My chihuahua has a seizure whenever I try to clip his nails?

Question

Well not a real seizure but he gyrates his whole body, bites, claws, etc. whenever he even sees the nail clipper.

But the weird thing is, whenever my dad takes him to the office a secretary there clips his nails without a problem.

So how can I get him to stay calm and not be so afraid of nail clipping???????

Answer 1

Isn't it funny what sets them off?I had one for 15 years that only allowed my daughter to trim her wickedly long nails.She would squeal when I would just get the clippers.I never even clipped them myself,and I got her when she was 5 months old,so I don't know what gave her the fear...They are such sweetys so just bear with him.His personality is his own...Just talk him thru it a few times, he'll see the light.....

Answer 2

Ask the office secretary what her technique is. It may be just the way she holds the animal that makes it feel safe. If you don't feel confident when clipping, the dog will pick that up and not feel safe. Was his first experience with nail clipping stressful? He may be remembering that, but you need to make new visions of nail clipping. When holding him, mess with his toes and feet. Put pressure on them like if you were clipping. Do this often adding the clippers after a few days. Maybe do one nail or two. Stop. Mess with his toes over a few days and clip one or two again. If you can clip one or two in rotation, the dog will get used to it and not be so frightened.

Answer 3

Animals have a thing in their nails called a 'quick'. If you look at the nails on your hand, you see the regular part that has grown out and right behind it is where the nail is still growing out of your skin. The pink part.
Well animals have this if you look closely. A white part of the nail and a little tiny ways in, where it turns pink.
The animal has no feeling at all in the white or clear part but as soon as you get too close to that pink part (hard to see, look carefully!) it hurts just like ifyou were to rip your nail up.
It could be that you are getting too close to the quick. Even though are may not be causing bleeding, his nails might be really sensitive.

I suggest being really realy careful to cut only the white or clear part and dont go near the quick.

Or have the secretary do it. :)

Answer 4

Probably because you stop when he does this. He has you trained. Honestly if someone was doing something I did not care for and I knew a way to get them to stop I would do it too. You have to be calm and relaxed if you want him to. When you go to clip his nails the first thing you think of is Oh my he is going to flip out. Change that thought to I am clipping his nails and I AM going to get him to clam down. When he freaks out just hold him. Dont talk to him or pet him, just hold him until he has calmed down. Dont let him down. When he is calm start the process again. This take time and patience but he will get it that you are not stopping. Good luck!

Answer 5

What is the secretary doing different from you? If your dog is a treat hound clip a nail and give him a tiny bit of his favorite treat. Each time you clip a nail give the treat Soon he will get the idea of the trade. When he gets used to that then give him a treat after each foot and finally after you are finished with all four. That is how I got my staffy to let me clip his nails. Now he's fine.

Answer 6

Well, clearly, if he allows your dad's secretary to do it without incident, but not you, he's saying he doesn't trust you; he doesn't feel safe with you. Maybe you accidentally hurt him once. Who knows. Go to your dad's office the next time your dog needs his nails cut. Have the secretary cut your dog's nails while you hold him. He trusts the secretary. He needs to know that if the secretary trusts you, he can eventually trust you. Maybe the dog won't let you do much at first, but just keep up with the process slowly, adding more responsibility to you each time. Keep doing this everytime your dog needs his nails cut but you take a little more control each time. Maybe the next time, the secretary holds while you cut. Maybe the secretary might need to put her hand on your hand while you cut together. The dog needs to associate the person he trusts with you and then that trust will transfer onto you.

Answer 7

maximum dogs, chihuahua's secure choose 2 human beings to try this. One to hold the dogs collectively as the different individual clips the nails directly. in case you come across your chihuahua hates this ultimate factor to do is feed treats collectively as the finished technique is going on, one it facilitates to distract them and 2 they now associate something unsightly with something friendly and are greater probable to tolerate it. Worse comprises worse i might advise taking into the vet and having them do it for type of $8.00. See in case you could report your dogs nails particularly than clipping. Clipping squeezes the quick whether you do no longer surely decrease the quick and which could injury. attempt grinding the nails down with a dremmel like gadget, you will get them trimmed plenty shorter than reducing, much less threat of reducing the quick and that they final longer than trimming.

Answer 8

I honestly feel that your dog doesn't respect you as being in charge. Can you lay your dog down on his side (a submissive posture) without him fighting you? If you can, then that's not the problem. If no, then you need to simply lay him on his side and keep him there until he lays calmly & completely relaxed. If he is tense AT ALL, he is not submissive. Do not talk or "reassure" your dog - you are establishing dominance.
Don't do this with the nail clippers in hand, do this at some point prior. Typically, you only need to do this exercise ONE TIME (more than that will cause fear rather than respect). But - it may take a few minutes (my really dominant Border collie took about 15 minutes!)
This process works - I recently had to do it with my Lab puppy who wouldn't let me clean her ears. After the exercise, she literally sat perfectly still and let me clean her ears.

good luck.

Answer 9

It's a struggle to clip small dogs nails. Try taking him to a pet groomer. They will clip them for almost nothing (maybe $5) and it's done so quickly you can wait. They have the right equipment and know how far down to clip.

Answer 10

My chihuahua star is the same way I gave up on doing his nails myself and left it to the vet. dogs from what I hear actually feel pain when their nails are clipped as they are VERY sensitive and this isn't just chihuahuas but all dogs. I personally would leave it to the vet's office for his nail care because that is what I ended up doing.