It's not a competition, you will get there when you get there and in the mean time if you get stuck with anything you have your SG course or those of us here that have already been through the conditioning process to help and support you

The fact that Tilly is coming along well shows how much work you are putting in and just how far you have come

 

New It's not a competition, you will get there when you get there and in the mean time if you get stuck with anything you have your SG course or those of us here that have already been through the conditioning process to help and support you

All true, thank you

Good job my dogs havent taken to it like ducks to water as I would be the most unbearable show off

 

Second session tonight.

I took a step back with this session, and concentrated on holding Milly's feet and manipulating her toes, both with the grinder on, and off. By the end of the session she was offering her paw instead of letting me grab it.

Made some progress with Honey too, and moved the grinder (switched on) to right beside her. Stroked her feet with my hand too.

 

Well done @LinznMilly !!! Milly has done amazing there offering a paw! Wow!

And Honey's session sounds really positive too! Awesome!

 

I've been grinding away at Whisp's nails every sunday and Wednesday and they're looking nice and rounded now.

On our walk today my mum said she looked lighter on her feet so that's positive.

 

Got Penny's front feet done today. Happy with this length, she's still ticking on the floor but that may be her back feet. I'll do those tomorrow, baby steps! If she's still ticking, she's still ticking, I won't go shorter than this.

 

Got Penny's front feet done today. Happy with this length, she's still ticking on the floor but that may be her back feet. I'll do those tomorrow, baby steps! If she's still ticking, she's still ticking, I won't go shorter than this.

View attachment 465200

View attachment 465201

Rosie's nails are very short, but she 'ticks' on the laminate floor.

It's because she flicks her feet backwards when she walks, so her nails come temporarily in contact with the floor.

May be what Penny is doing? Many terriers do.

 

So we’ve progressed to the grinder touching a nail for a couple of seconds for a treat. We did this a few times tonight and then called it a day. It seems Paxo has been watching O2.0’s videos as he is doing very well at the “Bates Face”!

 

Rosie never walks. She either trots or moves at a sort of collected canter.

I have never cut her claws, they stay very short and that can only be the way she moves.

She does have a very 'sprightly' action, and flicks her feet backwards.

 

LOL these busy terriers!
Penny will walk when she's scavenging for crumbs in the kitchen, but her general mode of transport from point A to point B is a trot or faster. She does have a lovely, efficient, ground covering trot, I actually love watching her move, it's so pretty :Angelic

You better not say you've not cut her claws too loud around these parts or we'll suck you in to nail club!

I think most dogs would flick their feet or at least have a good wrist break-over if they had proper nail length. Bates loses his break-over when his nails are too long. I think that adds to old dog stiffness along with everything else too long nails do.

 

I do cut her dew claws.

 

I've done his left front and neatened up his back feet today:

I want to get those outside nails down a bit more, but overall I'm pretty happy

 

I want to get those outside nails down a bit more, but overall I'm pretty happy

Those look really good!

Thai's nails grow almost straight down don't they? That will make it harder to keep them off the ground, but those are looking good

 

Looking good @StormyThai

Exciting missive in my in box today - SG's next installment! However, now she has the clippers, some very long curved scissors to clip the hair that grows between the pads and an actual dremel brand dremel on scene!

So that is a lot to take in. Interestingly though, I think murphs' nails must be short enough just for now as he definitely does seem to have some sensitivity there. I have tried to get that shell bit back on the tops but he isnt too co operative with it. He does come to me when he hears the dremel so he definitely has got the sound associated with good things but he is acting as if it hurts.

He has the groomer mid april so i will get all his foot hair taken off and see what the situation is. He isnt tapping on the floor and i think he might well be walking better

Might need to turn my attentions to Miss Tills . . . .

 

Oh . . . .my. . . . .word!!!!!!!!!



MAJOR news of the most amazing magnitude! Stop press! I have managed to get a little shaving from every single nail on murphy's back feet and he never pulled away, flinched or nothing!


No helper. Just me, my dog and - well, ok - my slowcooker ceramic pot (crockpot to o2) which had the residue of yesterday's beef joint in it.

So, whilst murphs' head was in there, he just let me lift his feet and crack on!!


Maybe he is better at this time of day. Point one. Point 2 is i think i was holding the dremel at a better angle.

And point 3 there was natural daylight which made the whole thing much easier.


Im feeling top of the world with that success!

 

If licking out the crockpot worked that well, you may need to try a lickimat with him

 

Tried that - last night i even had a bit of beef residue on a lickimat but it was a no go.

I think he genuinely does get sore in the evenings. Depending on the weather and how much running about he has done that day. He absolutely loves being groomed for the attention it brings him. Most evenings he will turn onto his back, and he kind of crooks a front paw over and whines.

And that means 'groom me' It really relaxes him usually but if he is sore he actually flinches at the grooming spray anywhere near his hip area. That's before i even put a comb to him! There's no way that can hurt i dont think, but i suppose if he is is pain in that area, it makes sense that he is going to tense up and be on edge just waiting for pain to start.

And he just doesnt want me near it. Give him a couple of painkillers and we are good to go.

Given that he is a pretty tolerant kind of dog, im inclined to think he has either been suffering genuine pain (or just sensitivity) when i have been trying his nails during the evenings, maybe because he is just generally sore all over or because i have had the grinder at the wrong angle. Maybe both.

When he gets a professional groom, he tends to go in the morning and she always says he never shows soreness when she grooms him so maybe evenings just arent his time.

 

Well this is turning out to be nail day in my house! Tilly actually achieved the jelly like relaxed state where i could lift her limbs and have them flop back down!

Im saying 'could' rather than 'can' as it might be a one off. Some sort of lucky star must be on my horizon for sure

 

I was hoping to get Milly's back feet done with the grinder while she scoffed down a lickimat tonight. She wasn't having any of it. She pulled her feet away if I simply stroked her foot with my hand, grinder on the floor. . Bit disappointed, I can't lie.

I let her finish the mat and tried again with treats, which went better, but still a bit reluctant to have her feet touched.

Bro said she's been "edgy" on walks today - which, from what he said, sounds like she was highly aroused and on the scent of a cat. Luckily for the cat she was on lead.

In hindsight, I think I should have left it. I'll give her the night off tomorrow.

 

Tilly has chosen to go to sleep on top of the nail grinder today. Not switched on.

Yesterday, when i was practising with murph, Till practically flung herself into her game on position and she was very good, waiting for her turn.

She has definitely cracked that bit

She looks quite whistful doesn't she?!

 

Tilly has chosen to go to sleep on top of the nail grinder today. Not switched on. View attachment 465458

Yesterday, when i was practising with murph, Till practically flung herself into her game on position and she was very good, waiting for her turn.

She has definitely cracked that bit

View attachment 465459

She looks quite whistful doesn't she?!

She certainly does. I can only hope for my two to lie like that.

Decided to have some quality time with my girls this morning, and part of that was Round 3. Milly was enthusiastically offering her paws and I got a few good paw holds and toe manipulation in, and managed to get the grinder close enough that the light shone on her nails, but that's as far as I got.

Honey was happy to sit and watch and get treats for being beside the grinder with it switched on.

I think I'm going to have to ask a groomer or the vet to cut Milly's nails right back and see if that makes a difference.

 

They don't lie like that when the grinder comes out @LinznMilly! Well, they do sort of. They can lie like that with it switched on and i can touch the base of it to their bodies and they wont move.

Murph can have the switched off grinder touched to a nail, and tapped gently on a nail but switched on near or on his nails and he is straight on his feet!

And Till is not at the stage of trying the on grinder near a nail, and not totally comfy yet with it tapped to a nail switched off. She isnt yet relaxed totally with the paw handling but she is massively better from where she started.

I think i will ask the groomer to take murphs' dew claws back. I have had a look at them but they aren't dremel suitable as his legs are so hairy. They will be better clipped off.

April 7th he goes. Im also asking her to clip back the hair on his feet. Had a disaster the other night where i tried the dremel with no guard on and it wound into his foot hair, the barrel detatched and the grinder was just clogged with his hair! It had wound between the plastic top of the dremel and base of the grinding barrel and forced off the barrel!!

He does lie like that for grooming. He is so good, very patient with any mats, not scared of scissors. I can cut bits out, or use the mat master blade and he will lie still for all that.

He is in pretty good comb through condition now for the groomer so she should manage to get him looking pretty good and sort his dew claws for me too.

One useful bit of feedback i did get on SG forum re Tilly that will stick in my head for all training is "What happens if you change some part of the picture for her?"

I really like that. So often, we try to train something and then practise the same, inefficient pattern even when progress stalls. But if we step back and just change a part of it - we move forward.

For murph, moving the time of day and to a different room in the house really helped. He was in the pattern of thinking 'im ok with this part . . . .and im ok with this next bit . . . but i dont like what comes after this and i know im getting up and leaving just before it happens!'

Dogs are so good at reading us, we do need to keep a step ahead and keep changing and adapting.

So i like that "change a part of the picture"

 

So we tried something new today

Nova was having a paw soak in the bath tub and I clipped her nails then. She was calm and it was easier to clip because the water had softened the nails. I have to take a photo later. Weirdly her back paws she doesn’t mind at all being clipped but she’s weary with her front paws, so today I got them the shortest they have been for a while. Was thinking of this thread all day so it bugged me so much I wanted to keep conditioning her to associate good things with grooming!

 

Oh that is great @Kakite

I had a flash of genius this morning - at least i think it could be good (all my very own idea and not SG)

I thought, as an extra intermediate step before putting a dremel to Tills' nails switched on - what about an electric toothbrush?

That would give a sensation and sound but maybe less vibration that the dremel.

What does anyone think about that?

 

You could do the same idea with the grinder to keep the same association.
Hold the grinder, with it on, and instead of touching her with the grinder, touch her with a finger from the hand holding the grinder. She will feel the vibration through your hand, but it will be less.

I've been doing this with Penny's back feet that are proving more ticklish than her front feet. Touch, mark, treat. Touch, mark, treat.
My only issue is she wants to investigate the grinder and keeps trying to get her nose dremeled off! Darned curious terriers! I'd put the cap back on, but I think I accidentally threw it away in a fit of tidying

 

Oh yes, im maybe complicating things with the toothbrush step

Tills is the same sticking her nose near the dremel - she doesnt seem a bit scared of it but we are nowhere near getting it on her toes just yet. She just isnt relaxed enough with the paw handling but it is getting better from what it was, no doubt.

 

Well, not too bad at all touching a nail holding the grinder. Head shot up but she didnt panic and fly off.


1st nail trim for baby piggy though - so easy compared to dogs. Snip, snip, snip, job done.

 

I’ve just done two of Milly’s nails on her back foot! :Woot :Woot :Woot She was lying on the couch when I decided to grab her foot and the grinder. First she knew about it was when I made a huge fuss of her and told her what a good girl she is.

Now she’s tucked her feet underneath her in case I act weird again. :Hilarious

 

I've just done two of Milly's nails on her back foot! :Woot :Woot :Woot She was lying on the couch when I decided to grab her foot and the grinder. First she knew about it was when I made a huge fuss of her and told her what a good girl she is.

Ha ha! Stealth approach! I like it

 

Ok so I FINALLY sat down to work this dremel out. Got the dogs on the grooming table (love that thing) and just held to to a couple of their nails. They didn't love it, but they tolerated it. Considering McKenzie thinks nail clippers are out to murder her, it was a significant improvement!

I haven't gone back to read the rest of the thread yet so it may have been answered, but wondering what sort of speed is best?

ETA oh and what fine-ness of sandpaper do I want?

 

I haven't gone back to read the rest of the thread yet so it may have been answered, but wondering what sort of speed is best?

ETA oh and what fine-ness of sandpaper do I want?

Slower speed is quieter, but tends to not have enough power if you push on it, faster speed tends to be less ticklish.
I'd play around and see what works best for you and the dogs.

I used a coarser grit sandpaper on the danes otherwise nothing came off. You may have to play around there too and see what works.
Just be super careful with the sandpaper, it does get hot really fast, especially at faster speeds.
I love the diamond tip doesn't dull and doesn't get hot. If you get along with your dremel may be worth investing in a diamond tip.

 

I found this a few days ago which advises between 10 and 15 000 rpm. It's quite an interesting page so i will link it here

https://milesandemma.com/how-to-dremel-dog-nails/

 

Oh that's helpful thanks. At first I tried 5 and then changed to 10 which worked well for McKenzie, could maybe go 15 for Elliot.

 

Ok here are Elliots nails in their current state. They don't touch the table when he's standing, but they do click. What am I aiming for?

Sorry, the pictures are rubbish and his feet are dirty and wet - just back from a walk!