"152 nails to trim..."
nail trimmin' time at home
date: 2008-08-02 (4647 days ago)
dogs: Dexter, Dobky, Harley, Marley, Sarge/Bob/Calder
"152 nails to trim. 152 nails. Grind one down. Move to the next. 151 nails to trim!"
I've been neglecting nail trimming. I didn't want to try the new dogs until I felt more comfortable with them and I was really reluctant to handle the crazy-long double rear dewclaws on Harley and Dexter. And I'm lazy. But Grazie, Marley and Bob have Pet Partners tests tomorrow so I decided to do them. Then Kitty helped so I decided to do the rest of the dogs.
O.k., it wasn't quite like that. I was trimming Bob first. We were outside and I put some pieces of raw venison medallions on the table. Bob is so easy that I didn't grab any meat treats for awhile. Then I heard something and turned to see Harley coming off the empty table. Grrr... So I decided to switch to Harley. He struggled a bit at first but Kitty gave him lots of treats (Ewww! Meat!) and I sat on him. It took quite awhile to grind down over half an inch from each of his four rear dewclaws. By the time I finished he was lying on his side and relaxed. I was sweating. I cuddled with him for awhile before switching back to Bob.
Bob makes nail trimming so easy. It's remarkable how calm he is about it. Since Grazie is testing tomorrow I did her next. She was happy to get treats during the trim. Marley tests tomorrow too so I did him next. That was a breeze, especially with his recent haircut. He's such a sweetie. (He's lying on my leg as I type this.)
I was feeling refreshed after Marley so I decided to try Dobky. He tends to "freeze" whenever he's stressed so I was hoping he'd just hunker down and let me trim. He was a bit more active than that but he did well, especially for his first time. He got a lot of meat.
Another set of long dewclaws remained. I've been wincing whenever I see Dexter's rear dewclaws and it was time to tackle them. I was expecting it to be quite a chore but Dexter was a doll! He was so good about letting me grind and grind on him. He even remained standing the whole time. I was impressed. Dexter was the big surprise of the evening.
Jarreau...oh, Jarreau. He's a handful. Nothing new. I finished on Morgan because I can always count on him to be solid. I'd say that he's stoic about nail trimming but I'm not sure it even bothers him. He's so confident and trusting. It's a joy to work with him. And that's it! No more nails to trim...except my own. I really gouged a couple with the grinder.