Nail Coverings for Dogs??? UPDATE!!

Mary Alice scratched the daylights out of our leather couch last night!! :yikes

Karlin had posted a link to some nail covers for cats.

Does anyone know where I can get something similar for this very naughty doggie???

Does anyone know how to fix/mask large scratches on leather??

Now Hubby doesn't want her left alone.....she goes berserk in a crate, but he has visions of her ripping up the leather.

She was only alone for 5 minutes when this happened...I was sleeping and he was out of the room. :sl*p:

This hasn't gone over very well...she's in big trouble with Hubby. :shock:

I have bought these nail covers, but I haven't used them, so I can't comment on whether they work.

http://www.softclaws.net/default.asp

I actually bought them prior to getting Daisy because we have hardwood floors and we were so concerned that they would be really scratched up by her nails. (My husband really did not want a dog and he used that problem to try to talk me out of getting her. So I bought these glue-on nail covers as a way to alleviate the problem and take it out of play, so to speak. )

They sound good, but I just haven't had the nerve to put them on yet, and we haven't been able to tell that she's scratching the floor up yet either. But I have them on hand just in case.
They say that they are harmless even if they do chew them off and swallow them. They eventually fall off as the nail grows. One of the testimonials said that she uses a missing nail cover as an indicator that her dogs nails need trimming.

Thanks very much.

Some free advice....after what happened at our house, put them on before something happens.

I'm going to try to find some in a petstore because it takes two weeks if ordered online!!! :flwr: :flwr:

Have you tried filing her nails after cutting them? Chester is fairly tolerant and will let me file each nail with one of my emery boards to get the sharp/rough edges off and it makes a HUGE difference. I'll flip him over belly-up in my lap so all 4 paws are easy to get to and it only takes 1-2 minutes to do all the nails. Sometimes he wants to fidget so I'll swaddle him in a blanket with one leg at a time sticking out and that restrains him nicely. Also, walking a furbaby on the concrete sidewalks will file/smooth down the nails nicely too.

I haven't heard of anyone using the nail covers on a dog, and in the meantime, you may want to throw a sheet or blanket over the sofa until you are able to smooth out her nails! It may take a little while to get her used to having the nails filed, but do it a little bit every day and give lots of praise and treats and she'll get used to it soon enough.

You're probably right -- my husband would have a conniption if she scratched up our leather chair. I should probably just go ahead and try to put the nail covers on. If she tore something major up, he'd probably never get over it. I've hesitated partly because I'm still really nervous about trimming her nails, and this seems like a more delicate process than that. Getting her to hold still is a challenge, to say the least.

My dh really likes Daisy and loves on her whenever she goes up to him, but he still says that she's too much trouble. As he puts it, "she's a great dog for someone who wants a dog." She really loves him and just turns herself inside out being charming with him. I think she knows he's a harder sell than me. She's got me wrapped around her little toe and knows it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

The couch was covered!! She kicked the cover off...she's been kicking covers off since we got her but we didn't think she'd claw it!!
She normally kicks the covers off and goes to sleep.
Hubby said she was asleep when he left the room....but she hates being alone...she used to just howl.

We do walk her on sidewalks a few times a day.

I haven't been able to get at her nails...we had them cut at the vets.

I shall have a go at them with an emery board....hadn't thought of that!!

I do appreciate your suggestions...unfortunatley Mary Alice is a rascal, to say in the least!!! :shock: :shock:

I used the soft claws on my cats and I wasn't quite sure what I thought of them. A few of them fell off after 2 days, but the others stayed on for weeks! (I guess I figured out how to put them on correctly after a while) What I didn't like was that my kitty's fur was accidently glued in with the tip :yikes It didn't seem to bother him, but I was so worried that it was going to cause an infection or hurt him. I didn't know how far to push them on either because their claws are retractable... I haven't used them since because I am a worry wart.

I think they would be fine for a dog, the hair is easier to work with around the paws if it is trimmed back. Also, their claws don't go back into themselves the way cats do. It was nice that the cat couldn't claw up my furniture anymore :lol: I did it while he was sleeping and he barely noticed.

I called my vets office because I wasn't sure about her chewing glue.

She WILL eat these things....for sure!

They said many folks use them for cats....some are ok, some don't like it.

So, mixed reviews....but I'm getting them asap.

If she doesn't like them, too bad.

Hubby wasn't a happy camper, not at all! :x :x :x

Thanks for telling me about the fur and glue problem. :flwr: :flwr:

I've used Soft Paws and they work really well. They are also made for dogs -- same website.

Thanks Karlin.....now all I've got to do is find some and get them on her! :flwr:

I hope, I'm not tempting fate by saying Tucker's destructive chewing has stopped. Now he seems content to anhilate his toys.

I have hardwood floors throughout my house and his nails have not damaged the floors at all. My sister has a golden retriever and his nails have scratched up her floors. I wonder if its the difference in weight?

Tucker did his worst damage in the early months that I had him. Both times when I was at home. I went down to the basement to do laundry and he ate my eyeglasses. The next worst damage came again when I was in the basement. He chewed a very large chunk out of the doorway molding between the living room and kitchen. The most prominent doorway he could have chosen to do his destruction. I think it was a bit of a temper that made him do it. He knew I was in the house, he wanted attention and was mad because he felt left out (then again, what do I know).

What I have noticed is that he hasn't done this in a year. Though he rips his own stuffed toys to shreds and chews on them to pieces, he is currently laying on the bed in the spare room, where my computer is, and there are three very tempting stuffed animals on that bed. Whether I'm in the room with him or not, he has not bothered these. For the longest time I kept these stuffed toys off the bed, fearing he would destroy them. He seems to understand these are the property of his most favorite cousin Elizabeth. I keep toys for her as she visits often, and he respects them. I hope I don't regret trusting that he'll continue.

That's awesome, Joanne! I'll knock on some wood for you. I seriously cannot wait for the day when Daisy leaves behind the destructive chewing! She grabs anything and everything she can and runs with it, chomping gleefully every step of the way. We have a large coffee table in the family room and she'll always run under it with her "prize" so I can't get to her unless I get down on my hands and knees. So frustrating.

She chews the kids' toys unmercifully, plus anything you drop accidentally is like a magnet for her. I harp on the kids constantly to put anything out of reach they don't want her destroying (for her sake and/or their own). I pray she grows out of this. It's probably the single thing I find most annoying. She'll literally run upstairs and graze in the toy room for any object small enough to get in her mouth and bring it down and taunt us with it. I've tried the dog whisperer thing where I dominantly tell her to drop it, I've tried treating her for dropping it, and everything else in between. She is slightly better at dropping things than she used to be, but she's just as bad as ever at stealing them in the first place.

As far as bigger things around the house, she chewed the bottom corner of 2-3 cabinet doors in the kitchen (solid cherry, new house, yikes!), and she chewed the bottom slat of the wooden blind on the back door. She will also chew the bottom edge of the wooden desk in our office if given the opportunity. So maybe we've been lucky or at least vigilant enough to prevent more major things. We used bitter apple and some supposedly even yuckier stuff on the cabinet door, and she literally went right over and licked it off! Like, yum yum, seasoning! -- thanks, Mom!

I'm very scared she's going to choke on some small object or eat something that will make her sick.

None of mine do destructive chewing but all like to dig at sofas. I have fabric not leather but they all do this with gusto as do a lot of cavaliers so not necessarily soemthing a dog will grow out of. It will be a training issue for you -- you can train her to need to wait to be invited on to furniture so she is only ever there under supervision. This is a polite thing to train any dog to do anyway.

In general I'd never leave a dog with free rein to roam the house. Better to select a room that is the dog's room for when you are out. Mine will stay happily and quietly in either of my upstairs rooms.

I agree with Karlin about free roaming about the house. When I'm not at home, I shut both bedroom and the bathroom doors.

I also should have stressed that I live alone. I have frequent young children, my nieces as visitors. Still it's much easier for me to keep my house puppy proofed than a household with multiple adults and children living there full-time.

After the eyeglass eating incident, believe me, I still worry he'll get into things, that could harm him. Nothing is kept within his reach that I THINK he can be harmed by, that includes bands for my hair, barrettes, my glasses. I put things away after I use them.

But I do not want you to think he's turned such a corner that I don't need to be cautious, because I have to be. I just find it amazing that he has not bothered these three stuffed animals, my slippers or has he chewed on my shoes. I used to make sure my footwear was always put away in the closet and I don't anymore. So I'm proud of him for that but hopefully careful enough that I'm not tempting him or fate.

Was Mary Alice just trying to get the chair "comfy"? We have throws on all the chairs Candle and Ally are allowed on and they dig at those to get them just right before laying down. They have a throw on a leather chair also and there are not any scratches on it.

I agree about not letting them have free roam of the house when you're gone. We don't use the crates anymore but we do gate them in the laundry room when we're gone.

Hi,

No, I think she was having a temper tantrum....she hates being alone...even briefly.

I know what you mean, we have a "dog chair" too, that both she and Charley have scrabbled to bits.....

She was asleep beside Hubby but he had the nerve to go get a coffee.

He could hear her making noises but thought she was "having a dream or something" :?

When he came back, the couch was all scratched up (it's really quite bad) where he'd been sitting. :shock:

He woke me up to tell me about it, but I thought he was exaggerating.

I'm not too impressed either.....must get those nail coverings fast!!

Stewie does this when he is throwing a tantrum....he will find the noisiest surface he can and dig like a darn gerbil. His paws go sooooo fast!!! I know he is doing it on purpose because he will stop, see if I am looking, then do it again :x He does it on the couch, the wood floors the bathroom tile...where ever I happen to be and not paying attention to him :roll:

Over here is a company called Gliptone aka Liquid Leather which specialises in leather care products. Their original service was for car leather and they are the official suppliers to Rolls Royce. However, they now provide products for household upholstery , too. We had a classic car's seats done by a professional using thier restorer and dye and though not perfect (The car is a 1960s model) the result was very good.

We have used their cleaner and hide food on our suite, for 10 years, and it's as good as new. (For UK members-They supply many leather chain stores under the chains' names, but at a higher price. Buying direct is cheaper).

The website shows examples of what can be achieved. www.liquidleather.com

I can relate to hubby is feeling. We bought new leather sofas and within a month the cat had made a big scratch down the side of the sofa. Knock on wood...I haven't had a problem with either of the dogs doing it.

We put the Soft Paws on Rory when he was staying with my parents and their brand new leather couch. He didn't bother them (which surprised me!) and they work, but they do fall off occasionally. So you have to check them to see if they've fallen off and just replace them as needed.