ledgers pedicure experience

Noticed Ledgers dew claws getting long again and as he's ripped one out before I wanted to trim them but he wouldn't let me anywhere near them with the clipper, he didn't bite me but lifted my hand off his paw with his mouth. So I booked in with the nurse at the vet and suggested the muzzle might be handy well even with me wrapped around him he still managed to struggle free and take the muzzle off so the nurse took him back for a team of assistants

Nurse came back to say that although his nails all look quite long they have really long quicks so they trimmed what they could but even with just the very tips they were bleeding so bless him he must have been in pain, they said there was no charge as there was not much they could do

Poor boy must have tired himself out, I felt guilty so took him to P@H for a treat and he just lay down in the aisles when I stopped he didn't even show interest in the rabbits

He is letting me touch his paws now so guess he must be ok and luckily it hasn't freaked him out completely

Bless him! I can finally do Moo's, bought some proper claw clippers and its so quick she hasn't got the time wiggle away! Poor Ledger, tired after his ordeal XX

Aww hugs for you both, darcy needs hers doing so a trip the vets next week I think

This is one job I leave to the pro's, Rocky goes to a local dog training centre that has a parlour attached to it, plus he loves the ladys making a fuss of him he's such a tart The only charge a couple of quid so no dmamge to the purse either.

Aww poor Ledger, Daisy's are the same, look like they need doing but when you look close the pink bits almost to the end. She is good though, when they are ready, i hold her and my Dad does it, she's a good girl

Kuchar sends his sympathies to Ledger, as he absolutely WILL NOT have his paws touched at all, never mind having his nails cut by me with my wonderful quick little guillotine device. He doesn't bite, but struggles and squirms so hard you'd think I was trying to kill him; it's impossible to get a quick clean cut, and I don't want to risk catching the quick accidentally. It's an unfortunate fact that the quick will grow longer down the nails, the longer the nails get.

He last had his nails cut whilst under anaesthetic for his snip a couple of months ago.

I'm considering going to the pro's at PAH when they need doing again, but what I'd love to know is what is their magic in managing to cut a dog's nails without trauma to the dog?

Floyd got pretty grumbly at us the other week trying to trim his nails so we went to a parlour and MAYHEM ensued...

On arrival there is a toy poodle and two westies on their tables being clipped very quietly and with perfect manners...
The girls got Floyd up onto a table and put a soft muzzle on him and trussed him up to the frame on the table round his waist and neck...using slip knots...

As soon as the clippers went near Floyd's toes he starts writhing like an alligator doing a death-roll with its prey meaning the cords 'tying' him to the table come loose and the LEAPS on to the poodle's table across the room.....the girls try and get hold of him and he backs into a corner before jumping over the poodle on to the floor...knocking over the poodle's table and leaving the poor thing hanging of the table frame suspended in mid-air!

By this time all the dogs in the parlour are going nuts...barking like it's the great escape and all the prisoners are cheering him on! Floyd is finally pinned to the floor by FOUR of the girls and his nails are clipped while he writhes and hisses like Gollum at them.

Then they asked if we still wanted his anal glands expressed....ERM no, thank you, and we left sharpish!

So....good thing we moved to Aberdeen 2days after this and never have to go back! I'll be doing to positive-association work with his paws instead to build up to clipping them myself.

Awww poor boy, Ledgers claws sound the same as Max's, his are quite long too, but they always have been because although he gets "pavement" walks, most of his excercise in on soft ground so they dont wear very quickly, but when you look close at his white paw with pale claws, its only the very tip thats got no pink running through the middle, so I cant really clip his either ... oh, and it would take a rugby team to hold him still enuff

Oh Jess that made me laugh

Well I am lucky that Ledger loves his paws being touched I regularly hold them when he is Cwtched up to me on the sofa, he gives all 4 to be wiped and has no issues with me checking them file cuts etc. It was just the change when the clipper came out.

The likeness to an aligator death roll is spot on I was completely wrapped round him with an arm over one shoulder and had him fairly secure enough to nearly get one paw done but it wasn't a position I could hold knelt on the vets almost gravelly type surface floor.

Well either way we have done what we can, maybe factor some longer walks on tarmaccy surfaces, looking back on our special days out it tends to be beach, canal side or woodland trails and he has a fair bit of agiity and fetch play on grass to wear him out

Poor Ledger! Worn out from the whole thing! Im too scared to clip Rocky's on my own, definitely a trip to the vets.

Jess's story with Floyd is exactly what I would expect to experience with Kuchar at a parlour or the vets. And then he would remember the experience next time the trauma had to be repeated and it would be worse than ever.

Over our previous everlasting winter he was walked for hours over tarmaccy pavements and despite his nails being white, it didn't trim them by one micron.

Every day (literally) I stroke and gentle him and gradually move down to his paws, whereupon he jumps up like he's been shot with an enraged expression "what the HELL do you think you're doing?" I can fiddle with any other part of his anatomy if I have a mind to, but his paws are totally out of bounds. And by the posts above I know he's not alone (which is a comfort in it's way, at least he's not a lone weirdo).

He watches me cutting my own finger nails and toenails and I say to him look, I don't fight and squirm and make the most godalmighty fuss, but he doesn't seem to understand this logic

If ONLY he would trust me with his paws when the time comes for a pedicure I could cut them so cleanly and neatly without going near the quick and it would be done and over with in 5 minutes. As it is, the only other option is total sedation as if it were major surgery.

Sorry this turned into a rant, but it is SO frustrating!