hey, guys. today we're going to do how totrim your dogs nails. this is molly. she's a beagle, and she's goingto be our helper today, showing off how to trim those nails. a lot of people get really nervous about itbecause they're worried about that quick that they're going to get รข€” that they're goingto accidentally clip.
Cutting Dog Nails, and the way that you're going to avoid thatis by doing routine trimmings, and, if you look at their paw and those nails, those nailsshould never go past the pad of their foot. so you just want to make sure... and you cansee hers are pretty short. so the nail clipper has to be rounded likethat. do not use a regular human nail or toenail
clippers. it's going to be flat, it's goingto push down on their nail, and it's going to splinter their nail. it's not going tofeel good for them, and they'll never want to do it again. so you want to get this rounded one, so itkind of wraps around their nail and it puts pressure on all the angles. so it's goingto collapse in and do a nice, neat trim. now, the next thing you want to have on handis this little product here. it's a quick stop. you can use any styptic powder and youcan actually use corn starch if you're in a pickle. but, um, this styptic powder isgoing to clot if you accidentally do nick their quick.
so what you'll do is you'll just tap someright into the lid there, grab an healthy pinch of it, take their nail and pinch aroundthat nail and hold on to it for 10 seconds. and it's going to clot up and you can justlet it go, and the nail will be perfectly fine. you don't need to panic about it; theywill be okay. so that's what you need: rounded nail clippers,styptic powder, and you're good to go. what you're going to do, is you're not goingto force them, you're not going, like, to hold them down and grab their foot and tryand force them to trim their nail. that's going to cause a sensitivity and a lot ofanxiety around it. so what the first thing you want to do isgrab some food, some treats for your dog that
they're interested in. and you want to geta very small piece, make them very small, and let them know what they're up for, youknow, "ooh, this is gonna be really fun, yes, we got treats going on." so she knows the treat is what's at stakeright here. so she wants that treat, and so- [to molly] stay... show her the clipper, say, "oh, nothing'swrong with the clipper, you'll actually get treats when you smell that clipper." now come over here, and, give a nice massage,get them relaxed. just start touching her, just start touchingyour dog all over, get them used to, "oh,
this is gonna be a fun session here." work your way down towards her legs, pickup a paw, and then let it go... pick up the paw again, and let it go. give a treat. what we're working towards is desensitizationhere. so, we're not going to just go right for the paw and go, "okay, this is what we'redoing." it's just part of everything else, part of the interaction. so, paw again, a little bit more manipulationwith that paw, and give a treat again. again, this is all supposed to be very positive withthem.
alright, so we're gonna get this paw again-- [to molly] good girl- and we're going to pair it with this, and give a treat. [to molly]and come closer. c'mere. good girl. okay, paw again, clippers, treat. you cansee her behavior: she knows what the two together means. so you can she her face moving away,she's kind of avoiding. so i'm just going to continue to make it apositive experience for her by lots of treats, lots of massages, and now we're going to goin for the actual clip. [to molly] you're looking for more treats? alright, so here's the clipper, i know, touchtouch. tap a little bit. make some noise. again with the treats- here. good girl. goodgirl.
one more little tap. and i'm not gonna actuallyclip her nail because it's very short, it's good, but you would do a little bit of pressureright there. tiny bit. give them a jackpot which is a lot of treats,kind of a little handful. and look at that she offered me her paw back cuz she knowsthe paw means more treats. yes? oh it does mean clipper, too, though.no, you won't give me your paw again? she's like maybe i changed my mind there. now, you don't need to force, again, we talkedabout we're not going to force this behavior on her. it's not essential that you clip theirnails every single day. so work towards it. make it a positive experience.
right now we're just going to do a full bodymassage after to really reinforce that this little session we just had was really fun.and she'll start associating it and looking forward to it the next time. what do you think, molly? you a good girl?i have some more treats for you. what do you
think? you can get them. you can get them. all right, guys. i hope you learned somethingtoday. if you have any questions or comments or concerns you can put them in the commentsbelow. you can also find me on twitter, tumblr, and facebook. and i hope you enjoyed our howto session for this week.
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