Dog Behavior

WATCH THE VIDEO THEN READ THE ARTICLE

 *Puppy class video from Puppessori and Christine Shedron, Golden CO 

Puppies aren’t born hating or being afraid of nail trims and having their feet touched.  They acquire these behaviors either because their owners fail to actively accustom their dogs to feet handling and nail trims, and/or because puppies have bad experiences with nail trims.

When you ask your veterinarian, groomer, or other pet professional to trim your dog’s nails, this procedure should require no more than two people.  If 3 or more people are having to wrestle a frightened, defensive animal to the ground to cut his nails, there is no benefit to this to anyone. 

Try a Calming Cap, use other passive restraints such as a head collar, or ask your veterinarian for medication to sedate and calm your dog. 

Nail trims don’t have to be nightmare experiences.  Watch the video above to see how puppies can learn to enjoy nail trims, resulting in adult dogs – in this case our Coral – who are relaxed and tail-wagging happy when trimming nails.  You can use these same procedures if your dog already has a nail trim phobia, but you’ll just have to progress a whole lot slower in tiny baby steps. 

These procedures are called counter conditioning and desensitization and you can learn more about how to implement them in our DVD program by the same name.