to me was lovely, shows he trusts me. Also extremely useful for vet visits x
I'm delighted with Willow's progress the last couple of days. This evening I've actually started to make inroads with the filing, rather than just touching the Dremel to her nails. She is tolerating it really well, and promptly giving me a paw again after treats. She didn't want to finish at the end of our session, bless her! My biggest task with her now is to work out how best to hold the tool to get the best filing action. It tends to want to skip in the direction of rotation, so I need a firmer grip but without introducing any tension. Shadow is still very slow progress. It's so unusual for him to be behind his sister in anything training-wise, and I really wish I'd started working on holding his paws and manipulating his toes at the same time I did it with Willow. Still, I know the process works, so I just have to be really patient with him and not expect to skip ahead just because he picks normal training up so much more quickly. They had fillet steak as their treats yesterday and cote de boeuf today. Maybe there's a reason they want to take it slowly.
Ha ha ha they aren't daft are they?they are holding out for your homemade beef Wellington! This is a great thread Fiona to show people how patience really pays off...are you finding their claws are wearing down less now you are walking on snow? I feel like I'm always taking Dexter in the Summer here because he's only walking on sand or grass...now we can walk on the hard surfaces it's definitely having a beneficial effect in wearing his claws down naturally x
Yay! Good going! I'm afraid my dremel with the US plug is STILL in the "things to sort out" pile.....but since Charlie has returned to normal exercise, his nails seem fine. Thankfully....
I don't find their claws wear down at all, no matter summer or winter. We do very little tarmac walking, but lots of walking on hard surfaces (rocky paths etc). Willow's are bionic. I wonder how much has to do with diet. A friend's Lab who is walked in an almost identical manner to mine has beautifully neat, short nails, which are never clipped. He is a digger, mind. Mine look like velociraptors at the moment
I have two Labs and one has nails like Willow, they grow like mad, the other one's nails do grow but not at such a prodigious rate! Both have the same diet.
Willow's nails are getting shorter! YAAAAAAY!!!! With the meat picked off the chicken wings I roasted today for my Christmas gravy.... I tried her back feet today, expecting to have to go back a load of steps, but she didn't react ay differently to with her front paws. I'm still a week or two away from being able to do any touching to Shadow's nails. Still working on him keeping his foot still in my hand when the Dremel is running in my other hand...
