I feel bad about cutting my dog's toenails, because I can't imagine
that she sees it any other way except as a harsh punishment. I say
encouraging things to her while it happens and try to keep un upbeat
tone of voice, but I don't know if she's buying it. Most recently I did
it while her shampoo was setting in during a bath, and that worked
well, getting two bad things done at once. What do you guys think about
that?

----
Todd Smith
UCF Mathematics

ToddSmith said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

I feel bad about cutting my dog's toenails, because I can't
imagine that she sees it any other way except as a harsh
punishment.

The simple answer is that it's not a punishment if the dog
enjoys it. The only dog that I've had since a puppy enjoys
nail-clipping because he got mega treats at the beginning, along
with a lot of paw fondling. My more recent rescue was more
reticent and not food motivated, but he came around.

What kind of dog do you have and what colour are her nails?

Start slowly -- like I had to do with the rescue I mentioned --
clipping one nail tip at a time. The first go 'round, it took
me nearly a month to just snip the tip of all of New Dog's
nails.

Sometimes, with some dogs, a Dremel grinder works best. God
luck!

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"ToddSmith" wrote in message
ups.com...
I feel bad about cutting my dog's toenails, because I can't imagine
that she sees it any other way except as a harsh punishment. I say
encouraging things to her while it happens and try to keep un upbeat
tone of voice, but I don't know if she's buying it. Most recently I did
it while her shampoo was setting in during a bath, and that worked
well, getting two bad things done at once. What do you guys think about
that?

----
Todd Smith
UCF Mathematics

I cut Cin's a little too short once, caught the quick and that really put
her off. We then had to go back to round and round one at a time, but since
then I've discovered the power of peanut butter sandwiches.

Chewing and enjoying thick cut slices of soft bread smothered in sticky
peanut butter takes a good bit of concentration and I can get 2 feet trimmed
for one slice of bread

Diana & Cindy

--
Cindy's web site
http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk