How to Restrain a Yorkie?
 

I'm sorry, it seems like every day I have questions for you people. I do search the archives before I ask, I promise! :)

Anyways, today's question of the day is....how do I restrain a 1 lb dog without hurting her? I trimmed the nails on her back two paws last night, but I still need to do the fronts...AND I purchased a Wahl Razor (a big one and a small one) to trim the fur on her ears. She is a total wigglebutt though! She struggles and struggles, without giving up. You'd think she'd get tired, but NOPE! Do I wrap her in a towel? Is there some kind of special Yorkie hold to keep her still? I could wait until my hubby gets home and ask him to hold her, but I know he'll be afraid of hurting her (as I am too) because of her size. Is there a special way to do this safely?

Thanks a million!

A towel works. That is what I do.

Ok, I'm just afraid of squishing her because in order to keep her in the towel, I will have to make it quite snug. I attempted this with a blanket last night and it didn't work at all. She's so strong and fast! Someone needs to tell this dog that she's not 10 feet tall ;)

Maybe take her to the groomer/vet and ask them to show you how-they have to hold dogs to trim, clip, and draw blood for medical tests. They might be able to show you how, and get those first nail clips/ear trims done for you.

Maybe you could use a smaller towel. Nail trimming is a two person job.

I say use two people for the nail trim... it can be hard to keep them still.
The best position for me and her is, have the other person hold her so she's sitting and have them hold her bottom feet so they're not kicking all over the place.

Theres all kinds of different techniques to hold a dog for nail trims, you just have to test each one out.
I'd say until she's comfortable and sitting still use two people for even the shaving of ears and paws, sanitary's(if you plan to do that yourself).

Good luck!

For nail trims my husband holds the dogs face still and for the front paws I reach across their bodies and bend their leg up so the pad of the paw is face up. This is how my groomer showed me how to do it.

I just did her nails! I read on here to use a nylon to poke the nails through to keep the hair away and see better. Well she was so interested in chewing the nylon that she forgot to struggle! Now, I just have the task of doing her ears. I will of course ask her vet about all of this at her vaccinations on Monday.

Thanks!

Great idea to use a nylon! Glad it worked out so well!

Congrats on getting her nails done. I'm a big chicken and take my gang to be done. Either at a groomers or the vets if they are scheduled for an appointment. :rolleyes:

For the ears tho, I just work a lot with them to get use to the clippers. But I use a small mustache trimmer for their ears. It took a little more effort with Gracie Ruth then Yogi, but what I did was sit on the bed with her and let her smell the clippers and rubbed them all over her, especially on the tips of her ears. I gave her a small bite of a treat every time she reacted in a positive way. Once I had her to where she didn't care what I did with them I turned them on and started the whole process all over again. Once she was ok with them on and being rubbed on her I focused on her ear tips. With the clippers on I'd rub the body of the clippers on both the front and back of her ears. Lots of more treats and eventually I was able to trim her ears without her worrying about it. It took a couple of days to get to the point were I could clip her ears, but I didn't want to over stress her about the procedure. Now it just takes a few minuets to do.

With Yogi, I rubbed the clippers all over him, woke him up, gave him a treat, turned them on, clipped his ears woke him up to give him a treat and put him down from the table. Yogi is my laid back boy, very little gets him upset. :)

Thanks Teresa!

I will be using your method. It sounds much better than forcing her to hold still. I'd rather her not be afraid. Great tips! :thumbup:

I did it!
 

I did what Teresa mentioned above and got her good and use to the clippers without actually doing any shaving. I did this off and on for about an hour. Then I had hubby wrap her in a blankie and hold her for me. She didn't squirm AT ALL! I was soooooo pleased. She was a very good girl and got her first taste of yogurt for behaving so nicely (maybe 1/8 of a teaspoons worth). I'm attaching a pic. I know it's not a perfect job, but hey...it was my first time. I'm pleased with the result, I think she looks super cute. The ear on the right isnt as jagged as it looks in this pic. I guess maybe it's the angle of the camera. It's not as neatly done as the left ear, but hey, with practice I will get better.

Oh, and her coat is starting to change already. The silver is starting to come through on her head and back. I am THRILLED! Really hoping this is a sign that she will inherit her Mom's BEAUTIFUL coat. :)

I'll have to try to use a nylon, but I have 6 dogs to trim nails on, it isn;t easy and they don't like to stand still. I guess I have to hold them longer to get the hair out of the way
I have to have perfect lighting. Trimming the ears I haven't really had alot of trouble with. I bought a grooming table off of ebay for only $56.00 and it has helped immensly it came with the loop attachment also.

I've been looking at those loop attachments but I'm wondering how it would work for a tiny Yorkie. I'm really afraid to put anything around Missy's throat being as she is so small. It would make life alot easier when it comes to grooming time though.