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Tape Incident and Paw Problems

Gracie's Mommy

Well-known member
Earlier this week, Gracie had a little run-in with some blue painter's tape. :sl*p: Now, even though it's not supposed to stick very much, it was stuck to the fur on her front paws pretty good and was quite difficult to remove. She totally freaked out during this process as obviously it was 1) scary and 2) hurt, I'm sure! :yikes

So, now we had been working our way up to clipping her nails (which have gotten quite long in the month that we've had her), but now we're back to square one. Prior to this, she would let you touch her paw, squeeze it, pick it up, etc. Didn't seem to mind at all. Now, she'll barely let you touch it without running away. I've tried touching lightly and treating, but she seems to upset to even take the treat for a few seconds.

How do we get her to be more accepting about us touching her paws again...and clipping her nails?

Would it be traumatizing to try to cut one nail at a time while she's taking naps? I'm afraid it would freak her out to wake up that way?
 
hey Gracie's Mommy: :)

I took Kosmo to puppy classes when he was about 4 months old. Our first week in class my trainer told us that it's very important to have your dogs comfortable with you touching every inch of their body.

First week we massaged their neck area, then their backs and then we flipped them onto their backs and rubbed their tummy. During this it was important to grab their paws and "massage" them daily. I would take Kosmo on my lap during a TV show or whatever and I would flip him on his back and massage his paws all the time.

Now when I go to cut his nails I flip him on his back and I bend his paw so that I can see them and cut them that way. I'm also able to easily file them as I wish.

It's also important to start brushing their teeth when they are young like that or you will have trouble with them trying to start when they get older.

Good luck and I would start with the "cradle and massage" ASAP!

:flwr: :flwr:
 
Thanks, Sara. That's what so frustrating...we had been doing lots of massaging paws (along with ears, top of head, etc). She didn't mind the paws at all until the tape incident...so it seems like a major setback. But, I guess we should just go back to square one and give lots of treats for reward....and I need to be more patient, huh?! icon_whistling :p
 
hiya

i had this problem with phoebe 2. i wouldnt cut her nails yet id just get her used to her paws being touched first.i got phoebe used to her feet being touch gradually with alot of patients.whenever id stroke her id just gentley stroke her legs when she was fine and comfy with that id move to her paws.then id just gently hold her paw for a little bit at a time and give her lots of praise.i did a paw at a time because she really had a thing about her paws being touched.youl see as she relaxs shel let you hold them for longer and longer.
 
Hi
I noticed this post last night, after I read it I thought I must respone.
Yesterday after I had packed the laptop away and brought Toby in from his nightly pee before bed I notice what looked like his pad on his paw was really inflamed :yikes :yikes

When I took a closer look it was a 'SWEET' :sl*p: Which has stuck to his pad and his fur in between his toes had matted around it. :yuk: :yuk:
It took me forever to carefull cut it out. Poor little love lay for ages letting me do it, it must have been so painful for him

Anyway I really feel for you and Gracie, because tape must have been even worse. :flwr: :flwr:
 
It seems like every time I post that I'm worried about something, it seems to clear up within the next day or two...what's up with that? Makes me feel a little crazy! icon_whistling

We're guessing that on Saturday her paws were still very sore from the tape incident. By yesterday she seemed to be much better and didn't mind (actually seemed to maybe enjoy) us massaging her paws again! I got a few nails clipped yesterday and feel much better about the whole thing! Now, we move on to getting her more comfortable with the grooming brush! ;) Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Bluestar...poor Toby! Gracie was not nearly as calm! Once we tried to pull it off the first time and didn't quite get it, she was on high alert! It took a puppy headlock to get the job done...I hate that sometimes you have to hurt them to help them! :(
 
hey you ;)

The grooming brush is still a disasterous experience for us too!! icon_whistling icon_whistling

The only thing I've found that Kosmo actually likes is the zoom groom brush.. :yikes It works great though :p

You should try it out :flwr:
 
When Chester was little and a real wiggle bug I would swaddle him in a towel and that would restrict his movement and allowed me to trim one paw at a time without too many problems. I still do it now and it works great!
 
A good way to get tape off is just soak the paw in water and especially with painter's tape, it should just peel off fairly easily aftter a bit. If you pulled so that it tore hair than that could make the dog wary for a while but she'll get used to handling again fairly quickly.

Just as a frustrating side note -- handling unfortunately does not mean your dog will ever be happy or even relaxed being groomed and having nails done. I followed the book exactly with Jaspar - lots of handling, massage, light brushing with a puppy brush, etc. But he HATES grooming to such a degree that it va be very difficult to work on his matts. I use a towel too to wrap him so he can't squirm, which could be dangerous for him and for me if a blunt scissors or clippers are involved! By contrast Leo loves being groomed and Lily generally enjoys it too. Jaspar is a grade A pain. :roll:

Many people just have groomers or vets do the nails. If the dog is walked outside on pavement the nails often only rarely need trimming anyway. I've only trimmed Jaspar's nails maybe twice in three years. Vets say the length is fine.
 
Karlin...Duh! :sl*p: That's a great idea...wish we had thought of that! Oh well, at least we'll know for next time!

She's funny with grooming. If she'll sit still long enough, she seems to realize that she kind of likes the brushing (just not for too long). But, other times, the brush touches her and she's flips around to give me a glaring look before running away!
 
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