Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

My dog is afraid of the nail clippers (Day Ninety Five)

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I talked to my sister this morning about clipping her dog’s nails.  Laura has three dogs, Bandit (a Jack Rat); J.D. (a Jack Russell) and Gordon (a big doofy Golden Retriever that I absolutely adore!)  Laura’s question had to do with clipping the nails of a dog that absolutely HATES it and freaks out (J.D.).  In fact, the last time Laura and Ron clipped his nails, Laura had to hold him while Ron clipped; and J.D. bit her.  Ron stated that J.D. would have to have a muzzle which Laura vehemently opposed, Laura understands that J.D. is not biting to be vicious, J.D. is biting out of fear; the dog is terrified of having his nails clipped.  Naturally Laura would like to be able to clip his nails without him being fearful. 

Now I am not an expert on dogs by any means (yet) but I did have some ideas which I shared with Laura about clipping J.D.’s nails.  First I would begin by trying to desensitize J.D. to the clippers.  I would do this by pulling the clippers out and showing them to J.D. and giving him a treat and tell him he is a good boy.  I would do that for at least 10 to 20 times, then I would take the clippers out and open and close them, again rewarding J.D. with a treat.  The goal here is to make the clippers less fearful for J.D. 

When the time comes for J.D. to have his nails clipped, I think she should hold him and distract him with a bunch of treats; every time he looks at those clippers I would put the treat in front of his nose and entice him to look away, the goal here is for J.D to be looking to Laura for treats and not even worrying what Ron is doing with those clippers!

What would I use for treats?  I would probably get some hotdogs and slice them and then quarter them, or little balls of raw ground beef, something which would really grab his attention and not something he gets routinely.

I hope this helps for any of you that may have a dog that is fearful of the nail clippers.

On another note, we had agility class today and because Sampson really hates it; I told everyone he was a judge; here is a picture of Agility Judge Sampson.

Sampson very generously gave everyone "8's"

Saving time and money (Day Ninety Four)

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Last night at obedience class I watched as two dogs got their nails clipped; both dogs required two people to perform this task.  We are lucky that neither dog fights us during the nail clipping process.  When we first got Sampson we took him to puppy socialization class and one of the first things we learned was to touch his feet and get him use to us doing so, this would turn out to be a blessing in the long run.  With Delilah we just got lucky.

Sampson is a bit harder to clip; even those his nails are lighter colored and you should be able to see the quick (a little vein in their nail that is very sensitive and can bleed if clipped too closely.)  The sensitivity of the quick is probably the biggest reason some dogs don’t like their nails clipped.  Sampson’s quick is very close to the end of his nails especially in his back feet, so when I clip him I only do his front paws.  Delilah’s nails are black like a beetles but for some reason, she clips much easier than Sampson does.

When it is time to do nails, I gather my supplies; a nail clipper, a Q-tip, some Kwik stop styptic powder and a handful of treats!  These are the clippers I use (sort of small for my big dogs but they work)  notice how the clippers have a guard in the center of the scissors, it is important to use the guard because this will help insure you don’t clip too close.

Notice the blade guard in the center

 

I start with Delilah for two reasons 1) she knows I have treats and if I don’t start with her she will jump all over the place acting like a lunatic until she gets the treat and 2) Sampson hates it so bad that he likes to go and hide.   I start with one foot at a time and clip just the curve of the nail off.  Once the foot is finished, I reward the dog with a treat.  I repeat this with each foot.

Mama's princess on a "spa" day!

Once the princess is done, I move on to the big boy, I try to be especially gentle with him because he is very easily bled.  If the quick bleeds too much it can become a serious issue with the dog and both Chet and I have clipped Sampson good, so I always have the styptic powder (designed for dogs, cats and birds) and the Q-tip, if I clip him and he bleeds I pop the Q-tip in my mouth and dip it in the powder.  Then you push the powder into the dog’s nail and pack it; which helps stop the bleeding.  You do want to try to keep the dog off his feet at least for a little bit.

But Mama...they aren't long, I'm honest.

If you have successfully clipped the dog’s nails, you have just saved time (from taking him to the groomers or vets) and money; the bonus is you have also probably saved your dog an enormous amount of stress.

Oh Delilah…(Day Ninety Three)

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Tonight was a frustrating night for me at obedience class.  During the “potty” break, Delilah decided she was going to join a group of dogs that were playing, trouble is she didn’t tell me.  She took off and was so fast and powerful that she completely pulled me about twenty feet before I got her under control.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what that did to my shoulder.

I was so ticked off that I pulled her back and immediately placed her in a down, which naturally she fought; but I stood my ground and held her down until she gave a big sigh indicating she had relaxed.  She stayed in that down position for a good few minutes by herself after I let her up.  I thought, maybe she has turned a corner, but that remains to be seen.

Chillin

Sampson of course hates the class and would do anything possible to avoid it.  While on the way home I told him pretty soon the weather will be nicer and you won’t have to go to class, you and daddy can go somewhere else and walk.  He licked my face.

Calgon, anybody...take me away!

I still really hate the way some people man-handle the dogs and it takes everything I have not to scream at them, what the hell is wrong with you?  But this is acceptable behavior for dog training, I think there is a better way, trouble is I just haven’t found it yet, but I will.

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