Does your dog cringe at the sight of nail clippers? Dog training has taught me a lot about caring for a dog. It is your duty to keep your dog groomed and part of that means clipping their nails. I know, us humans hate it as much as the dog does. What if I cut too deep and hurt my dog? What if he bites me? . It is your obligation to make sure they are taken care of on a regular basis. Below are a few tips to help you in the process.
* Teach your dog that you touching their paws is a great thing. Ideally you want to start this the very first day you get your puppy. If you have an older dog this is going to take a little longer.
* Log your progress from the first day so you can track your progress.
* Give a paw – Teach your dog to give you each of the two front paws.
* Hold a paw – Add duration to “Gimme Your Paw” You have to be able to hold the paw for as long as it takes to clip the nails. I would say your target goal to train is 3 minutes of allowing you to hold each paw. Don’t squeeze hard on the paws when grabbing in the beginning.
* Finger Nail Clippers – Don’t try to go right in and clip your dog’s nails if he/she already has formed a negative association with them. After you teach your dog to give you their paw, you will need to desensitize them to being touched with the clippers before ever actually cutting a nail. This will ensure success.
* Do 3 sessions a day at 3-5 minutes each session.
* Don’t waste a training opportunity by giving your dog his/her main meal in a boring bowl. Use their main meal to teach them that the clippers touching their nails is a good thing, their main meal.
* Handling – Stroke your dogs back, from the bottom of the neck to the tip of the tail, click and treat.
* Play with an ear, click and treat while touching ear. Do the other ear as well.
* Check in the mouth, have someone else click and deliver treat.
* Lift the tail, click and treat
* Gently grab their private areas, click and treat. You do want to do this, I promise you. Wouldn’t you and your Vet appreciate if your dog didn’t mind if he/she gets an exam?
* You have the power to teach your dog that it is safe to be examined, or groomed. All you have to do is practice.