Sunday, March 10, 2013

Toe Nail Trims Part 2

Click, click, click, you are suddenly aware of the sound coming from your dog as he makes his way across the room to you. Trimming your pet’s toe nails should be a regular occurrence whether done by you or by a professional. It is not uncommon to see dogs with adverse reactions to having their feet handled let alone having their nails trimmed. Here are some things you can do to help condition your dog to accept, if not like having their nails trimmed. Don't forget to check out Dr. Sophia Yin's video at the end.

1. Food is a very big motivator for our dogs. If your dog really doesn’t like having his feet handled start by conditioning your dog to like it. To do this, use a really yummy, high value treat such as cheese, pieces of pepperoni, chicken, hot dogs or a commercially made product called freeze dried liver. As you touch your dog’s foot, feed him a piece of the treat. When you let go of his foot the treats stop. Your dog will associate having his feet handled makes good things happen, such as a yummy treat. As your dog becomes more comfortable with his foot being held gradually adjust how you hold it. Count each toe, play with the nail, apply slight pressure all the while feeding treats.

2. Once your dog is accustomed to their feet being handled, we want to introduce the clippers. If your dog runs when the clippers come out we need to use conditioning to get a tail wag from the dog when he sees them instead of fear. When we condition our dog to the clippers we will not be clipping the nails initially. Bring the clippers out and leave them sitting on the floor with yummy treats sprinkled around them. As your dog eats the treats he will realize that the sight of the clippers equals good things. Progress to picking up the clippers and holding them while treating your dog. We are looking for a relaxed dog. When your dog is feeling comfortable and relaxed start touching the feet with the clippers while treating.

3. When your dog has become conditioned enough that you are ready to clip the toe nails, only aim to do 1 toenail. If the day allows, you can clip a toe nail every few hours, or do one nail a day, gradually working your way up to 2 nails, 1 foot and maybe all 4 feet done on the same day. Remember to treat with high value treats so that your dog still associates toe nail trims as a good thing. If you have a helping hand it can be useful to have one person feeding the dog while the other person focuses on the nails.

If you can’t trim your dog’s nails yourself and it is something you would like to do, I would suggest you start with conditioning. In between your conditioning sessions have a professional trim the nails so that they do not grow too long. Nails that are too long displace the toes and disrupt the proper placement of their feet.




Here is a Dr. Sophia Yin using this technique and able to do it quite quickly with this particular dog. Remember every dog is different and the speed of which you condition them will vary.

How does your dog like his pedicures?

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