Nail trimming brag

Wow, have we come a long way or what?! I trimmed AND filed Amika’s front feet without restraining her. I set a container of kibble treats next to me on the floor while she sat or laid down and I worked on each nail. She got kibble intermittently for good behaviour. We did three sessions: the trim and then the filing of each foot. There were arguments along the way -  she would moan, nibble my fingers or pull the paw away. And no, she wasn’t in pain, she’s just a drama queen. She got no kibble and a few admonishments and then I’d carry on.

When we started on the last session (filing of the second foot) she was being a right pain and I was considering going back to sitting on her as I used to do.  (That is, the dog is man handled onto her side with me sitting on my bottom next to her back with legs over the top of her body. As long as I can stabilize hips and shoulders, she can’t get away.) After an attempt to get her on her side that failed (read: I tackled, she escaped) she became very hyped.

Dion thought that she was being playful. Yeah, she was wound up but she wasn’t having fun. She was darting backwards away from me, running out the door and then back, darting in and nipping at my hands and repeat. Lots of growly, grumbly stuff. (This is similar to what I get when I really tell her off when she is in the back yard, but in that circumstance there is no contact and more running= stressed zoomies.)

This is the time in an owner’s life where being a wuss would create a biting dog (dog nips, owner shows fear and backs off, dog goes “hey, that worked!”). But I’ve never been a wuss. I realised what was happening, too. I stopped escalating things and sat still. I asked for and after a couple of requests, got a sit. Then she bounced around again so repeat of getting dog to sit. From there I was able to calmly stroke her, stand up and initiate a petting session type sequence. Instead of the usual stroking with dog leaning against legs, I just placed my hands on her and did a little reiki and both of us stood there and calmed down. A year ago, I would have caught her, wrestled her to the ground and that would have been the end of the argument, but a symptom of what was wrong with the relationship (and the dog=effect, and the person=cause).

So after calming down, I sat down on the floor again and picked up the paw. I got some groans and nibbles but persisted until I didn’t (not long). Once she got the first bit of kibble for that we were fine – back to what we’d been doing on the previous paw. Interestingly, I was having a grouchy (shouty) day today. So that probably put her on edge to start with. Yet, I could spot the problem and not react in the habitual response that I have had. I didn’t get mad, I got calm and assertive (snort).

I’m just so proud of myself for coming this far! Now I just have to wait for Amika to catch on (and she is starting to). That’ll probably go quicker once I learn to abort my bad behaviour earlier and earlier. No more shouting at the dog would be fantastic, but with the car in the shop with a gaurded prognosis and very little work (and $) I cut myself some slack on being stressed. If that’s how good we’re doing on a stressful day, I’m thrilled.