Making good progress with the pedi paws...

[Phentex]

I bought one of these years ago but hadn't used it much. Well my old bear can't walk too far now so his nails don't get naturally filed down. And like most dogs, he HATES anyone touching his paws, especially the front. Takes three of us to clip his nails and I got sick of waiting for help and having his nails gets too long.

So I re-introduced the pedi paws. At first he squirmed like crazy. I did the whole introduction thing that the company suggests. Gradually he let me work on the back paws but he tucked his front paws away from me every time I got near them.

One day when he was really sleepy and lying on his pillow, I filed his back nails. He ignored me. His front toes were hanging off the edge of the pillow. So without touching the front paws, I started filing them just a teeny bit. He glared at me but was too tired to care. I was even able to gently separate the toes and file as long as I didn't try to pick up his paw.

It's not a fast process at all but I am getting the job done.

[shenmue]

1. Hugs!

Pics of ur fella? Plz k thx.

[Phentex]

4. I have some from last month...

but I'm lazy. I'll see if I can get them to photobucket.

[mopinko]

2. i need to work on this badly.

both my big boys have tough nails, so they wear wrong. they have the tough upper nail sticking out from the softer inner nail all the time. this leads to torn and split nails. both have had them. which makes the whole thing twice as hard. they are super skittish.

my daughter wants to work on doctor, who will be going to live w her soon. she has to spend some time w docs trainer before i will let him go.
she has asked that they work on this, and has promised to come help me wrestle him in the meantime.

i dont know how much longer i will be up for the trials of dog ownership, but i dont intend to go down w/o a fight.

[Phentex]

5. I'm happy to have more control now...

I really think he's not going to mind the front ones soon enough. Supposedly, the more I use it, the more the quick will grow away from the bottom of the nail. This doesn't seem to hurt him. Not so with the clippers.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. It doesn't have to be a fast process,

as long as it gets done, and without all the drama.

Sounds like me with my newly adopted Persian cat, who does not like to be held or even approached (yet). But she needs brushed all the time. I do it in short sessions when she is eating---takes time to get it all done, but at least it is getting done.

[Phentex]

6. I had a friend warn me about doing too much at once...

so I am careful. I move from nail to nail so that there's no heat buildup. At first I wondered if anything was happening but soon enough I could see the dust from the filing.