Our dogs are not born being able to enjoy being handled such as we must do when cleaning their teeth, holding their paws to clip their nails, etc. In reality we need to teach them to enjoy being touched in this manner and even enjoy it.
It is so easy to just grab the dog and “force” him/her to stay still – as if the dog has much of a chance anyway, so that we can manicure them as needed.
Deuce, in particular, hates having his paws touched - most dogs do by the way. If you touch his paw, he will quickly pull away from you. Needless to say, it is really impossible to clip his nails. Clipping the nails is important because if they remain long, it can compromise the dog’s stand and the manner in which they walk. So…
I have been doing some training sessions with him to teach him via incremental steps to be comfortable with having me hold his paw in order for me to file his nails. I reward each tiny step until he is comfortable enough so that we can progress to the next one. In the end what I was looking for is to put the final behavior on verbal cue having Deuce voluntarily offer his paw to my hand.
We were making some progress here with him letting me touch his paw with one of my fingers for 1 sec. Yes, you have to be this specific when it comes to planning how you will progress so that the experience is acceptable or better yet pleasant for your dog otherwise we are just kidding ourselves and still opting to forcing the dog in some way to remain still while we hold them in place.
Did you know that restraint is one of the most stressful things you can do to an animal? It totally limits their ability to flee if they feel threatened enough to do so, yet they can't. Ouch!
While playing soccer with him I came up with another way of teaching him that me holding his paw for a couple of seconds meant good stuff coming his way. There are so many good ways to reach ones goals, so it is also important to remain open and experimental a bit.
What I did was pairing a primary reinforce for Deuce - which is kicking his favorite “sanctioned” soccer ball (so that he can go after or stop it goalie style) with the aversive of me holding his paw.
In essence classical conditioning, which is all about creating associations. After a few (or a bunch) as the case might be of pairings of the aversive stimulus with a reinforcer he will begin to look forward to paw holding. So this is how I chose to establish the association:
Just before I am going to kick the ball - which is positioned just in front of him while he is laying down I quickly touch his paw for a nanosecond. The first time, I think I surprised him yet quickly kicked his ball so he had no chance of feeling “upset” about it.
In one game of soccer with Deuce, I could get at least 10 reps. of me touching the paw without having him flinch or pull away – building repetitions easily and moving forward. We have been doing this counter-conditioning (counter = opposite, conditioning= learning) for three sessions now and I am up to being able to hold his paw with my hand wrapped around it for a 2 sec. duration. Not bad I thought!
Now, it does not end there since my goal is to be able to not only hold all four of his feet (one at a time) without him trying to move away from me AND bring the noisy, rotating nail-file to touch his nail and file it to perfection.
So the next step of my counter-conditioning plan is to either: Continue to build duration on how long I can hold his paw comfortably while we play soccer or to try the 1 sec. paw holding in another setting, one that is as gratifying for him as me throwing the ball. My goal here is to have Deuce generalize that me holding
his paw for any reason is something that he can enjoy.
Yes, indeed it is easy to roll our eyes and think of the time, know-how and dedication that it takes to get our dogs comfortable with husbandry or all sorts of things that upset them in our world and relationship. I hear you. This, of course, is a choice that we all need to consider. I am committed to trying and work things out with my dogs so that they not only “like” me but so that they can also trust me.
The good news is that when we commit to dealing with these disagreeable situations for our dogs in a manner that is comfortable for them we build a “bank” of positive experiences for them while increasing their confidence and resilience to what life might throw their way.
Coming up with diverse training plans is fun because it requires troubleshooting, being creative, and it is also challenging. Sometimes what we thought would work does not, so it is back to the drawing board. But like anything in life the more we do it the easier it gets besides learning about our dog’s preferences and dislikes. And, this too builds relationship… and isn’t this what we want with our dogs?
It is so easy to just grab the dog and “force” him/her to stay still – as if the dog has much of a chance anyway, so that we can manicure them as needed.
Deuce, in particular, hates having his paws touched - most dogs do by the way. If you touch his paw, he will quickly pull away from you. Needless to say, it is really impossible to clip his nails. Clipping the nails is important because if they remain long, it can compromise the dog’s stand and the manner in which they walk. So…
I have been doing some training sessions with him to teach him via incremental steps to be comfortable with having me hold his paw in order for me to file his nails. I reward each tiny step until he is comfortable enough so that we can progress to the next one. In the end what I was looking for is to put the final behavior on verbal cue having Deuce voluntarily offer his paw to my hand.
We were making some progress here with him letting me touch his paw with one of my fingers for 1 sec. Yes, you have to be this specific when it comes to planning how you will progress so that the experience is acceptable or better yet pleasant for your dog otherwise we are just kidding ourselves and still opting to forcing the dog in some way to remain still while we hold them in place.
Did you know that restraint is one of the most stressful things you can do to an animal? It totally limits their ability to flee if they feel threatened enough to do so, yet they can't. Ouch!
While playing soccer with him I came up with another way of teaching him that me holding his paw for a couple of seconds meant good stuff coming his way. There are so many good ways to reach ones goals, so it is also important to remain open and experimental a bit.
What I did was pairing a primary reinforce for Deuce - which is kicking his favorite “sanctioned” soccer ball (so that he can go after or stop it goalie style) with the aversive of me holding his paw.
In essence classical conditioning, which is all about creating associations. After a few (or a bunch) as the case might be of pairings of the aversive stimulus with a reinforcer he will begin to look forward to paw holding. So this is how I chose to establish the association:
Just before I am going to kick the ball - which is positioned just in front of him while he is laying down I quickly touch his paw for a nanosecond. The first time, I think I surprised him yet quickly kicked his ball so he had no chance of feeling “upset” about it.
In one game of soccer with Deuce, I could get at least 10 reps. of me touching the paw without having him flinch or pull away – building repetitions easily and moving forward. We have been doing this counter-conditioning (counter = opposite, conditioning= learning) for three sessions now and I am up to being able to hold his paw with my hand wrapped around it for a 2 sec. duration. Not bad I thought!
Now, it does not end there since my goal is to be able to not only hold all four of his feet (one at a time) without him trying to move away from me AND bring the noisy, rotating nail-file to touch his nail and file it to perfection.
So the next step of my counter-conditioning plan is to either: Continue to build duration on how long I can hold his paw comfortably while we play soccer or to try the 1 sec. paw holding in another setting, one that is as gratifying for him as me throwing the ball. My goal here is to have Deuce generalize that me holding
his paw for any reason is something that he can enjoy.
Yes, indeed it is easy to roll our eyes and think of the time, know-how and dedication that it takes to get our dogs comfortable with husbandry or all sorts of things that upset them in our world and relationship. I hear you. This, of course, is a choice that we all need to consider. I am committed to trying and work things out with my dogs so that they not only “like” me but so that they can also trust me.
The good news is that when we commit to dealing with these disagreeable situations for our dogs in a manner that is comfortable for them we build a “bank” of positive experiences for them while increasing their confidence and resilience to what life might throw their way.
Coming up with diverse training plans is fun because it requires troubleshooting, being creative, and it is also challenging. Sometimes what we thought would work does not, so it is back to the drawing board. But like anything in life the more we do it the easier it gets besides learning about our dog’s preferences and dislikes. And, this too builds relationship… and isn’t this what we want with our dogs?
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