Horrid at getting her nailies clipped

Southpaw

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#1
Lucy is absolutely terrible when it comes to getting her nails clipped. When we first got her, I would frequently touch her paws, play with them a bit, touch her nails, etc., all in an attempt to get her used to it so she wouldn't mind getting her nails clipped. The first time she got them clipped, the groomer did it, so I don't know how that went. The second time, my brother-in-law did it, and she was SO bad at it but we got it done. She squirmed, she screamed, it took some effort to get them clipped. I covered her eyes thinking if she didn't see the clippers she would be okay, while my sister held her body down. Eventually she relaxed enough to get them cut. Last week we were going to do it again, but we just could not get her anywhere near calm enough to be able to do it.

She does okay when we bathe her, brush her, brush her teeth, and clean her ears...but she is horrid when it comes to nail clippings! Is there anything we can do to get her more relaxed so we can cut them?
 

Poppy

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#2
Maybe some night while watching the tube sit beside Lucy with clippers behind your back. Rub her belly, then rub down her legs. When you go to snip off a nail blow in her nose and say in a chipper voice "Good Girl".

I've had rescues that I could not get near their paws. With work and patience you can desensitize your baby. I read somewhere else that dogs are naturally protective of their paws.

Try doing one nail at in one sitting and just skim the tip. Tons of praise after the one nail. If your desperate to get the nails done, I read if you put the dog in the bath tub you can do them there as the dog is unsure of the surface.

You might want to try a dremmel on her, if you know anyone you can borrow one from.
 

sam

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#3
Are you good at it? I had a dog who was freaked by nail trims and so initially I got my trainer to help. I held a large chunck of cheese, the dog stood on three legs and chewed on cheese and let her do his nails. He was much less nervous up on three legs than being on his side. I had my trainer help the first few times mostly because I wasn't good at it at all and figured the last thing the poor dog needed was for me to accidently cut the quick.
Over time he got better and so did I. I never forced the issue, sometimes I'd only do front legs one night and do the rest another night just to make it easier on us both. I gave him lost of tiny treats as we went, he thought that made it ok.
 

Southpaw

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#4
I've never done it myself, as I probably would be terrible at it, lol. My brother-in-law does it for us, he cuts his dog's nails too, and very rarely does he cut into the quick. We always have Kwik Stop ready just in case, but we've only needed to use it once or twice.

I just wish Lucy tolerated it as much as Molly! Molly just lays down and doesn't try to fight it all lol.

Anyway, thanks for the tips, I'll have to try them out. I guess the worst case scenario is that the groomer/vet will need to clip them, and that's not really too big of an issue. Annoying yes, but oh well. :)
 

Mordy

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#5
Buy yourself a Dremel. You can do nails much shorter and much faster that way. :)
 

Roxy's CD

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#6
My coach reccomends the dremmel as well.

I use regular old clippers and do my guys once every two weeks. Now Hades is just happy to get attention so he doesn't care at all but Roxy doesn't like it, but she puts up with it.

I got them to lie down, belly up, and placed my thigh over their body just in case they moved, not holding them down, but for while I'm clipping their nails so I don't cut their quick.

In stern, authoratative voice, "Your fine. Relax" Than when I was done they got a belly rub, and a few seconds later I'd give a big release and bunch of treats. They don't have to like it, but they have to put up with it. It doesn't take long.

Does your dog have black nails?
 

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