It has been 7 years since I last taught a young puppy to accept their nails being trimmed, and I’m looking for some tips. My little guy is 11 weeks old, and he REALLY hates being still, at all. He did fine with nail trims when he was smaller, just laid on his back and let me clip every last nail without even flinching. But now he’s a little older, in a very active stage of life, and teething. He wants to chew on my fingers, the nail clippers, anything he can get his teeth on while I’m trying to trim his nails. I’ve tried distracting him with peanut butter, chew toys, telling him “leave it”... I’ve tried waiting until he falls asleep on my lap, too, but the second he feels me touch his paw, he wakes up and tries to chew my fingers. I’ve been trimming my own dogs’ nails for 11 years, and never had such an issue with such a young pup. He’s never been hurt during a nail trim. I’m very careful to feel where the quick ends in each nail (because they’re all black) so that I can make sure I don’t hurt him. This last time, I had to hold him close to my chest so that he couldn’t move, and still couldn’t get his back feet done.
Hi @Dallas You might find some useful discussion here. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw3_ysCxxrFwHczbk3RgjaBe&cshid=1557733680810 Holding your dog fast, as you have attempted, raises the dog's anxiety level, which turns the activity into something the dog wants to avoid.
Hi Dallas, We've got a guide to cutting the nails of reluctant dogs here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/my-labrador-wont-let-me-do-that/ Hope it helps!
I wanted to send a link to a scratch pad on which the dog can 'trim' the nails. But my copy and paste is not working properly.
https://www.dogtrainingnation.com/dog-training/teach-dogs-to-trim-their-own-back-nails/ Sorry it took so many attempts.
Thanks! I normally wouldn’t hold him down, and didn’t want to do it that way in the first place, but his nails had gotten to the point where they were snagging in the carpet and hurting him when he tried to play. (Can’t wait to remodel and get rid of the darn carpet!) I really am having such a great time with this pup! He’s the smartest 11 week old pup I’ve ever known, I can’t wait to put some of these techniques to use and see how quickly he picks up on it.
I really love the Lick-i-Mats which you can smear with soft cheese or peanut butter. The dog is then preoccupied licking those, whilst you can trim away on the nails. (I prefer to use a Dremel.) See: https://www.amazon.co.uk/INDUSTIPET...ords=lickimat&qid=1557934935&s=gateway&sr=8-3
