Comments on: It’s Not The Dog That Needs Training—It’s Me

By: Cats Going Places

Cats Going Places — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 22:59:55 +0000

There needs to be a nail trimming class like this for cats, too. Cupcake hates having her paws handled, and it has led to the cycle of my not wanting to do it because it bothers her, which then means, I let it go even longer, which means she resists more next time. Cat psychology is different than dog psychology, so I’ll have to look and see if anyone has offered anything like this.

Meanwhile, you and Honey are going to do great on her trims. It sounds like you’ll be a pro before you know it!

By: 24 Paws of Love

24 Paws of Love — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:48:19 +0000

I’ve never trimmed any of our dogs nails, except Silver’s and that was a nightmare. Taking her to the vet was another nightmare. I had to practically lay on top her while the tech clipped each nail. It was awful and I swore I wouldn’t put her through that again, so we did one nail at a time while she was sleeping. It worked for a while.

But all the other dogs keep their nails fairly trimmed from walks, concrete and wood decks. What a blessing!!

Good luck with Honey!

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 18:02:44 +0000

Nail trims are nightmares for us, too. Barley is fine with me using a grinder after we did some work to introduce it slowly. But I’ve never used it on Rye (or in front of Rye), and she flips out when she even sees it on a shelf. She’ll hide from me if she sees me actually pick it up. We just go to the vet and have them do it because we just haven’t found anything else that works for her and they can get it done in minutes–which is worth the money to me! Hope y’all make more progress than we have! Thanks for joining the hop 🙂

By: Blueberry’s human

Blueberry’s human — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 21:35:08 +0000

I use a glass nail file for B. She doesn’t really mind it but she has my number and will often try to hide her nails or wave her paws around. Why? Because she wants the reward she knows is coming. I don’t treat her when she gives me a hard time but she still does it to me. And other times she’s totally fine. I dread doing it though because I never know which personality will surface.

By: KB

KB — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 05:17:30 +0000

I often say that our dogs have the fastest growing nails in the west. That’s despite the many miles that they both cover on our trails every day. Neither of them loves having their nails trimmed but we do okay. I’ve taught them that there’s a trade – one treat for every nail trimmed. I put the pile of treats just out of their reach and dole them out one at a time. We get by. They both have black nails and they both squirm a little – so I do make mistakes. However, the benefits to keeping their nails short far outweigh the occasional mistake. Early in R’s life, I occasionally slacked off on his nails, and they got much too long. He repeatedly split nails when they were too long. Then, one of those got infected and the nail had to be removed – which had complications…. and it taught me to put it on the calendar to clip their nails every two weeks! And I do – because I never want one of our dogs to go through nail removal again.

I’m so glad that you’ve learned some things to make it easier for you. I’m glad that filing works for you. I’d never have the patience for it. Kudos to you!

By: Jan K

Jan K — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:14:47 +0000

I don’t remember ever even worrying about nail trims with our first two dogs. I guess that was because we hiked a lot, and that meant a lot of travel over rocks (we didn’t walk on pavement much so it must have been the rocks).
When we got up to 4 dogs in the house, hiking stopped and we were faced with nails that needed to be trimmed. I am OK with doing it myself, though I tend to be conservative because I’m afraid of getting that quick (which means doing them more often). While none of the dogs have loved it, Luke is the first that wouldn’t allow it at all. I think $39 sounds like a bargain if it might help us through this, and half price even better! I need some new ideas with Luke so hopefully we’ll find some here. Thanks for sharing! I may even learn some tips that make it easier to do Cricket’s.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:56:16 +0000

In reply to Meagan & Merlin.

My husband is better at doing medical procedures (and yes, I think of nail trimming as a medical procedure) than I am too. It’s funny that Merlin’s dew claws have their own mind.

Maybe the next time you go to the beach you can check out his foot prints in the sand to see if you can find any clues as to why some claws would grow faster.

The vet in the class talked about how different nails can grow at different rates. And dogs will react differently to having different paws handled too.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:53:29 +0000

In reply to Tenacious Little Terrier. Before we moved on board I was looking at a scratch board. And her ramp has a sandpaper surface that we could use in that way. But Honey really likes being handled and cuddled. So I think that getting into the habit with a file is going to be the best way to go.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:52:01 +0000

In reply to Edie Chase. If you take the class, I hope you find it as helpful as I did. It was reassuring that the teacher had her own trauma with nail care. I find that the best trainers are those who are as kind to people as they are to dogs. And Lori in this class definitely was.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:50:48 +0000

In reply to Taryn. Isn't it amazing how dogs tell us what they need? You've built such a bond of trust with Jimmy he'd probably let you do anything. But when he saw your husband coming along, he probably wondered what he was in for.