proud of mushroom tonight.

elegy

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#1
when i got mushroom, he was about 2 years old, and totally not happy about having his nails trimmed or his feet touched. he'd turn into a total thrashing shark. he wouldn't break skin or snap nasty, but he'd put teeth on you hard enough for it to hurt. to trim his nails, i'd have to take him in to work, muzzle him, and have somebody help me wrestle him.

but then i thought, this is stupid. it's stupid to have a dog whose nails i can't trim on my own.

so i started working on it.

and it took awhile.

but now i have a dog who, like tonight, will lay on his side on the floor and let me trim his nails without a struggle, without complaint, without grumbling or mauling me. he's not happy about it, but he accepts it, because i've taken the time to teach him.

it's such a little thing, but i'm proud of him.
 

doberkim

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#3
congrats on working so hard on the shroom doggie. hes come so far from the day i met you in the parking lot to see if luce would tolerate him :)
 

elegy

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#4
congrats on working so hard on the shroom doggie. hes come so far from the day i met you in the parking lot to see if luce would tolerate him :)
he has. he's such a good boy.

it's dumb, but it's so satisfying to take a problem behavior and work with the dog and modify it successfully.
 

Doberluv

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#6
it's such a little thing, but i'm proud of him.
I don't think it's a little thing. It can be very stressful for a dog. It is not a natural thing at all for them. And if they had a bad experience, that makes it even worse. Lots of dogs hate their nails being clipped. Congrats.

I know what a satisfying feeling that is. My son's dog, who now lives with me was traumatized at one time with the clipping of her nails where she was forced and held down by about 4 young men, frightened, scolded....just a bad scene all around. She has a lovely temperament and is sweet, stable, confident and willing. But this bad experience with the nail cutting, (which lots of dogs are apprehensive about if not use to it) really put her over the edge. She would become down right vicious, gnashing teeth....like a completely different dog. No vet would touch her without anesthesizing her first...forget the muzzle. They wouldn't do it.

We couldn't even show her the clippers. Her nails were talons. One day I decided to deal with it. It took me about 4-5 days to counter condition her, one baby step at a time....used ice cream. LOL. Now she's absolutely fine. I even used the Dremel on her the last time and didn't even have to work up with that....just did it and she was fine...not nervous even the first time she heard it...came right up to investigate the tool, sat still and I did one paw and called it a day. She got yummy treats. It's amazing how a little patience, positive associations, reinforcement and making it not a big deal can transform them. And yummy treats.

I'm so glad to hear your little Mushroom is fine with it too...or at least not too worried. You should try a little ice cream next time, one spoon for every few nails. LOL. She might be jumping into your lap next time you get out the clippers. That's what my Chi's do when I get out the Dremel. LOL. "Me first, me first."
 

elegy

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#10
I know what a satisfying feeling that is. My son's dog, who now lives with me was traumatized at one time with the clipping of her nails where she was forced and held down by about 4 young men, frightened, scolded....just a bad scene all around. She has a lovely temperament and is sweet, stable, confident and willing. But this bad experience with the nail cutting, (which lots of dogs are apprehensive about if not use to it) really put her over the edge. She would become down right vicious, gnashing teeth....like a completely different dog. No vet would touch her without anesthesizing her first...forget the muzzle. They wouldn't do it.
you know, this is kind of off topic, but i really don't believe that a single experience such as being held down and having nails trimmed is going to turn a truly stable and confident dog into a biting gnashing monster. a truly stable, confident dog is able to bounce back after such an experience.

mushroom's absolutely not a confident, stable dog. he's a very soft dog. he's not all that confident. he's more easily frightened and made defensive than he should be. i have no idea if he was traumatized or not- i suspect not. i suspect he was just never taught to accept feet touching and nail trimming.

i don't think luce was ever taught to accept it, either, but she *is* an utterly confident, stable dog, so stuff like that- no matter how weird and dumb she thinks it is- she takes in stride with no struggle and no complaint.
 

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