Run From The Nail Clippers Ahh!!

[tikeyas_mom]

I need to trimm Tikeyas nails :eek: she absolutly hates getting her nail trimmed.. She freaks out .. I wanted to try these new nail trimmers *for dogs* my mom bought for her shih tzu but my mom said they are to sharp and if Tikeya pulls away then itll pull her whole nail out.. AHH that wouldent be good.. I use just plain nail clippers.. I usually have to takle her down and forse her to let me .. *which is hard because she is a 60 pound siberian husky * What can I do to get her to trust me with the clippers...

These are all the steps I have tooken to get her to try to deal with the trimming ... :

I have let her investigate the nail clipers...

I have played with her paws to get them used to being touched *SHE HATES IT*

I have done 1 nail every day .. *that is very complicated...*

And I have even took her to the groomer to get it done by profesional *that didnt work* It took 5 staff members to hold her down + me and my mom as well AND we never even got all of her nails done AHHHH!!! Oh and did I mention they mad us pay double for arousing all the other animals in the store :mad:

:mad: :eek: :( Please help I am in desperate need of it .. :) thanks

[Jessica12345]

even when your not clipping her nails, or planning on it... play with her feet. when im on the couch with my dogs i am constantly touching her feet. basicly because they are cute, but thats not the point. :D

[micki76]

Get out your nail trimmers and while you have them out give her some GREAT treat. Like, the best treat to her in the WHOLE world (hot dogs, salmon, steak) feed her a few small bites while the trimmers are in plain sight. Now pick them up and keep treating her (very small bites). Once you can pick them up and she doesn't run away, then try to touch her in a small way as if to trim her nails (giving those GREAT treats the whole time). You will eventually be able to trim her nails if you follow this method. GREAT food WORKS for almost any situation. She will let you know if you've gone too far too fast. She'll leave. If this happens go back to the step you were at BEFORE she ran away.

Hope it makes sense, I guarantee it will work; it may take time, though.

[tikeyas_mom]

thanks .. but I have tryed that .. :( it doesnt work for her ,,, she hates it even if she has great food in front of her ..

[Brie]

has she had a traumatic incident with the nail clippers???

Like was her quick actually cut when she had her nails trimmed once? This could be a result of a traumatic incident.

Suggestion: try not clipping the whole nail all at once try just barely taking anything off the tip (does this make since) try doing this while she's sleeping or just really relaxed...

Other thought

Try going to a pet store and buying a mild sedative. They're usually marketed as calm down, anxiety relief, or travel fomula's
Let me know if you need some suggestions on brands or where to find them online.

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
[COLOR=indigo]I wanted to try these new nail trimmers *for dogs* my mom bought for her shih tzu but my mom said they are to sharp and if Tikeya pulls away then itll pull her whole nail out.. AHH that wouldent be good.. I use just plain nail clippers..


:confused: What clippers are you referring to? Can you describe them? I can't think of any dog clippers that are so sharp, or that they would pull her whole nail out....that's just not possible to pull an entire nail out like that!!

The clippers I use really are not that sharp. For a big dog, I don't know how in the world you can clip them with human clippers.

A lot of dogs freak out about having their nails clipped. Does she try to bite you or just run away?

[tomkatzid]

Ashlee is the same way. We have tried all these steps. Ash lost her finger nail once in a downed wire fence. when we first had her. It did grow back, after time and a trip to emergency. So maybe that was her bad experience. I hold her hands and feet all the time and play with her nails, but try to put a clipper on them and it is freak out time. Tried the one a day, then one a week, then one a month thing. No way. She freaks out. At the groomers she bounced off the walls, was crying, poop came out all over and made the biggest mess. She goes to the park every day so the nails do wear off a bit, but not enough. Nothing can be done to her while she sleeps, she wakes up if you even look at her. It is sad that we would have to give them med's just to cut their nails, but that may be the only way. She has her yearly check up next month, so we'll see what her vet says. The only thing we haven't tried is the electric sanders. That may be next. Tikeyas_mom, please let me know what else you try.

[tikeyas_mom]

has she had a traumatic incident with the nail clippers???

Not that I know of.. ??

She doesnt bite me when I clip her nails, I would freak on her if she did that, She just pulls away while i al cutting and It hurts her I guess. The she runs away.. And if she is on the leash she kicks my in the face ect...

The nail clippers have a blue handle and they just look like ordinary dog nail clippers.. Tikeya has never gotten her nails clipped by these befor.. It is possibe to clip the dogs nails with ordinary human nail clippers.. It is just harder, and more of a hassle .. :rolleyes:

[liongirl81]

my Chihuahua is the same way she hates getting her nails clipped, which she actually needs them cut right now. I have a pair of nails clippers but i think they are to big to use on her nails shes so small and i don't want to hurt her, i have taken her to the grommers before to get it done she gets snippy sometimes and she won't hold still, so i know how you are feeling, i don't really know what to tell you since treats don't work maybe you should try some medicine to relax her, its a tough call but good luck with that :)

[tikeyas_mom]

She just hates it . Oh well Ill just stick to tackling her town and then clipping them.. :D

[Dakota's Mommy]

This thread is interesting to hear because Brian and I just trimmed Destiny and Dakota's nails on Tuesday. Surprisingly, Dakota was easier than Destiny. They both hate having their nails trimmed and fight with all their might. However, Dakota was laying on the couch so I just laid on top of her while Brian took the dog nail trimmers and cut her nails. They've never had them cut too short and have only had them done about 4 or 5 times with no problems (besides their fighting us) any of those times. Since Destiny is smaller, she's harder to get ahold of and she really tries to get away. With her, Brian has to end up practically laying on her and holding her tightly so that I can get in there and trim hers. I'm so worried about how I'm going to get this and a few other tasks with them done while he is deployed overseas. I guess these are the least of our worries, but they are thoughts that have come to my mind!

[aprilfools]

I too had to fight to get those nails clipped until I read Vicki DeGray's article at www.canismajor.com/dog/nailsv.html it was on Dr P's Dog Training Library web site. It worked great with our young wild indian and our older lab, with hip dysplasia (didn't want to put her up on the table) we just clipped hers on the floor with her laying down. The distractant summer sausage worked like a charm. I just take small amounts off their nails and do it more often than taking too much at a time. :D I don't necessarily bend their foot to do it, I just clip where I can. Good luck!;)

[liongirl81]

my chihuahuas nails are so small and i don't want to hurt her and i only have a big kind for my 2 bigger dogs they don't mind really whats a good nail clipper to use on really small dogs ????

[tikeyas_mom]

use baby nail clippers for new borns :)

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by liongirl81
my chihuahuas nails are so small and i don't want to hurt her and i only have a big kind for my 2 bigger dogs they don't mind really whats a good nail clipper to use on really small dogs ????

Get a nail clipper made for cats or small animals. I use the cat clipper on small dogs all the time. It's much easier to use then the dog clippers. If you have a Petco near you, I know they sell them there.

[evelyn1157]

zoey hates having her nails cut also but not to the extreme. but plucking her ear hair is even worst. she runs away everytime she sees the tweezers.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by evelyn1157
zoey hates having her nails cut also but not to the extreme. but plucking her ear hair is even worst. she runs away everytime she sees the tweezers.
i never heard of plucking dog ear hair :confused: heehee

[tikeyas_mom]

I cant even barely stand getting my eye brows tweezed. Why would you pluch a dogs ear hair?? thats gotta hurt, I would run away to If I was Zoey. Is your dog a shih tzu?? She is really cute :)

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
I cant even barely stand getting my eye brows tweezed. Why would you pluch a dogs ear hair?? thats gotta hurt, I would run away to If I was Zoey. Is your dog a shih tzu?? She is really cute :)

We do it in Grooming all the time. Not all breeds have a problem with it. But shih tzus, poodles, schnauzers, etc. do. They grow so much fur in their ears it is not healthy...how easy would it be for you to hear if your ears were full of hair?? It also makes the chance of an ear infection worse.

We put a special powder in the ear which makes the fur easier to grip and dries out the ear canal. Then just pull it out with your fingers, or tweezers if its far down in there. I'm sure it hurts, but the dog is better off in the long run. I've pulled it out of Reggie's ears, and he doesn't mind it too bad.

[evelyn1157]

tikeyas_mom, zoey's coloring is the same as your oscar's! they look alike now. but zoey's hair is shorter.

i have tried the powder thing with zoey. but she still hates having her ear hair plucked

[Trikki Woo]

:D I havn't seen this suggestion yet, but have you thought about possibly using a dremel or craft grinder. My dogs (5) hate having their nails trimmed with a guillotine clipper. From what I understand it applies pressure to the quick, that some dogs find really uncomfortable. I prefer the cordless type (craftsmen, $28 at sears) They really do seem to prefer this method. You just touch it to the nail instead of applying a constant pressure (it can heat the nail up) The best thing about it, is that you can see how far you can go down without grinding into the quick..

I learned how to use one from www.doberdawn.com

Be advised that you have to take precautions with longer haired breeds.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by wolf_Q


We do it in Grooming all the time. Not all breeds have a problem with it. But shih tzus, poodles, schnauzers, etc. do. They grow so much fur in their ears it is not healthy...how easy would it be for you to hear if your ears were full of hair?? It also makes the chance of an ear infection worse.

We put a special powder in the ear which makes the fur easier to grip and dries out the ear canal. Then just pull it out with your fingers, or tweezers if its far down in there. I'm sure it hurts, but the dog is better off in the long run. I've pulled it out of Reggie's ears, and he doesn't mind it too bad.

you're so lucky to have a job where you work with dogs...I hope I can one day...:)

[Dogopoly]

Pulling out a dogs ear hair? Yooowwccchhh! That seems borderline cruelty to me. Can't you shave it instead? Or use nair or something?

When I clip Kenya's toenails, I avoid holding her. I attempt to do it while shes laying down and I crawl up to her with the clippers in my hand so she can see them, and I lay by her and just reach out and attempt to clip em. I find that she's much better about it if I don't attempt to restrain her and if I let her see what I'm doing. I just do one at a time, and give her lots of treats in between each clip. I usually get away with two nails on each paw a day.

[wolfsoul]

I just clipped Icarus's nails again today...I swear, the more I cut them, the more freaked out he gets!:eek: I wish he would just get used of it...:(

[tikeyas_mom]

I cut my hamsters nails not that often they dont mind though. it is Cheeko my cockatiel that hates it.