This will be simplest if you and your pet both know exactly what to expect. Trying to fool an animal into allowing a nail trim works only until they figure it out, and we want this to last for a lifetime of relaxed nail care! This training will also be easier if you have a place where you can easily see your pet’s nails and handle them comfortably, where your pet is also comfortable.
Have you heard the advice to Begin with the end in mind? That’s what we’re doing today. Since our goal is a pet who is happy during nail care, we need to start with a happy pet and maintain that emotional tone throughout the training. If you’ve ever tried to “jolly up” a dog who is already pulling back their paws or a cat who is hissing and scratching, you know it’s not easy to swing those emotions back to happy once things have gotten ugly! We’re going to train in such a way that things don’t get ugly.
There are two key steps to this. One is to work at the animal’s own pace, watching for signs of comfort and signs of distress before anything can escalate. The other is to start with a solid foundation. Guess which one we’re doing today?
Let’s begin!
Step 1: Choose a Good Location
There are many ways to do this, and the one that works for both you and your pet is the right one!
I personally like to train my dogs to get on a platform or surface where I can easily see their paws without having to bend over too far. This is how I will be demonstrating in this course, because it’s also easier to photograph this way.
If you have a large dog, it might be a good option to train them to get up on a platform, table or workbench, or maybe a couch or chair so that you can easily access their feet. Smaller pets might be comfortable in your lap or on a non-slip platform. Cats, rabbits, and small dogs may also feel comfortable being held, though the key here is supported, not restrained. Some dogs will be happy to lie beside you on a couch or bed.
Ultimately, the location is not as important as the message. We want to establish that this is a place for training sessions, so they’re not caught off guard thinking you’re just petting or snuggling and then suddenly nail trimmers appear to disrupt their good time (and weaken their trust for the future). The animal also needs to feel physically secure, not worried about falling, rolling, or sliding. You need to be able to handle and reach the paws without feeling awkward or off-balance yourself. And you need to be able to see well, with good lighting, so that you can trim safely.
Ideally, you’ll choose a new location without a history of struggle. If you have a young pet or a new pet, this is easy. If you are re-training an animal who has already learned to fear nail care, you might need to think outside the box, to start without tapping into that learned distress. So if you’ve wrestled with nails on a grooming table, consider the floor. If you’ve always tried on the floor, consider the couch. Again, our goal is not to trick the animal; we just want to start with a blank slate.
Think about where you want to hold your training sessions. Make sure it’s comfortable for both pet and human, and that it has plenty of good lighting.
(In the videos, you’ll see a dog on a fairly high platform, to permit the best camera angle. As you can see, this particular dog is very comfortable on this platform even at this height — she might be part mountain goat, actually — so it’s a good option for her. But just because it’s in the demo doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for every dog. Find what is most comfortable for both members of the team.)
Step 2: Make This A Happy Place
Let’s pre-load this training location with good feelings.
Don’t laugh — many animal learners in this course will not be starting with blank emotional slates, but have already learned to worry about nail care and handling of their feet (or ears, or teeth, or…) We’re going to ask them to trust us in a new approach, and it would be nice to have a bit of a bank account of happy vibes to rely on when we start.
Or just think, would you be happier in the dentist’s chair if someone paid you $150 every time you sat in it? And maybe when you got up at the end, if you sat down again, they gave you another $150. Feeling better about that chair yet? Just so.
Invite your dog to your new workspace and immediately start paying with treats. These are small and fast — we are rapidly feeding a dozen treats just for being in this training space. Then ask your animal to leave the space (get off the table), feed a single treat for complying with this cue, and stop feeding. Life is boring away from the training space! Then after a few seconds (five to ten is plenty), ask them to come back into/onto the training space and treat again.
These sessions are very short, less than a minute at a time.
Homework
It’s time to start training!
Set your timer for 20 seconds. Invite your pet into the new training space and feed one treat at a time continuously until the timer concludes. At the beep, either use your already-trained hand target to invite the animal out of the training space or simply tell your pet to go get the treat you are about to throw, and then throw it (if you have a pet who likes thrown treats!). Either way, you’ll give one small treat for leaving the training workspace and ending the session.
Now count roughly five to ten seconds in your head, as you reset your timer. Nothing exciting is happening with your pet at this time; just focus on your phone. When ready, start the timer again and restart the game of feeding continuously in the training space. When the timer beeps, end the session as before, treating for leaving the workspace and then quitting. We want the pet to recognize the difference in opportunity between on and off training.
That’s it! That’s a complete training session, done in less than a minute. You can do up to five of these a day — but not in a row! Space them out throughout the day, for at least three days. Watch for your pet wanting to start this game.
How should your animal learner feel about this new training location? Let’s check the video outtakes: