...on how to convince a crazy dog that clipping its nails won't kill it?
The Hazelnut is absolutely determined that her nails will not be clipped. Period.
It takes 3 people at the vets office to hold down the squirming 30 pound mutt when the time comes.
We've tried lots of things. Treats are of no use. Handling her paws daily and telling her "Good paw" when she lets us hold them for a couple of minutes hasn't helped.
She doesn't bark, growl, or offer to bite -- after all, we are talking about a dog that lets the kittens come push her away from her food bowl -- but she makes it clear clipping will not happen unless we spend the bucks to take her to the vet for what should be a simple job we could do for free ourselves.
We will keep working with her, and looking for hints and suggestions.
Meanwhile, don't even say the word "clip" around here. It makes her nervous, and me cranky.
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Birthdays Today:
Lisa Marie Presley, 1968
Pauly Shore, 1968
Sherilyn Fenn, 1965
Brandon Lee, 1965
Princess Stephanie of Monaco, 1965
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S.J. Perelman, 1904
Langston Hughes, 1902
Clark Gable, 1901
John Ford, 1894
Today in History:
Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1327
The Colony of Roanoke Island is established by the landing of Sir Walter Raleigh, 1587
Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, is rescued from the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernandez, 1709
The Ottoman sultan orders the capture of his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII, resulting in the Kalabalik i Bender (Tumult in Bender), 1713
The first US steamboat patent is issued, by Georgia, to Briggs & Longstreet, 1788
The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York, 1796
The American Insurance Company of Philadelphia opens, the first such company managed by blacks, 1810
Volcano Mayon on Luzon, Philippines erupts killing 1,200, 1814
Slavery is abolished in Mauritius, 1835
The first US dental school, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, is incorporated, 1840
Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College, 1856
Morris Raphall of NYC becomes the first rabbi to open the House of Representatives, 1860
Julia Howe publishes the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," 1862
Jefferson Long of Georgia is the first black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates), 1871
The first volume of A New English Dictionary, A to Ant,later called the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published, 1888
Thomas Edison completes the world's first movie studio, in West Orange, N.J., 1893
The first auto insurance policy is issued, by The Travelers Insurance Co., 1898
China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet, 1902
The first US federal penitentiary is completed, at Leavenworth, Kansas, 1906
Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar, 1918
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police, 1920
The United States Army launches Explorer 1, 1958
Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, 1960
The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill, 1965
Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces, 1968
Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl, 1978
The Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile, 1979
Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral, 1998
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard, 2003
Johanna Siguroardottir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, 2009
ahh I am no help here.
ReplyDeletewe used to have to pretty much BODYSLAM our 140lb bullmastiff to cut his nails.
there had to have been a better way :)
The only suggestion I can give, is for what we had to do to one llama. Ask your vet for a 'twilight' type sedative, (Not enough to knock it out, but to relax it), and then maybe it would be more amenable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also was working with a 200+ pound, 5 1/2 foot tall animal tied in a chute. Your mileage may vary...
Also, Happy Birthday today to Mike Campbell(1950) of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers! (heh...)
Cat
We tried to clip the nails of all our dogs and failed with each and every one of them. Finally took them all to the vet.
ReplyDeleteWell, it sounds like we are stuck, then. Thank you all for the responses.
ReplyDeleteno promise that it will work, and i know you have the patience of job with furry creatures it seems so not trying to underestimate the effort you've already put in... touching paws is a handy start... if you can handle the feet without stress seeing how they react to the clippers themselves is another good start.. do they freak out at the clippers? if so start far away... try to make whatever that freaks them out into the very bestest part of their day.. clippers mean treats!! bacon!! cheese!! love!! a parade in their honour!!!! the clippers can give pets! the clippers like to hang out with them, by their food bowl even!! i've touched the clippers to their paw, given a treat, repeat. repeat for a few days. maybe the clippers can't TOUCH their feet yet. so they see the clippers and then have a parade in their honour, pets, treats. then try touching the foot with the clippers. repeat some more.. if you can ever actually get the clippers close to their feet you can try clipping a nail.. or maybe just bringing it close to clipping a nail.. figuring out how they prefer to be for nail clipping.. i've seen dogs that had to be sedated until someone realised the dog preferred to be in a different position. for one weimaraner this meant all however many pounds of him being held on someone's lap while someone else gave him head scratchies and someone else clipped his nails... it was still a 3 person job but better than 3 people restraining shrieking dog... siding, standing, having head covered, i use to trim a dog's nails who i trimmed his front nails while he stood on his hind legs with his feet on my chest and his hind nails while he sat on my lap with his front legs over my shoulders.. not a small dog... Not every dog has a magic way or a sweet spot but sometimes after it gets to a certain point no one looks for the sweet spot anymore.. and some dogs are just going to have hysterics like they are dying i guess.. g'luck mimi ;)
ReplyDelete