My Blue Tick Coon Hound is about 2.5 years old and we’ve had her for about a year and a half. At first I could trim maybe one claw per evening when she was sleeping, but now she wakes up and sees the clippers and flips out. She struggles to tuck her feet underneath her and gets bitey - but not really, just puts her teeth on my arm as if to say “Don’t make me do this.” She had her claws trimmed by a professional (a friend who is a dog groomer) and was perfectly fine with that, but when I had them trimmed somewhere else apparently she was “very difficult.” The first friend lives out of town which is why I don’t simply take her there all the time.
How do you guys trim the claws of a difficult dog? Her claws are black and she’s a skinny 40 lbs. I’m thinking of asking the vet for a mild sedative, but wanted to ask my fellow Dopers what they do first.
I’m lucky that my dog is Gently McPatientpants, but you might try to associate a nail clip with an awesomeawesome treat like a bit of cheese. And when you do, just take of the very tip of the nail, so that she can’t or barely feels it. It might take many repetitions of that, but hopefully she could eventually accept it.
Since she was ok when you friend did it before, I wonder if she was ‘difficult’ because that person nipped the quick…at least once.
Another tip: If you take your time and look underneath the nail, it’s pretty easy to see where the quick is and where you need to stop.
I don’t know if this works with all dogs but someone once gave me this advice and it worked great with my two Bostons, granted they weighed about 1/2 of what your dog does.
They will only squirm and resist up to the point where they realize they’re not going to escape. Then they sort of give up and let you go about your business.
If you can hold/restrain them in one spot and keep them there till they give up (usually only a matter of 5-20 seconds) you should be good to go.
Have you tried a dremel tool? Besides the possible pain involved by clipping too much, there’s the sound of the clipper which bothers some dogs. Blackjack gets upsets when I clip my own toenails because he has that sound associated with something bad.
We had a dog that we took in when she was already conditioned to hate the clipping. She freaked no matter what when we tried to clip her nails. One time the vet said he’d do it. He put a strap over her snout (80+ pound collie, a wise precaution), and when he took out the clippers he could see the radical personality change. He asked if we cared if they were long, we said no, and he shrugged and said nevermind, let them grow.
You could try getting her used to the clippers first without actually trimming her nails. Just bring them out and set them down, don’t do anything. Once she starts to calm down, give her treats. Repeat until she starts to feel less anxious. If you get a positive response with this, gradually work your way to trimming. Pick them up, wait, put them back down. Pick them up, touch her paw, put them down, etc. You might have to do this for days or weeks before she lets you get close enough to trim her. You can never tell how afraid your dog might be and what she thinks will happen.
Two easier options:
Walk/run her on concrete or asphalt often enough so that they wear down naturally. My lab is coming up on 3 years and his nails have never been clipped.
Check the humane society in your area, where I live they have clinics about twice a month when you can just show up and get a nail trim for ~$10.
You are going to need to de-sensitize your dog. This is slow, patient work that will take numerous three to five minute sessions over a period of days or even weeks. The idea is you reward relaxation. Do not move on to the next step until you feel the dog is totally comfortable and relaxed. DO NOT RUSH any steps.
Steps:
find a type of food she likes, best if it is soft and very easy to eat (not crunchy or chewy). Cheese, boiled liver, or commercial soft dog treats are good. You need pieces the size of a pea, a few hundred of them.
feed her pea size treats while she is lying down. Talk in a soothing happy voice.
do the same while gently touching her feet. No clipper appears until she is totally relaxed lying down while you touch her feet and feed her treats. Lots of dogs don’t like their feet touched at all. Reward relaxation with treats. Do not feed her while she is resisting you.
now show her the clipper (let her sniff it) while feeding her treats.
now touch her feet while she sees the clipper. treats, etc.
now touch her feet with the clipper. treats etc.
now work the clipper handles (make the clipper noise) while touching her feet with the clipper.
NOW you can clip one nail. Make sure you don’t quick her. Treats, clip one nail, treats. Quit for that session. Don’t push it.
If at any time you encounter fear, excitement, or resistance, back up as many steps as you need to, to get relaxation again.
Story: famous horse trainer spends a whole day working with a horse who had previously refused to load in a trailer. At the end of the day the horse walks happily and eagerly into the trailer. Owner says, “that took all day, what took so long?” Trainer responds, “You spent years struggling with this horse over this, what’s one day?”
You can fix this problem in a week or two of short, effective sessions or you can take your dog to the vet and have them trim her nails under sedation for the rest of her life.
Missed the edit window but wanted to add that holding down a dog who has been previously hurt while under restraint for that same procedure is probably not going to have a great outcome. You could cause a large increase in fear and resistance, even to the point of being bitten.
Walk/run her on concrete or asphalt often enough so that they wear down naturally. My lab is coming up on 3 years and his nails have never been clipped…
I take him to my friends house. If I put him up on the tailgate or her picnic table he is more likely to stand still. I hold him, she clips. I can’t do it by myself, I may get a few nails done but he gets nippy.
It takes 3 people at the vet’s. I’m not sure how bad he is at the groomer. They have never complained, but I think it’s because he is on a table with the loop around his neck. It seems like if he is on something he cooperates a little better.
We use a Dremel on our three dogs’ nails. While they obviously find the process annoying, it doesn’t scare any of them. I find the Dremel easier and safer.
With our former dog, a little pug, we’d usually sit her on the kitchen island, held by my wife, and pre-load some spoons with peanut butter. My wife would hold her upright and let her lick each spoon while I attacked each foot with a Dremel. Usually pretty quick and painless.
It helps to have started from a very young age getting your dog used to being touched and handled every which way. Get them used to you groping between toes, looking in ears, lifting lips and feeling teeth, everything you can think of. If they’re raised from puppyhood to think that’s normal, they’ll be fine with it. The current dog is used to being handled, but is still a little skittish about getting her nails cut. Basically, we have two options:
[ol]
[li]Lay her across my lap. If her head’s to my right, I’ll reach over her and grab her lower “elbow” with my right hand. That lays my arm across her upper body and immobilizes her, because if she can’t roll to her feet, she can’t get up and away. Keep the grip loose unless she struggles, then you need to tighten up and use a verbal command like “Easy!” to calm her down. As she gets calmer, the grip gets looser. If you can get her used to this, you can cut her nails yourself, but if she still struggles, you might need a second person.[/li]
Pay someone else to do it.[/ol]
That’s the best if you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity.
Buddy was headed for the show ring before they threw in the towel (and then I got him). He hops up on the groomer’s table with a smile and comes running when my wife taps the doggie toothbrush on the side of a table. Amazing.
I figured out the secret to trimming my dog’s claws almost stress-free.
She has to go in a crate when we’re not home (she’s chewed up too much of our stuff - it’s a huge crate, don’t worry) but she hates going in it. Once she’s in it she’s fine, just curls up and sleeps until we get home, but when it’s time to go in it she goes limp and I have to carry her up the stairs. If I place her on the stairs she freezes to buy time and I can clip all her claws with no problem. I keep the nail clippers on the step and do one paw at a time. She just stands there and lets me do it.
I bought one of those sponge things with sandpaper on the sides. I use that to file Bentley’s claws. He doesn’t mind that a bit, but he hates the clippers. It takes a little longer but at least the dog doesn’t freak out.
As soon as I pick up the clippers, my normally afraid of nothing dog looks at me with deep suspicion. If I approach her or start to clip the other dog’s nails, she books it upstairs like I’m about to beat her, and huddles on the bed looking miserable.
I think Ulfreida had a good program for desensitizing. To add to her suggestions, you might want to look into adding some clicker training to that as a way to reinforce the progress you make.
What also worked for me, just this weekend, was having a party. Lots of cookies, lots of happy upbeat celebration for just one nail clipped, followed by more cookies and more happy praise. It was very silly, and there was a bit of eye-balling the escape route up the stairs, but my girl stayed without being restrained. I only got a couple of nails cut, so not the most efficient way of doing it, but I’m hoping as she survives each encounter with the dreaded nail clippers, it will get easier to get more done each time.
Something else I do, which never occurred to me until someone else showed me, was to have my dog standing and pick up the foot so it bends towards the back. Looking at the bottom of the foot from above lets me see the overgrown part of the nail more easily so I’m less likely to hit the quick.
