These are some things that I do to get one of my dogs used to being touched so they wont want to jerk away when being groomed.
I massage their feet,while laying them on their back. Rub ontop of the feet,inbetween the toes and pads,touch the nails. To start I do this only as long as the dog will tolerate,eah time is a little longer. I then get them used to me running my fingers up and down their tummy,back and legs. I try to imitate the shears running up their body. All the time talking to them calmly and quietly.
To learn how to clip the nails,for the both of us. I begin massaging the feet,let the dog smell the clippers and just take the tip off of the nails. Make sure you have "quickstop" next to you. If I cut the nail to close I put a little quickstop powder on a qtip and then apply it to the nail and let it stay until the bleeding stops. You can add more but dont leave it there for the dog to lick off. There may be some other steptic out there but I have only used "quickstop".
I have even been massaging Minas gums and running my finger over her teeth. She thinks that I am playing at first but then relaxes and just lets me. There may be some people on the forum that show dogs and have a better method for a dog getting used to being touched,I would love to hear from them. Always open to a new technique. |