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Originally Posted by Jacklynn  Wrigley is 5 months old tomorrow and yet he has yet to let us brush his teeth or clip his nails! The vet did clip his nails when he went, but we are having serious issues doing this ourselves.
He fights us like he is fighting for his life. Seriously. We have tried everything, we have tried to wear him out so he is too tired to fight us, we have tried holding him firmly (but I'm too scared we will hurt him so we just end up giving up), I even bought one of those nail file things from bed bath and beyond to try instead of clippers but he hates that even more.
We rub his paws during the day so he is used to us touching him there, we also touch his mouth so he is used to that too, but whenever he sees the nail clippers or tooth brush he freaks. I'm starting to wonder if the vet did some harm to him when they did it (for some reason they took him into another room to do this, which I didn't like).
What are your tricks? I really don't want to pay to have his nails clipped and do groomers even brush teeth? His breath is getting pretty stinky.
I know it shouldn't be such a battle with a 5-6lb dog, but if it was a 25lb+ dog I would have an easier time because I wouldn't be so scared of hurting them by trying to hold them firmly. He can wiggle around like crazy!
Any suggestions/advice? |
I feel you with cutting nails. Fiona is HORRIBLE when it comes to trimming her nails. It got to the point that they were so long that she was getting stuck in her hair while she was scratching-so one morning, i said I'm not leaving you in your crate alone and letting something happen- so, I cut her nails. I literally had to lay on her to let her know im in control and that it needs to be done---after 20 min of fighting with her, i got the job done, so needless to say we still have some issues but we get it done in about 5 min now rather than 20- you just need to let him know your the boss! be patient- and good luck! i would really tell you when your holding him, just play with his paws and let him know that its not always a bad thing- rewarding is great too!
as far as brushing his teeth- he seems a bit young to start it up, but it would help for when he gets older, use a finger brush it works great with those tiny mouths!!!!
