There once was a dog called Asha...

There once was a dog called Asha who was a beautiful, soppy, loving, lazy, SPCA special.  Asha didn't complain about much, but when it came to nail trimming time she was having none of it.  Her owners weren't the most skilled at trimming nails when they first got her, so Asha may have been a bit surprised by the first ever nail trim…but she wasn't hurt.  She was fine with having her paws touched but following that first trim, she wouldn't let them do it again.  They tried all sorts - treats, holding her etc - but the only way they could cut her nails was when she was fast asleep on the sofa with her paws in the air.  There she would be, snoozing away blissfully dreaming of chasing rabbits (or Pukekos) when all of a sudden there would be a click and she’d be a nail down.   Damn those humans…now she’d have to leave the sofa and go and sleep somewhere where they couldn't get her.  This little routine went on every few months for about 3 years.

Once she even went to the Vet to have them clipped because only being able to do a claw a night at best, her owners had left it too late and they all needed doing before visitors arrived.  It took 3 people to hold her in place and she looked so scared that her owner decided never to put her through that again.

Then one of her humans read this book by Dr Sophia Yin called Low Stress Handling for Dogs & Cats. 

One of the chapters was about desensitization to nail clipping, so Asha found herself one evening lying on her side on the floor being fed yummy high value treats by one human, while the other one held her paw.  As soon as her paw stopped being held, the treats stopped so she enjoyed having her paw held.  The next evening there she was again lying on her side being fed the same yummy treats while the other one touched the clippers to her paw, then clipped in the air so she got used to the sound.  Again, lots of treats but slowly the length of time paw holding was going up and she was getting the treats now when the hands came off.

The next evening, she knew the drill so she led there patiently waiting for the treats, while the other one played with her paws…and clipped her nails!!!!  All of them that needed doing, front and back!  Awesome J She was jack-potted with treats for that.

The moral of the story…go at the pace of the dog, don’t hurry, let them get comfortable with what you’re doing in their own time…and always always associate it with good things.