Touchy paws less touchy

[Erica]

I posted a while ago in the advice section about my Onyx (the one in the middle, though he's not fat anymore), since his nails were growing out and he did NOT like people touching his paws. Well, after some work, it got to the point where he's okay with me holding his paw for about a second (sounds like so little, haha, but it's a big improvement!). However, he cracked one of his nails, and to prevent it catching and tearing or anything, I decided to test my luck and clip it. I lay a small feast of high-value treats (freeze-dried chicken, yum!) in front of him, then just swoosh! Grabbed his paw and clipped the nail. He wasn't growly about it, but he didn't seem to sure of how he felt about the nail clipper, so I just clipped it a few times right near his nails, but not actually touching them. It seemed to put him at ease, so then I left him alone to finish the yummies. I'm glad it wasn't a bad experience for him, and I hope I can get the rest down to a proper length soon!

[Fundog]

Fantastic! A lot of dogs are a bit "sensitive" about having their feet (and tails, for that matter!) messed with, so doing healthy maintenance is always 1/3 trusting relationship, 1/3 strong bribery, and 1/3 fast and sneaky. Well done on your last two thirds!

[Erica]

It is partially our fault...since we acquired him randomly and he didn't need much training, we didn't read up on how to raise puppies properly...didn't know we were supposed to play with his paws when he was young! Opal's pretty okay with me trimming her nails, at least, as long as I've got bribes...haha. Don't need quite as much fast-and-sneaky with her.