I really don’t have time for a blog post today, but this is for everyone who’s been told “dogs just don’t like having their nails clipped” (or going to the vet, or being brushed, or whatever).
Of course they don’t like such things straight out of the womb. Those are unnatural, weird human ideas. But we can condition them to enjoy and participate in all kinds of weird games.
So today I went to the drawer where I keep the nail trimmers, and Penny looked up. (I wasn’t even facing her, much less talking to her.) I picked up the trimmers, and she dropped a bully stick from her mouth and ran to me.
So of course we trimmed nails. And of course she got some treats for quietly holding her paws in my hands, which is what she expected and why she thinks nail trimming is a dumb game but worth the time to play.
Afterward, she went back to her bully stick (a favorite treat) and carried on.
It’s all about how you train this stuff!
Fantastic. My German pointer hated having his nails clipped. It would turn him into a trembling wreck but we have worked at it. First he got clicked and a treat just for standing while I help the trimmers. Slowly we progressed to holding a paw with the clippers in my hand. Eventually we moved on to putting a claw near the clippers, etc, etc. Now we can clip the nails on each four paws and he gets a treat when each is completed. He still doesn’t exactly love the experience but the cheese rewards obviously make it worthwhile.
Excellent. You can make so much more progress when it’s an exchange or game instead of an ordeal.