I really need some advice....
Alright I was putting off asking this question because I did not want to sound like a bad mother to my baby, but now I am worried about my little girl. Last year I took Lola to a new vet because when my cat was very sick the clinic that I always go to would not call the vet in for me on a Saturday because "it was his day off". Anyways to make a long and heartbreaking story short I brought my cat to an animal hospital an hour away and I had him put to sleep because the surgery was over 6,000. And my vet could have done it for a lot less... so Anyways I took her to a new vet and he clipped her nails too short. She was petrified. Before this I had always cut her nails and filed them down for her. She will not let me touch her paws anymore. I don't know what to do. Her nails are getting long and I don't want them to affect her legs or her walking. I tried all the tricks in the book. I tried massaging her paws to get her used to me touching them again, I tried giving her a treat when she lets me touch them, leaving the nail cutters near her to get her used to them... everything you can think of I tried. I had my boyfriend hold her and give her a snack to get her attention away from me cutting her nails but she bit him, and that is so uncharacteristic for her. She never bites anyone. I looked into having her sedated to cut her nails, but I am not sure I want to put her through that....
Sorry this is so long, I just need some good advice... Thank you.
Sorry this is so long, I just need some good advice... Thank you.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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Don't worry. You're not a bad dog mom. I accidentally clipped barely into the quick of one of Charlie's nails once and it took several weeks for me to get him to relax again and clip his nails without him throwing a fit. I did still clip his nails; it just took a lot longer.
Get a muzzle so she can't bite. You need to be very calm, quiet, and matter-of-fact. Dogs are great at reading our emotions. I noticed when Charlie tensed up and struggled, I tended to get stressed and tense. If you start feeling tense, stop, take a deep breath, find your calm and try again. Do not say "Poor baby", "Oh I'm sorry" or anything else you're probably thinking. Just calm silence. You can have your boyfriend hold her head and neck agaist his chest so that she has limited vision of her feet. He can rub her chest a bit before your start. When you touch her paw with the clipper, she will probably try to bolt. Stop, but have your boyfriend keep cradling her head an neck. When she relaxes, try again. She will realize after some struggle that you are going to do her nails, and you'll see her body relax. Once you are able to clip one nail, say "Good Girl" very calmly and keep going. When you are done, give her lots of treats and praise.
After a few weeks, Charlie relearned that having his nails clipped does not hurt (when it's done correctly). He started to relax, grin and bear it again, so I was able to stop using the muzzle. I don't clip his nails as short as I would like them now, so that I take no risk of clipping the quick again. I clip a little off each tip every weekend so that he stays accustomed to the clippers. The paw massages during the week are also great.
If you aren't comfortable trying this on your own, you might try calling a few groomers in your area to explain the issue and see what they recommend and if they will show you how to work with her.
If all else fails, I might try asking the vet about a tranquilizer to calm her down. Full anesthesia at a vet's office should not be necessary.
Good luck! I know you can do it.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie & Lola on
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Thank you for the advice! I think my problem is not being calm. I get stressed out when I think she is nervous, but she is probably getting nervous from me. She is letting me get close to her paws now, with out a muzzle. I cut one nail last night and she cried like I cut her, but I didn't. I barely snipped the end off. I don't know what to do, I don't want to cause her pain...
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Permalink Reply by Jen Hajdu on
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Wow, sounds like you have tried everything. I have a similar issue with my dog because I cut one of his nails too short one time. I have tried presenting the clippers without anything happening, and I will put the clippers near his nails but not cut anything. Also I try to give him breaks. Cut one or two nails, then let him have a break, praise him, and give him a treat. Let us know how it goes.
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Permalink Reply by Florence Fong on
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Hi,
If you take your dog out for daily walks, the nails will wear down naturally. Then you won't need to clip them. You only need to clip the dew claws, if any. It would be good if you can take some time to walk Lola twice a day. If she's still a puppy, she needs to have had all her vaccinations before you can take her out.
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Thanks for the advice, but I take her for walks at least 3 times a day. I live 5 houses down from a private beach so thats where we go. There is nothing for her to wear her nails down naturally on.
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Permalink Reply by Sylvia on
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while you do leave near a beach are you sure that there is not say, a road to where you live? Or possibly a park where there is a sidewalk or even just a neighborhood where you know the drivers are good about pedestrians? I'm sure there could be somewhere you could take her for walks and use Florence's advice. While the beach may be more convenient for you, there may be another solution that will better help with the nails even if it is not the easiest it sounds like it would be easier than the nail clipping.
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Permalink Reply by Heather on
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Maybe instead of clipping, use a nail grinder like a Dremel. I use the regular clippers and then follow with the Dremel to smooth the edges out. It doesn't seem to bother my dogs at all. Start off slow with a muzzle, and she'll soon realize that there isn't any pain and hopefully with relax.
My sister's GSD was rescued from the local animal shelter and she has a major nail cutting phobia. She'll come to you when you have the clippers, even though she doesn't want to. And then she'll lie down and make all her toes clenched and tight. And as soon as you grab a paw, she starts shaking and trembling all over. With every clip of the cutter, she flinches and sometimes yelps even before you actually clip the nail. We just methodically cut the nails and are very careful not to cut too short, and we don't say anything to her. After a couple of months, she got better. The yelping for no reason stopped, but she still shakes sometimes. I think it's hard when the dog was previously traumatized, and it may take some time for her to get over it.
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Thanks for the advice! I was looking into buying a nail grinder, and a muzzle of course. lol
Lola definitely has a phobia of nail cutting. She shakes and trembles too. She also gets hiccups and tries really hard to hide all 4 of her paws underneath her body so I can't get to them. When I grab her paw she licks my hand and tries to nibble on my fingers so I let go. I hope I can get her over her fear
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Permalink Reply by Susan on
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Charlie is right. A muzzle so she won't hurt you or herself is good.
Be patient and keep trying. Use her favorite treats.
You might try some Rescue remedy. It's an herbal liquid you either spray or drop into her mouth. It will calm her down without sedating her.
Good luck
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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Have you ever tried clipping a basset hounds paws?. i know someone who owns 7 dogs, 6 are basset hounds and 1 is a GSD. i get to be he helper in clipping everyones nails. To clip their nails we have to wrap them in a blaket and lay on them. they are wiggling and yelping and crying and barking as soon as we even grab their paw. we know it doesnt hurt them and she raises all of them so they got introduced to nail clipping at a young age so they should be good but they never are. so this is normal. Sorry if this was irrevelent. but once they get through there young adult stage they get better they realize it doesnt hurt. Sally, one of the worst nail cutting dogs is now one of the bast because she realized yelping and struggling never gotr her anywere. now she just sits there. so long story short, this is normal.
As for reentiducing her to cutting of her nails try cradling her and just clip one nail. let her go and reward her. do one nail aday and she will eventuallyt get use to it. sorry if this didnt help
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Thank you for the advice! I will try wrapping her in a blanket to restrict her movement :)
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