1 Day 1 World Project: Donna at 2:00pm – 3:00pm Thursday
Sometimes I do silly things.
I called the groomer down the street wanting to book an appointment to cut Donna’s nails. Which basically means that I’ve been procrastinating cutting her nails ever since I accidentally cut her to the quick and drops of blood formed on the floor. D: I don’t like to cut her nails.
The groomer was of course happy enough to take a booking but no, we do not allow customers into the grooming station to give the dog treats while she gets her nails cut.
I explained that Donna didn’t like her nails cut, and the groomer’s immediate reaction was we’ll use a muzzle if she is likely to bite.
I explained that Donna doesn’t bite but she’ll likely be trembling like a leaf… and I’ll like to make the experience a positive one by treating her while the groomer cuts her nails. It was still a no go.
I remembered the other shivering dog I saw standing by itself on the grooming table when I walked past the other day. And I decided, no, I’m not going to make the appointment. I think the groomer was just as happy not to take on a difficult customer.
There were enough dogs gracing their store, lions at the door turned snivelling worms on the table. One less didn’t matter.
Piqued, I immediately marched to the kitchen to cut up bits of chicken. Because I was positively going to get her nails cut that day!!
Chicken!!!
I only cut a small amount of chicken because that prevents me from overdoing things which starts making it a bad experience for Donna. She gets treated a piece for every small sliver of nail I cut. I intended to repeat this process three times that day.
The following images are highly positive because I try not to take pictures of Donna when she is stressed. She doesn’t like me pointing the camera at her so no point making her more uncomfortable when she was already nervous about cutting her nails.
I only started taking pictures when she was more relaxed.
Donna’s long black nails.
Eyes on the chicken
I try to get her to lie down so that it’s easier for me to work with her nails, especially those on her hind legs. But when she gets nervous, she insists on sitting.
So I didn’t really get to cut the nails much on her hind legs.
So this is not the before and after photo. Haha.
She doesn’t resist the cutting tool touching her foot.
She only really starts getting more nervous when the nail is between the blades and I take a long time because I’m trying to see and reassure myself that I’m not going to hurt her again when I force the blades together. That’s the reason why I thought it might be more effective to get a groomer to cut her nails for now, while I feed her treats.
Towards the end she got more relaxed. That realisation hit me. She was not as adverse to the experience as I was. She used to be worse but with the previous counter conditioning work she was better. That one bloody clip did not dent her as much as it had dented me!
That was one good thing that came out of this hated exercise of nail cutting.
With the bits of chicken now in her tummy, I started packing up and she gives me this look.
What do you mean there’s no more chicken?!!!
For 24 weeks, weliveinaflat will post photos taken for a specific hour in that week.
We will cover 24 hours in 24 weeks. (I’ve no idea how we will do the sleeping hours, lol!)
More about the 1 Day 1 World Project here.
Easter Ellen
What a great story. You did a great job with Donna and it was nice to follow along. Great last shot!
weliveinaflat
Thank you! She keeps giving me this look when I stop our training sessions too but I was never quick enough to catch it until now ;) Lucky shot.
Easter Ellen
Yolande Labbe
Here is my story My dog is a 20 pound Schnauzer I start doing my nails she watches me and she knows it will be her turn when I am finish I call her she play deaf I get up and pull her off of her hiding spot. She usually mumbles softly at that time. I grab her firmly and very gently I put her belly up on my knees. I put the dry liver treat on the table on the side. I give1 or 2 to start. then I take the hind paw and file every nail ( I got 4 dremels one battery power and 3 electric one I just love those little things ) they work great in no time you get a round and soft finish she usually let me know by pulling off when it is enough. I stop give a treat and continue on the other paw. Hind leg finish she get a bit agitated for the front paw. I take a large towel sit on one end pass over the back leg pull it tight and sit on the other end. Ending of the back leg kicking. From now on it is easier to do the front paw than the back one. They is never no bite no blood she got a nice soft finish in no time. Then I put her on the floor and give a little brushing and a nice massage to get her stress off before she goes back to bed. After you use the dremel to do your nails and the dog nails. You will never use scissor for the rest of your life. Nothing can beat the dremel.
savedbydogs
Our person has found offering bits of dog biscuit make nail cutting go much more smoothly.
Hope you will be having a great week!
weliveinaflat
We will have to find some super yummy dog biscuits than ;) cooked meat works well with her too ;)
Kyla
He wants to cut my nails Himself but She says NO. Of course He is paying for the pro.
weliveinaflat
She is SMART. Over here, he wants to send her to a pro and will pay for it, since he’s bad at nail cutting as well. But well, you know from this post, I’m not too happy with the groomer :P I hope you don’t find nail cutting a pain.
NW Frame of Mind
Donna is so good! I can’t even cut my son’s nails without getting too nervous to do it well. One bloody, too short, clip and I was done. :(
weliveinaflat
It’s probably worse with a child, I feel your pain!!
Emmadog
Wow, those nails are super long. You know that if you don’t cut them regularly, the quick gets longer. You need to start cutting small amounts every 1-2 weeks to get the quick to recede so the nails can get back to being nice and short. Mom does our nails when we are exhausted because we are too tired to care then.
weliveinaflat
I know! I’m such a bad human!
I think the reason why I hurt her the last time was that the quick is already longer :( I was sure I wasn’t cutting it that short! That’s why I am more tentative about cutting it now because I can’t judge where the quick is anymore. And how frequent is too frequent before I risk touching the quick again. But will use one or two weeks as a starting point ;)
She is never too tired to care about her nails. Sensitive dog. :P
Yolande Labbe
Try the dremel it make the quick recede without pain and does a great job
2browndawgs
We cut our dogs’ nails too. We do it like you do. Clip and treat. Clip and treat. Except for Freighter. He still doesn’t quite get it. lol Needs two of us because he moves too much. Make sure to get your clippers sharpened regularly or replace them because they can get dull and that makes clipping harder. I was also told to keep a bar of plain soap on hand so that if you clip too short, you just kind of press the nail in the soap and pull it out and it should help stop the bleeding.
weliveinaflat
Wish I knew about the soap the last time it was bleeding! I have gotten stypic powder from the pet shop after that, but due to my awesome skills at procrastination and only cutting little slivers at a time so her nails don’t look cut at all, I haven’t needed to use it yet. Hoho!
I have both the guillotine type and the regular type of nail cutter. Not sure how to sharper the former but it’s expensive to keep replacing on a regular basis. I do feel safer with it though, like its less likely to slip as the other one. I hurt Donna using the scissor type that time. Guess I shall just have to get used to the scissor type and sharpen that regularly.
Thanks for your time to advise!! :)
2browndawgs
We get our clippers sharpened at the dog show by the scissor sharpener. Any person who sharpens can do it, but not the guillotine type. The stypic powder also works. :)
weliveinaflat
LOL obviously I never sharpened it before and you can tell! I have to stop making assumptions. I just assumed you sharpen it yourself, much like my mom sharpens her own kitchen knife. I’m sorry to sound so naive. D: Need to start budgeting for replacement nail cutters… they dull pretty fast!
Rama's Mama
You did it! Yay!
weliveinaflat
Thank you!
Tenacious Little Terrier
I hate cutting Mr. N’s nails too. I quicked him and put some flour on it and it stopped bleeding. He was scratching himself though so it re-opened and he had blood all over his fur and the floor. It looked like a massacre! Now we just take him to the groomer. He’s very good there and they do it quickly.
Merilee
LOVE that last shot!
Linda Arthur Tejera
Great accomplishment on a difficult job! I hate cutting black nails. Give me the ones where I can actually see the quick! :)
Dogs N Pawz
Mommy hates to cut our nails and we aren’t very good patients! We squirm lots and try to get loose!
sassmuffins
I had accidentally cut Gracie’s nails below the quick a few times too often, to where that little brown dog of mine was adept at wriggling and squirming to let me know that the nail cutting would NOT happen.
Then, my smart husband bought one of those pet nail “grinders”, an electric tool with a very small sandpaper grinder on one end. It looks like this: http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Dog-Nail-Care/I/PediPaws-Dog-Nail-Grinder-As-Seen-on-TV.aspx
I take the plastic cover off and just use it like that. It works beautifully and has never ever gone below the quick. No more cutting too short. Gracie won’t let me use clippers, but this she has no issues with this. Nail problems solved (at least for the dog) :) !!