Doberman Nail grooming tips

[Max Hawk]

I just did our dogs nails again because the pic bugged me so much, and I just did them a few days ago.

Jan could you find that video that Jess had trimming Spock's nails ..I think it would be worthy here. How it was such a gentile and loving example of how nail trimming can be such a good experience for the dogs..I don't know if i ever told Jess how impressed I was..and I learned from it too..We all sometimes get in a big hurry and instead of having a calm, trusting, confident dog we end up with a frightened anxious dog. Our fault not the dog's. I have been guilty of being impatient and trying to rush as think we all have but we always get so much better results by taking things slow and letting the dog understand clearly what we want..I know of no other breed that wants to please more than a Doberman.

 

[Max Hawk]

OMG Jan! And I thought our guys were getting long. I don't feel so bad now... Hope he's recovering well.

I was just bragging about you and how wonderful you do with your dogs ..lol and there you are. I would love for you to add your video doing Spock's nails Jess it was stellar. I just saw you already did lol thanks so much I had to scroll back up! Guess it's what I get for reading the thread backwards!

 

[My2Girls]

I don't know of anything that has a numbing effect but I do steady/hold each nail so that it doesn't vibrate as much when dremeling. I've tried dremeling my own nails just to see what it feels like and I think it's a weird sensation. If you put a little pressure on the nail it lessens that vibration. Of course I pull out the high level treats - a whole stick cheese for dremeling. After each paw I give them a few pieces till I'm done.

 

[Max Hawk]

Not mine.Not real wood,laminant.

I have never seen anyone do it any better Jess. Truly wonderful work and you can tell they both trust and love you,.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Is he okay with just clipping his nails and no dremel? I would love to see you just try starting over with him ..lay him down or sit him in front of you..have treats handy and turn on the dremel ..don't use it just have it running make the movement of going to each foot..give him a treat each time you do each foot..and I just mean get as near as you can ..you don't have to touch the foot with the dremel..and really praise him ..use your tone of voice to tell him what a good boy he is..do this a lot several times a day if you can. I know it will take time but you should with lots of patience be able for him to accept it a lot better.. Everything you can do to make training fun for this dog would help. Slow and steady wins the race here. I know if you work with him you can over come his fear..and this is what is sounds like to me ..he is just afraid and that's really very sad..That lack of trust needs to be changed. I wish ya all the best with him.

I appreciate your advice. It's good general advice; but I don't think you really understand our situation. I've watched Marinegeek'sWife's videos in the past. I did things pretty darn right with Oji and started as a young pup. I have my doubts there is a trainer out there who could ever get Oji to vaguely resemble the behavior of the Dobes I've seen laying down relaxing for their nail trim. I sure don't have time to "start over" with the pipe dream of achieving anything like that. I have a Dobe here with what seems to me to be an unusual aversion to nail trimming. I think perhaps at least part of it is due to a physical over-sensitivity to sensations in the paws (pretty much the opposite of high pain tolerance).

What would be absolutely lovely is if I could just (don't worry – not considering doing this) knock him out – put him under – then knock out the nail trimming in like 1 minute then wake him up. It could be done so freaking fast if he would just hold still and not freak out.

Anyway, thanks again for the general advice. My question about any sort of numbing agent stands.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I don't know of anything that has a numbing effect but I do steady/hold each nail so that it doesn't vibrate as much when dremeling. I've tried dremeling my own nails just to see what it feels like and I think it's a weird sensation. If you put a little pressure on the nail it lessens that vibration. Of course I pull out the high level treats - a whole stick cheese for dremeling. After each paw I give them a few pieces till I'm done.

Thank you. I certainly steady and firmly hold each nail as I work. Treats have not made any difference.

 

[Kaiser2016]

He's too young for joint pain and if it would be that, it'd be obvious in his other movements too. I don't know of any over the counter topical anesthetic that could be used effectively. I googled and found this: Topical Pain Relief: Creams, Gels, and Rubs

Also listed here is making the area warm so it's less sensitive to pain - that could be a drug-free idea to try first? If you keep the house cool and have hardwood (and I think you do) his paws might just be too cold all the time. When I handshake with Kaiser I can tell his paw pads are cooler feeling vs when I rub his head.

 

[JanS]

Oji has about the nicest nails I've ever seen but I agree that it would make it much easier if it wasn't a struggle. Della is pretty good but she starts pulling away when I get to the outer ones so it makes it harder.

I've heard that lavender has a calming effect so it will sometimes help to wash your hands with a lavender based soap or get the scent on you some other way. I know that doesn't numb anything but even to have them calmer is a big help.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I've heard that lavender has a calming effect so it will sometimes help to wash your hands with a lavender based soap or get the scent on you some other way. I know that doesn't numb anything but even to have them calmer is a big help.

Yes! Aromatherapy. Great idea. Scented candles or those essential oil sticks are usually made of more natural ingredients.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Oji has about the nicest nails I've ever seen but I agree that it would make it much easier if it wasn't a struggle. Della is pretty good but she starts pulling away when I get to the outer ones so it makes it harder.

I've heard that lavender has a calming effect so it will sometimes help to wash your hands with a lavender based soap or get the scent on you some other way. I know that doesn't numb anything but even to have them calmer is a big help.

You know what? I may just get some lavender involved. My wife gets the essential oils.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Yes! Aromatherapy. Great idea. Scented candles or those essential oil sticks are usually made of more natural ingredients.

I'm cracking up picturing dimmed lights, scented candles burning, some smooth jazz or soft sounds of the 80s going.

I have taken to doing a trimming session directly after I give him a hopefully tiring walk or run though. Bzzzt. He's got plenty left in the tank and is not less anxious when we get into it.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I just did a preliminary, brief trim of Oji's front nails including dews. This, with the intention of finishing the job later today or soon.

As I often do, I started by talking very calmly and even softly/sweetly as I first praised him for walking alongside me under his own power to the trimming area (corner of our dining room). I then gave some of his favorite petting, rubbing and scratching, switched-on dremel in hand, and a bit more soft talking.

I basically never talk this way with him. I haven't wanted to do a lot of it during trimming, as I don't want it to freak him out – like something is out of place or wrong. I also don't want my uncharacteristic soft-talking to begin to trigger him in the future into "oh no, here comes the unpleasant part." I do know however, (much to my chagrin) that he has shown that he is a sucker for baby talk. My wife gives it to him and he eats it up and then some.

As an aside: I don't know if this is possible, but I know his breeder is a big-time baby talker with their Dobes. I know the pups were brought up in their home with a lot of baby talk, including that sort of talk, or at least the high-pitched tones of their pre-teen sons who helped out and played with the pups. So I don't know if it can be ingrained in a dog to be attracted to this type of talk. He has some pronounced features of his dam, and I know the dam has experienced a lifetime of baby talk. Anything here? It's also quite possible that Oji is just a lil' ol' softy – while also having plenty of hardness to him.

Back to the abbreviated, surface trim session: I decided to just continue on with the soft talk all the way through this session if possible. I knew I was going to keep the trim pretty shallow and as such hopefully not take it to the point where he starts to freak out. If he started to freak out, I would have to stop the sweet talk and shut up so as not to condone and reward that behavior.

Well, even though he did do a bit of the fighting and jerking – nothing too bad relatively speaking – we got through this soft-talking surface-trim rather successfully.

Big bonus: This amount of trimming – and just on the front paws – was enough to get his nails to stop clacking on the hardwood floor.

 

[JanS]

Well, even though he did do a bit of the fighting and jerking – nothing too bad relatively speaking – we got through this soft-talking surface-trim rather successfully.

I say if it works, do it that way. There could be something with remembering the soft talking when he was a pup because our dogs still recognize their breeders voice as soon as they hear it on video.

 

[Kaiser2016]

This is such good progression! I completely believe in the baby talk. My hb is not much of a talker with the dog. He believes in letting Kaiser "sense" the moment. I'm not quite into that as I think he's still too young. I do think that possibly I have gotten much farther with K with my short talks and brief ear rub sessions than my hb has with his endless hours of constant dog walking and playing and obedience time.

I don't think its just because of your breeder, I propose that it is a male "momma's boy" sort of thing going on here. I use sweet talk to gain compliance and it nearly always works. I've implemented the "thank you" response for when Kaiser does what he's told because I think he feels and senses the genuine emotion of gratitude when he does as he's told. So when you sweet talk to Oji, you're tapping in to some part of him that desires this. It might just be a Dobe thing!

With just one Dobe's worth of knowledge, I suspect that they require a fair bit of verbal feedback/approval/love if enough physical/touching/emotional feedback is not given. This is actually what both of us are working on because we can see how much it seems to matter to him. Fwiw, we don't think his breeder was overly hands on with her pups.

 

[BENNIETHEREDDOBERMAN]

Can you post some links with good dremels, please?
And what is more comfortable for the dog, clipping or grinding?

Hi!
I use an Oster dremel. I got it at Petsmart. Here is is a link for the Oster website to see what it looks like, and a link for cheap replacement grinders on Amazon I spoke to the groomers at the store before buying and this was the cheaper of two they recommended and it has been great so far (9 months). I sit on the floor with my legs straight out in front of me and have her laying on her back with her head on my lap for the front paws, and I spin her around and have her head between my feet while laying on her back for the back legs.

Oster® Nail Grinder Kit | Oster® Professional Canada

https://www.amazon.ca/Oster-Replacement-Grooming-Grinder-Rotating/dp/B0006VSGW2

 

[JanS]

Jan could you find that video that Jess had trimming Spock's nails ..I think it would be worthy here. How it was such a gentile and loving example of how nail trimming can be such a good experience for the dogs..

Oops, I just saw this many months later. Here you go...

 

[Doberman Gang]

Oops, I just saw this many months later. Here you go...

If you can get Prada or Blaze to lay in a submissive state and do their nails, it would be a miracle. I just do the shoeing a horse method. An occasional come to Jesus meeting helps to if you want to avoid getting bit.

 

[My2Girls]

I love my dremel. This is the one I have.

 

[GOD'S GRACE]

I love my dremel. This is the one I have.

I'm more like Tim Allen...I got the BINFORD 4000! That way I can use it around the house!! LOL

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I'm more like Tim Allen...I got the BINFORD 4000! That way I can use it around the house!! LOL

That's too funny that you wrote that. I own two "dremel" tools. One I found in a storage shed a Tim Allen brand "dremel" tool. Red in color.