Toenails
Submitted by DadtoMatilda on August 2, 2010 - 10:22amMatilda's nails grow incredibly fast. She HATES having them cut and/or ground with a dremel. I have a Peticure tool to use at home but she will only tolerate it for about 3 seconds before she runs away and hides. Then she sulks.
I have taken her to Petco to have them grind them down, but you would think it was torture the way that she reacts. She struggles and tries to bite the tool. This is the only time, in fact, that she doesn't really behave. I think that it is tied to the fact that in between her toes is somewhat yeasty and irritated. I use a variety of products - Epsom salts, clotrimazole cream, and Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg's Raw) on her paws to help, but it doesn't seem to work.
So if I get one nail done per day over the course of a week it is a minor miracle. She will let me touch her feet, but not if I have anything in my hands.
The upshot here is that her nails get so long that I can tell it bugs her. Her front feet wear down quickly from walking but the backs never do. It looks uncomfortable but the tantrums at the groomer have gotten to the point where she doesn't even like getting near the door into the salon.
Does anyone have ANY tips or tricks for getting nails done? I'm going to have the lady at daycare (they have grooming there) do them tomorrow and she how she makes out but I wanted to see if there was anything you folks were doing that I wasn't thinking of.
Nails
Well luckily Onslow is not too bad. We wait until he's fast asleep on my lap and we cut them then. Late at night is best for him like after midnight. LOL.
Some people here have suggested that you smear peanut butter on a plate to keep her focus on that while you are tending to the nails. Not sure if it will help but worth mentioning.
Dont laugh but I use Vagisil wipes on Onslows' feet when they get yeasty. You will need to figure out what is giving her that reaction though to try to stop it from happening. She must be allergic to something.
Good luck I hope it goes well for you. =)
Yep, yep, and yep.
All Lisa said:-) There is a reason the feet are tender and yeasty...an allergy I suspect. You can keep treating the symptoms or find what the cause is. I had to do that with Sophia.
Use Peanut butter or cream cheese on a paper plate. Smear it on well. Let your bully try it a couple times before you actually try to trim the nails while she is eating. She will come to see that is a treat, not torture! And try cutting at the end of the day when she is worn out and ready for sleep:-)
Amy and Sophia
rex acts the same way..
as if he is being tortured. We've had the most sucess at petco. I go in first, ask if they can do it right away, explaining that he gets so hyper if we bring him in first and wait even 1 minute for them to come and do his nails. If they can do it right away, we bring him in. My husband holds his head in a very loose arm lock and I feed him treats and rub his head and the groomer starts in the back. The front feet are a little more challenging, but again, the treats distract him. on occasion, he will try to nip at the groomer, but then we stop, my husband gets a better grip on his fat head :-) and then i shove more treats in his mouth. funny story: I read somewhere to touch puppies toes and nails when they are young so they get use to being touched there, which i did. and i can touch and rub his nails and toes all day long, but if i try the nail clipper or the dremel tool, he runs away...the stinker. good luck!!!
Jllian and PorkChop and our beloved BullyAngel Rex <3
This is EXACTLY what we
This is EXACTLY what we experience. She is so strong that when she tries to nip at the dremel, the PetCo groomer person gets kind of afraid and now they seem to think that "she'd be a biter". Lovely.
Back in the good old days, she had a groomer she LOVED. She would roll onto her belly and he could do one foot before she would get cranky and walk away. He would lure her back and it used to work. Then he moved away. Then we started having yeasty skin problems.
I did use treats to get her acclimated to the Snout Soother I use on her dry nose. Now *that* was a miracle, she now lets me put it on without running away and wiping her nose on the couch. However, with the nails I've tried it all. There are not enough cookies in the world to placate her. I've tried. Once she's done, she's done :) If I have the tool in my hand even if she was sleeping soundly just seconds before, she will run and hide. I can apply cream, I can even cut little burrs off her nails with manicure scissors and she doesn't care. But one snap of a nail clipper or turn on "the machine" and forget it. I don't have anyone to help me, which is why I took her to PetCo. The daycare has a bunch of people onstaff so maybe they'll have good luck.
Regarding the allergies, we are currently on the cusp of moving over to a partial raw/grain free diet in order to attempt to address allergy issues. I have the first frozen raw patty thawing in the fridge now; I just wanted to be home before I gave her any of it so I could watch how it goes most of the evening.
They can sure be stubborn
They don't call em bulls for nothing. LOL Good luck
She had them done today by
She had them done today by the onsite groomer at the daycare. She said Matilda wasn't all that bad - they did them away from the grooming room, she had a helper and apparently they used treats. She also agreed to touch them up a little the next time she's in for free to help refine them a bit.
The aides (I dunno what they're called...they supervise the play areas...in school we called them the recess lady) told me that she seemed fine although tonight she's like "nope, y'ain't touchin' my feet"...I know it bothers her, her nails were like claws when I adopted her.
But no sulking today, so I guess that was good. Nursing away on her fleecey toy as we speak.
On their back
Might sound silly but we lay them on their backs and have one person give them lovings and distract them while the other person does the nails. We do this for all 5 of our Bullies
Bella is ball crazy, so I
Bella is ball crazy, so I bribe her with her soft ball, she knows she gets it to play with after the nails, but only for a short time. She still complains, but we get through it. Our male is impossible, I have to pin him in between the door and the fridge and use treats, as I do each nail. We are both exhusted at the end of it. I use the Dremel on Bella, but with our male I have to clip them, he won't stay in the same room as the dremel. Bull headed is mild for him.
I successfully got three
I successfully got three nails trimmed today before I ended up exhausted and she was trying to bite the nail clippers. No amount of treats seem to convince this dog that it isn't going to hurt. Afterward she wouldn't even let me file them gently with the emery board. Sigh...