....got us amazing results!!!! Max has overcome a lot of issues, but one that was still remaining was nail clipping. Normally quite calm, Max freaked out when we last tried to trim his nails and actually bit my bf (didn't break skin, but still). He just PANICKED and got himself very worked up and upset. We only were able to trim the dew claws and it was a HUGE ordeal just doing that. Going to the vet also makes him on edge. We knew we could restrain him enough with a few people to cut them, but I don't want to make his issue worse by forcing him when he so obviously is upset about it. I wanted a way to make his comfortable so he can see that we won't hurt him. So, we and the vet devised a plan. She gave us a low dose of valium to give him at home. We bought a muzzle.
Today, we gave him a valium wrapped in cheese. An hour later, it was a 3 man operation, with bf holding Max, me clipping nails and our friend giving constant cheese pieces (he was muzzled, so he could eat little bits but not bite anyone). Everyone gave lots of praise. It went AMAZING!
He barely resisted and definitely didn't do any snapping. In fact, his attention was on the cheese the whole time! I'm so happy. We took off a small amount from each nail on both front paws, then quit while we were ahead and left the back paws for another day.
We're going to try lower doses of valium every time until it's just cheese that's getting him through. I think he must have had a really bad experience with his previous owners, so we're going to take it slow and teach him that nail clipping = cheese + praise, instead of nail clipping = pain + stress.
I'm just so glad! Those dew claws were getting mighty long again! lol
Today, we gave him a valium wrapped in cheese. An hour later, it was a 3 man operation, with bf holding Max, me clipping nails and our friend giving constant cheese pieces (he was muzzled, so he could eat little bits but not bite anyone). Everyone gave lots of praise. It went AMAZING!
We're going to try lower doses of valium every time until it's just cheese that's getting him through. I think he must have had a really bad experience with his previous owners, so we're going to take it slow and teach him that nail clipping = cheese + praise, instead of nail clipping = pain + stress.
I'm just so glad! Those dew claws were getting mighty long again! lol