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  1. #1
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    my dog now hates all vets and nail cutting - how do I teach him its safe to trust both again

    hello, our 3 year dog used to let me cut his nails and was great during his vet visits and then we had to get him neutered around a year old - following that he has become downright aggressive if anyone tries to do his nails and when we go to the vet. I have to have him muzzled when we go to the vet I have tried three different vets and the response is the same with all.......he even reacts now as he gets weighed not just on examinations. It is such a negative experience for everyone! I want to help him learn it is safe to trust again, how can I do that? I have been cutting his nails with him muzzled and my DH giving treats throughout the process but DH is a nervous wreck by the time I get 3 or 4 done that he says that's it and we have to stop......this has been so traumatic I want the boy to be ok again with me doing them any advice is appreciated......please don't throw me under the bus and criticize me for making the decision to neuter him my brother in law has the record on that. thanking you in advance

  2. #2
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Fortunately, Mardi is fairly good and I can Dremel her nails but DH does have to lay down with her and help hold her.

    Archie is totally different, he hates it.

    Start from step 1. As if the vet will let you visit for no reason at all, just to walk in, wait a minute, treat, praise and leave. Work up to getting on the scale. Make it a super fun party with treats and praise. Work on handling his feet, not forcing. Teaching shake might help too because it is his decision to present his paw. Don't hold it, let him rest his paw on your hand, treat, praise. Go slowly.

    My vet taught me a very valuable lesson. I would come in with Archie all tense, expecting the worse. As she was trying to trim his nails, she stopped everything, looked at me and told me to breath, relax. He was reading my anxiety. We paused a few minutes, he struggled a little and then took a deep breath and relaxed and the job got done. Not saying he liked it or didn't struggle a little, but it was so much easier. I also take him to PetsMart for a trim and ask that two girls work on him on the floor. One holds him and talking him, the other doing the trimming. He's finally allowing them to Dremel his nails now.

    It's a long slow process but he can learn that it's not such a horrible thing to happen. He'll probably never love it, but the job can get done.

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  4. #3
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    that's the tough part; we are a forty minute drive away from any vet and their hours are shorter than my work hours so its super tough to get him in for friendly visits he lets me play with his feet, he does shake a paw and give high five/ten. he never let us dremel before....may be worth trying now...he just won't let you near him with the nail cutters - to be honest his aggression is so bad that I fear if not muzzled he would bite....even me. I have no idea what they did to him but he will never go there again and I will never recommend that vet. I am always conscious of my body language and I know it plays a role for sure....I try super hard to keep it in check but once he starts to growl and such I just feel awful and guilty that I caused him to be hurt...even though we had done our research before we took him to this vet for the neutering obviously something wasn't right when he was there. thanks!!

  5. #4
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    So sorry he had a bad experience. It may not necessarily be something they did wrong but a combination of events that really threw him off.

    Using a Dremel takes a lot of patience. I started by introducing mine to it by just having it in a spot my furkids could see, sniff. Then about a week later, moved it to another spot. Then turn on and off quickly. You get the idea. Long introduction time. Please google how to Dremel a dogs nails before trying. Held too long on a nail it can heat up and hurt the dog. There are some excellent videos.

    You can do the same thing with the clippers. Just leave them out, don't pay any attention to them, make them a nothing. After a week, move to another spot. What you are trying to do is desensitize him to an object. We've had to do this with Archie when we found out he was terrified of a fly swatter. Don't know what happened in his past that did it. After a while you can place a treat near the clippers. While you may always need help getting nails trimmed, you might be able to take the edge off the high anxiety.

    Is there anywhere else closer that has a scale? Our local feed store has one for dogs and Archie gets to go and get weighed.

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  7. #5
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    Mine don't have an aggression problem with clippers but they don't like them and I HATE them. I use a human coarse toenail file (manual...not a Dremel-type thing)....a couple of swipes per nail every day. They don't mind the filing at all....not even the scraping noise it makes and these two really dislike a lot of sounds.

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    bpreszcator (10-11-2014)

  9. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by POPTOP View Post
    Is there anywhere else closer that has a scale? Our local feed store has one for dogs and Archie gets to go and get weighed.
    I will look into that - thanks for the great ideas

  10. #7
    Senior Dog ckfalz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bpreszcator View Post
    he never let us dremel before....may be worth trying now...he just won't let you near him with the nail cutters - to be honest his aggression is so bad that I fear if not muzzled he would bite....even me.
    Start here. Get him used to the clippers and / or the Dremel first without anything happening to him. Set the clippers where he can see them and reward him for not reacting. Slowly, over time, move them closer. Keep rewarding for no reaction. Eventually have them right next to his paw with nothing happening. Keep rewarding. Then start handling them, still with nothing happening to him. Encourage him to sniff them or even touch them and reward. REWARD REWARD REWARD . Then try one nail, and move slowly from there.

    I would continue touching and handling his paws and his nails all along too. Reward for his allowing that. I often just fiddle with my dogs nails while their lying next to me so that they don't think anything of it.

    I used the above process first with a parrot that hated having his nails trimmed. Then again with my dogs and the Dremel. I now Dremel all their nails. They do not like it but they tolerate it.
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  12. #8
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    Good advice above....if your DH is a nervous wreck after 3-4 nails and your needing to stop then you need to stop BEFORE you reach this point.

    At one stage I was doing ONLY one nail every 2-4 days ....it was much less stress for me and my lab. Even now, she hates getting them cut and I make sure she knows that with nail cuts she always gets cheese and it only lasts a VERY short time.

    Good luck, remember you dog will also sense if your stressed too.

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    bpreszcator (10-13-2014)

  14. #9
    Real Retriever KenZ71's Avatar
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    My vet gave me some doggie tranquilizers to get Max to relax so we can try to clip his nails - still a challenge. Walking on pavement is the best - wears the nails down.

    For Scarlett I use the nail clipper to touch the side of her nails as a way to get her used to the clippers. I try to do this at least every couple days for a few minutes sneaking a clip or two in.
    -- Ken, owned by:

    Max - Black Lab mix gotcha 4/23/2012 Born 12/2011
    Scarlett - Yellow Lab gotcha 4/19/2013 Born 2008? 2007?
    Lizzy - Terrier mix gotcha 6/29/2014 Born 2006?
    Zeus - Papillon mix gotcha 1/30/2015 Born 3/26/2014

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    He slept in the sink for years, silly boy.
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  15. #10
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    I like the idea of only doing one every few days. That way it is not a drawn out torture deal, it is over in a sec and then treats!!!

    Do you take your dog anywhere besides the vets office? Pet store, shopping mall, downtown... Anyplace with lots of buildings and people? The more places you can bring him to and into, might make the vet less scary. Do you do daily 'examinations'? Have him sit or lie down and poke and prod, GENTLY, his feet, ears, belly, mouth...? More than just a 'shake' thing, poke between toes, run your hand up his leg, bend it while holding it.. Thoroughly examine him.

 



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