loobie Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Ash has quite bad arthritis and walking on hard ground makes it worse, consequently she can only be walked on soft/grassy ground. Obviously this is not keeping her claws short and needs them clipped. Ever since she was a teeny baby she has had a problem with anyone handling her feet or even just going near them . Also I have no one to help me so it is just me trying to hold her, hold her foot, calm her down and clip the claw Does anyone have absolutely any advice on any way I could get her claws clipped pleaaaaaaaase fanking ewe muchly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanishPastry Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Clickertraining? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redditchlady Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Mandy hates her's clipped Loobie. Like I said since we have had her, no amount of "road walking" seems to wear them down. Is it possible to pop a muzzle on Ash every now and again and just clip a couple I pop a Mickey Muzzle on Mandy to do hers. You may need a 2nd pair of hands for a wriggly bum though. It's a shame I am not nearer. Kazz xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reds Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Desensitisation? If she's a foodie, give a really big reward (extra scrummy) for say letting you hold her paw and gradually work up from there. For a short term solution I'm afraid I have no answer other than the vets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jax39 Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 (edited) Im in exactly the same situation as you too, the only way Tillys claws get clipped are at the vets, or my lovely friend and her husband come round and do them for me, it needs two people, one to hold her and one to clip.(at the vets it took four of us.) I hate it being done as I know Tilly gets so stressed, but there just isnt a choice. Do you have anyone who can help? Or a good vet? Or a good dog groomer will sometimes do it. Lots of luck to you, its not always easy doing these things on your own is it. Edited June 29, 2008 by jax39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazydiamond Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 One of the reasons my Mr Trevor was a Fallen Angel from Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is because he would rather kill you than have his nails cut. When I first got him it was not easy to even to look at his feet at all but he now begrudgingly accepts a feel without too much bother if he can see the treat he is going to get for allowing me to do that. I managed this with clicker training. Also with the clicker training I did get to a point with him where I could cut a small amount of just two nails before things would get anti social but it didnt last long Its not just a case of muzzling him ~ he has to be held, wrapped up in a towel with the leg you need sticking out by one person, another has to hold the leg steady and I get the foot to cut the nail. Its a real struggle as he thrashes about like a wild thing jerking his leg all over the place. So Mr Trevor has quite long nails which I never let get to the length his toes are spreading or the nails cause him discomfort because as they get to too long I book him into the vets, they have to knock him out and cut the nails as short as they can. Mr Trevor keeps his own dew claws in check by biting them. anyone elses dog bite its nails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonny Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 keeps his own dew claws in check by biting them. anyone elses dog bite its nails? Precious the Basset does.She regularly chews her dewclaws especially the right one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_angel Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Hold the leg by the hock rather than the foot and the dog doesnt tend to pull as much. They taught us it in college and generally it works quite well. They also recommended desensitisation but fussing the dog and randomly touching the feet and then back to the ears so the dog learns not to fear having their feet tocuehd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EAD Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 No advice as all my three sat like angels recently to get their claws clipped......im still in shock Might have had something to do with the bag of treats sitting nearby though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loobie Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 thanx everyone she has never ever had to have her claws cut in nearly 6yrs (due to lots of hard surface walking and having a paved garden) so is finding it unnerving. Best thing is I can do anything I need to, to any of the rescue dogs and to other peoples but come my own I turn into a bloody woose . when she had a bad paw she let me handle it then but it was probably due to the fact she knew it was poorly and I was helping her. Her reaction is just like Crazydiamond has described her dog. She starts freaking out as soon as she sees the clippers (I have tried different kinds of clippers too) and seems to know even when asleep she is not food motivated, I will try some techniques before I go and ask Andrew (my luffley vet) for help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrier Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 (edited) Desensitisation? If she's a foodie, give a really big reward (extra scrummy) for say letting you hold her paw and gradually work up from there. For a short term solution I'm afraid I have no answer other than the vets! That's what I did and it worked for us. He still doesn't like it, but he does let us do it. But then, mine is fairly food motivated. Good luck. Edited June 30, 2008 by Terrier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasta Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 I cant cut OB's claws I can handle his feet completely.... until I have something in my hand He bites all his nails except the 4 on his front paws, and they are needing clipping now, what a waste of money at the vets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebob Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Have you tried using a dremmel to file down her claws rather than clipping them? It would depend on whether she would tolerate this? Most dogs I know who don't like having their claws clipped can bear a dremmel but it does depend on your dog. You can buy a dremmel from places like Diamond Edge etc. - either mains operated or (rechargeable) battery powered but they're priced from around £45 so not a cheap option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmCHammer Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Tekno recently had to have his claws done - he is generally a happy go lucky wouldn't harm a fly staff character... we thought food would do the trick (bearing in mind that when we had to catherterise him he didn't bat an eyelid as long as food was being shovelled in the front end) but we couldn't do it without the treats. I didn't want to stress him at the vets, he wouldn't let the hydro groomer do them (we thought this might be causing him stress after being at hydro if tired so gave up on that one). In the end my friends dog groomer did them at home, we tried to make it unstressful. It wasn't very nice, he had to be muzzled and didn't like it at all. At least the only consolation was that it was at home, and she did it as quickly and professionally as possible and cost about a third of what it would have done at the vets. Where he hadn't been walked his claws were quite long and where he dragged his feet they looked bruised too so can only assume they were painful too. Again because he is dragging his feet at the mo, we are trying to walk on grass/ get booties for him so may face the same problem again, so am just working on touching his feet when we are having fun/ where food is about..... although he will let me touch them the most, as soon as he thinks its something official, he will rumble at me. Even so not sure if I could clip them myself! Sorry not much help there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nettie Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Have you tried using a dremmel to file down her claws rather than clipping them? It would depend on whether she would tolerate this? Most dogs I know who don't like having their claws clipped can bear a dremmel but it does depend on your dog. You can buy a dremmel from places like Diamond Edge etc. - either mains operated or (rechargeable) battery powered but they're priced from around £45 so not a cheap option. I use the Dremel on Indy's claws, they are as thick as tree trunks and sight of the clippers causes him to go into a sort hysteria. I think because his nails are so think you have to apply a lot of pressure before the clippers actually cut. I think our Dremel came from B&Q or Homebase, after all, it is a DIY tool. He insists he needs a reward for every claw done! He's not that keen but its much easier than clippers. There is a website showing you how to do it and how to introduce the tool although I think I went straight in with it, he didn't stand a chance however Rio and Bertie won't tolerate it at all but their claws are much easier to cut. Website is: http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/dob...mel/dremel.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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