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Originally Posted by HORSEandHOUND  time, patience, and peanut butter, you are well on the right track. it's just going to take time; as in months of daily work to get her okay with it. |
I find puppies are usually perfect for the first ever nail trim...then they learn they don't like it, or get a quick and become nervous about it. You can keep doing the patience/reward routine, or you can just teach her now while she's young what is acceptable behavior, and what is not. It is not acceptable behavior for her to pull her feet from you, scream, bite, etc when you are holding them. Acceptable behavior is standing still while you examine her feet. You pick up the foot, and you just hold it until she is still and calm. Then you release the foot and reward. Etc. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the first foot as they keep pulling and struggling, trying to get it away from you. When they realize they are just fighting themselves, they relax. You don't want to pin her down, or have anyone hold her down, etc. Just put her in a sit, with her butt in a corner, and pick up her front foot while saying "Paw"...hold it(you should be next to her on your knees) and body block her with your body if she tries to move forward and just ignore the bad behavior. Within a few minutes, she will be letting you pick up and examine all her feet.
