Couple Quick Questions :)

[Marley'z Mum]

Hi All

Just a couple of quick questions..... today i took Marley to have his claws clipped as he was scratchin everyone to peices.... it turned into a wrestling match, I have been very on top of making sure he isn't sensitve about his feet, i touch his feet all the time and he is fine with me touching them, however I bought one of those nail file things in the hope of doing them myself, he would not be in it, the noise it makes makes him want to attack it so he wont let me near him with it, therefore I took him to the groomer today to have them clipped, he just would not sit still and let them do it, so my question is how do I make this less stressfull for him and me?

second question, in the mornings I give marley a meaty bone for his breakfast, (this is probably a stoopid question) he has it outside, he likes to burry the bones dig them up a few days later and then eat them, when he digs them up they stink??? ok so my concern is I give him the bone as his breaky but he chooses not to eat it at that time, he is down to 1 meal a day, coz after that, other than a few training treats he doesn't eat again till dinner time, is it possible to stop him burrying them?

Thanks in advance

[Sandra777]

Well you could feed him the bone in a crate or other enclosed area so he doesn't have a chance to bury it - but generally speaking a dog only buries things if they're not actually hungry so maybe he's telling you something

Nail clipping - do NOT make it a wrestling match. Get some manual clippers, hold them in one hand and play with his feet with the other, lots of treats. Then play with his feet with the same hand as the clippers are in, lots of treats. Then touch the clippers to his feet without actually doing anything, lots of treats. Then "air clip" near his foot lots of treats. Then finally just clip one nail lots of treats. I assume you meana dremel or similar grinder sort of thing that he likes to attack? Do the same. Hold it in your hand, turned off. treats. etc etc etc. If he tries to mouth it or "attack" it, a stern ah ah or no or whatever you use, then treats for withdrawing his mouth.

If he's really bad, teach him Doggy Zen with the dremel in your hand along with a treat - he can push and lick and paw all he likes but only gets the treat when he moves his head away from the dremel (treat).

[W Sibs]

1.

Charlie hates anyone touching his back legs (very understandable)... so with him, it's about conditioning. When Charlie and I are relaxed, I would touch his back legs and when he doesn't react, I give him a treat and a lot of praise. We repeat this, and then I will bring out the clippers and put it next to his back legs and when he doesn't react to it, I give him a treat (it would be easier if he was clicker trained.. lol).

2.

Once my dogs are finished with their bones. I throw it out. I don't let them dig and hide it anymore. Charlie use to do the same thing and he always gets an upset stomach because of it. But, he mostly eats his bones in his crate now. Emmy too.

[Marley'z Mum]

unfortunately it is a lil difficult to have him in a area where he cant bury his bone.... he is given the bone in the morning when he is put outside for the day, its kinda a treat for going outside hehehe my partner works shift work so he sleeps during the day, so marley has to stay outside (cant be trusted in the house on his own) if he isn't given anything and he knows someone is home he tendst to whine at the door to be let in, so the bone is kinda black mail hehe...

this morning I put some food in an empty water bottle, to keep him occupied, and I am almost positive he has buried that aswell??? I can't find it outside anywhere..... so if he is burying things coz he isn't hungry is 1 feed a day enough?? meaning the evening feed?? I worry that that isn't enough

[koalathebear]

unfortunately it is a lil difficult to have him in a area where he cant bury his bone.... he is given the bone in the morning when he is put outside for the day, its kinda a treat for going outside hehehe my partner works shift work so he sleeps during the day, so marley has to stay outside (cant be trusted in the house on his own) if he isn't given anything and he knows someone is home he tendst to whine at the door to be let in, so the bone is kinda black mail hehe...

this morning I put some food in an empty water bottle, to keep him occupied, and I am almost positive he has buried that aswell??? I can't find it outside anywhere..... so if he is burying things coz he isn't hungry is 1 feed a day enough?? meaning the evening feed?? I worry that that isn't enough

Maybe you should try a tucker ball) for Marley? I've got some videos of Elbie using his in this thread. It takes him quite a long time to get the food out and I don't think he can bury it. Beware that the tucker ball can be a bit pricey depending on which shop you go to but if you shop around online you might be able to find a cheaper price? Good luck!

Edited August 26, 2010 by koalathebear

[Sandra777]

this morning I put some food in an empty water bottle, to keep him occupied, and I am almost positive he has buried that aswell??? I can't find it outside anywhere..... so if he is burying things coz he isn't hungry is 1 feed a day enough?? meaning the evening feed?? I worry that that isn't enough

Well if he's burying the bone and not eating it he's only getting one meal now, he's still alive isn't he

[Red Fox]

Hi All

Just a couple of quick questions..... today i took Marley to have his claws clipped as he was scratchin everyone to peices.... it turned into a wrestling match, I have been very on top of making sure he isn't sensitve about his feet, i touch his feet all the time and he is fine with me touching them, however I bought one of those nail file things in the hope of doing them myself, he would not be in it, the noise it makes makes him want to attack it so he wont let me near him with it, therefore I took him to the groomer today to have them clipped, he just would not sit still and let them do it, so my question is how do I make this less stressfull for him and me?

I have a dog who hates having his nails done (bad experience at puppy class I think wont go there...)

I tried desensitising him to it, treating him, handling his paws etc and it never worked, so now I do one of 2 things-

Cut his claws (with manual scissor style clippers) in the bath. It's still stressful for him but it's very quick, there is less fiddling around, and he can't take off. If we only get through one paw we just do the others at another time. At the very least I can get the dew claws done.

Or, use a normal, coarse nail file and file them down manually when he is already relaxed. This hardly bothers him at all. The downside is that it takes a while but you do end up with nice blunt claws

second question, in the mornings I give marley a meaty bone for his breakfast, (this is probably a stoopid question) he has it outside, he likes to burry the bones dig them up a few days later and then eat them, when he digs them up they stink??? ok so my concern is I give him the bone as his breaky but he chooses not to eat it at that time, he is down to 1 meal a day, coz after that, other than a few training treats he doesn't eat again till dinner time, is it possible to stop him burrying them?

Thanks in advance

If he's burying it then he's not hungry. Feed him less on a night and he might eat the bone in the morning.