[dbussone]

Originally Posted by CFrance

When we took in an abandoned 15-year-old golden last year, he had never had his nails cut in the two years his owner dumped him with her parents. It must have been quite painful for him to have nails that long, as he wouldn't let me touch his paws. he would pull his paws away even if you just stroked them. My solution was to have them done professionally by our mobile groomer. It preserved our bonded position (that had taken a while to achieve) because I wasn't doing it. I really didn't care if he bonded with the groomer, as long as his needs were met without harm done to him. And the groomer understood.

I have never felt comfortable with my level of expertise at nail clipping. All our dogs have relied on groomers for that.

I agree. BUT, we found a solution on Amazon 2 months ago. Oster Pet Nail Grinder. It comes with guides you size to your pet. Harry lets my wife do his nails a couple of times a week. No more "click, click, click."


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[Nucky]

Great experience AJ. I wonder how we are going to get thru the experience of what looks like a bad situation happening now with our Boxer Barney. The good thing is my wife baby sit's small dogs when people go on vacation so I'll still have them to spoil. I just love these dogs they add so much to our lives. I've followed your story and I love your experience and you probably solved my upcoming problem. Bless you.

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

Kind words, thank you. Do not let my posts lead you to believe I am a dog trainer. I have read TOTV for years, there are many folks out here better than I.

I am OK at little stuff, e.g., come, heel, stay, etc., but pretty clueless with behavioral issues. I have learned quite a bit by how Cesar is around dogs, the way he stays calm and never gives up until the dog is calm... There are times I feel like I have no idea what to do...

Z's current challenge. Alan must cut her nails. For a 55 pound dog, she is like a slippery pig. I imagine she is, I have never held a slippery pig. If you try to hold her down and touch her nails, she will wriggle, try to get up, slip out from under you. She could be an all-state wrestler, I mean if they had dog wrestling. She is obviously scared of something.

I have never dealt with this. With past dogs, I said lay down, I put a little weight on them, enough so they could not pull away their paws and I 'Dremel'd' their nails. Caly would almost fall asleep. The Dremel was great. I used to use clippers, but no matter how I tried I would cut too much on one of them and then we had a bleeder ...

Z must not trust me enough, or I am not relaxed enough, or she is just too afraid. I can put her on her side and make her stay and pat her, I am working to be able to hold her there using some of my weight. This is progressing well. As soon as I touch a nail, we are back to slippery pig…

In addition I have started to make her stay near me while I touch her nails. Even using my fingernail to simulate a cut noise. This requires me holding her collar so she cannot flee. As we are just starting this whole session lasts a minute or so.

This could be a multi week process and I hope I am up for it.

Will let you know…

I think for $20.00 a vet could cut the nails. We take the cat in for that; it's money well spent.

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[dbussone]

AJ, you are a warrior where Z is concerned. Your patience and faithfulness to your task are just wonderful.


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[ajbrown]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, we took Z to PAWS a while ago and they could get three cut and gave her back to us .

I never got the details of why professionals could not get the job done as I was away, maybe my wife did. Basically they could not hold her down.

In the meantime on days my wife volunteers has been taking Z to the SPCA to be with other dogs. Occasionally their vet will cut her nails, so we know it is possible. We think it is because Z is familiar with the vet...

Even if I never can cut her nails, I need to get her calmer so others can.

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, we took Z to PAWS a while ago and they could get three cut and gave her back to us .

I never got the details of why professionals could not get the job done as I was away, maybe my wife did. Basically they could not hold her down.

In the meantime on days my wife volunteers has been taking Z to the SPCA to be with other dogs. Occasionally their vet will cut her nails, so we know it is possible. We think it is because Z is familiar with the vet...

Even if I never can cut her nails, I need to get her calmer so others can.

I didn't know PAWS was an animal hospital, thought it was a groomer. Wish I could offer any other suggestions. Perhaps one at a time when Z is settled down before sleep or just awakening.

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[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by Chi-Town

I didn't know PAWS was an animal hospital, thought it was a groomer. Wish I could offer any other suggestions. Perhaps one at a time when Z is settled down before sleep or just awakening.

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PAWS is our vet for our cat and past dogs, they seem very nice and I assume competent. They were wonderful when Caly was put down. We had them come to the house so she would be comfortable. I could see them tearing up looking at our pain. Seems like a terribly hard job.

Doing this with Z will be 'fun', like trying to learn how to hit a tight draw under the wind... patience and time... and fingers crossed

[FosterMomma]

We have fostered 17 dogs ajbrown so I can say with certainty that you are doing a fantastic job. Your patience is outstanding and your logical approach to dealing with issues one at a time is obviously working out very well. The truth is there's always a reason a dog has been handed over to a shelter or into foster care and sometimes the reasons aren't pretty, so for instance her aggression with other dogs may be a lifetime problem but if someone can undo it I'm sure it's you!

Not sure if you know this but the person at Paws who looks after nail trimming is a kind hearted groomer who spends a lot of time trying to ensure that the dogs are not afraid and consequently happy to be groomed again. If your dog shows the panic that you describe I'm quite sure that she would stop the process for the benefit of the dog. That obviously doesn't help with the specific problem of long nails but it might be the reason. The solution that we have found to work is to basically trim one nail, followed by lots of love and treats, and then let it go for a day. Over time we found that this worked, eventually allowing us to trim two nails and then three etc.

Exercise... as I'm sure you know a tired dog is a good dog so finding a place where she can run without difficulty is very important and there aren't many places in the villages where that's possible. Doggie Do Run on 301 has a training section that is completely fenced off and quite large (in length) so you might want to go there and talk to the owner explaining your difficulties and training needs and arrange to use that section by yourself. You would be able to throw balls or even try to start agility training there which would occupy her brain and blow off some energy. It's usually one of the quiet spots in the park and is definitely the area where only one dog is allowed in at a time.

I was delighted to hear that you have trained the dog to be comfortable in a muzzle. It shows great responsibility on your part and undoubtedly protects both of you in the case of fear aggression but did you know that there are soft muscles that have the benefit of not making the dog look ferocious? Sometimes the very look of the cage sets other owners into a fearful mode that can be reflected in the behaviour of their own dogs and a cycle of nastiness can start to happen. The soft muzzles are very effective and sometimes go unseen by other people... just a thought. Aggressiveness may just be part of her baggage though so finding a place where she can run and you can both be happy is pretty important . I know people who go at odd hours to the area behind the polo field specifically for this reason. Maybe that would be helpful for you as well .

One last hint... we have found that new Foster's being trained almost needed a training "outfit" so we have a harness that we put on them when we "mean business". It's not for punishment and it isn't harsh (made of soft material) but it just gets their attention, sort of like a Service Dog putting on their work coat. We have found that the dogs seem to know the difference and stop pulling or feeling panicky... maybe it makes them feel more secure because someone is in charge but for whatever reason, it turns a pulling lunatic into an easy dog to walk and an aggressive dog into one that can pass other dogs without the need to show their dominance. My theory is that it works a bit like a thunder shirt but that's just an opinion. Whatever works!

I can't tell you enough how wonderful you are to put all this time and thought into Z.... I'm sure you will enjoy her for years!

[airstreamingypsy]

AJ, there's a term you need to be familiar with. "Failed foster" Z sounds a lot like my female Border Collie, she is a failed foster. Oh, I found her a home, but the adopters weren't amused when she came in with their cat in her mouth. The cat was fine, but she came back..... and never left again. She's my second failed foster, I 'fostered" the last one for 13 years......

[ajbrown]

MiaW1948,

17 dogs, holy cow, that is wonderful. Thanks for sharing...

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

AJ, there's a term you need to be familiar with. "Failed foster" Z sounds a lot like my female Border Collie, she is a failed foster. Oh, I found her a home, but the adopters weren't amused when she came in with their cat in her mouth. The cat was fine, but she came back..... and never left again. She's my second failed foster, I 'fostered" the last one for 13 years......

Fostering is odd for sure. When Z meets people, I tell them she is available for adoption.

Then, I find myself thinking about Z and how a bad handler would affect her life or even worse, punish her behavior. Even though Z and I have yet to connect like past dogs, it is hard not to grow fond... time will tell...

She is laying at my feet as I type this...

[villager]

Have you tried Rescue Remedy for dogs? You can purchase it at the health food store in Spanish Springs shopping center. It's a Bach flower mixture - purely holistic. It seems to take the edge of for a nervous dog. We started using it for our dog during thunder storms. She would get so wound up, shake terribly and pant - a true state of panic. The Rescue Remedy works wonders for her, in fact, it works better than her Thunder Shirt. Now that we have used it several times during a storm, the storms don't affect her as much and many times she is good without it. Maybe Z would benefit from a dose before a nail trim.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

Fostering is odd for sure. When Z meets people, I tell them she is available for adoption.

Then, I find myself thinking about Z and how a bad handler would affect her life or even worse, punish her behavior. Even though Z and I have yet to connect like past dogs, it is hard not to grow fond... time will tell...

She is laying at my feet as I type this...

Maybe she'll be at your feet for years to come.

I have used a form of Rescue Remedy on our young golden when he had to be transported. It was recommended by our vet. There were different ways to administer it. One type was affixed to his crate during transport, and then, because we were leaving a country setting to live in the middle of a big city, he wore a collar of it around his neck at all times. They last a month. It issued some kind of pheromone that was calming. It was called DAP but I see is now called Adaptil.

I think it worked. He's such a laid-back dog to begin with, it was hard to tell. But at the time he was only two, so a little more rambunctious.

[kcbeachgal]

What has happened to Z? We all need to know. Did he get a forever home?

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

Fostering is odd for sure. When Z meets people, I tell them she is available for adoption.
Then, I find myself thinking about Z and how a bad handler would affect her life or even worse, punish her behavior. Even though Z and I have yet to connect like past dogs, it is hard not to grow fond... time will tell...
She is laying at my feet as I type this...

Z is a lucky girl to be spending time with you and your wife. You obviously both love dogs.