Every Six Months, I Torture My Dog

Smokey hates getting his nails trimmed- HATES it. It is the worst punishment we could ever inflict on him, and he has no idea what he has done to deserve it. He has always been like this, from when we got him from the shelter. He gets nervous if you even handle his feet, and for the most part, I would say he trusts us implicitly.

And while time and trust have lessened his submissive peeing issues, nail trimming is the one time they come back full force.

We thought maybe the new PediPaw electric file (ie dremel) might work. There’s much less chance of cutting the quick, no pressure on the nail, etc. Not so much. Since he doesn’t like having his feet held to begin with, holding them against something that is sending vibrations up his leg, is not a positive experience.

As such, we choose not to trim his nails ourselves. The $20 we pay to the vet to do this is much preferable to the emotional toll.

Of course, this means that Smokey knows what is going to happen when they take him away. While he’s in the exam room with us, he’s good and calm, maybe shedding a little bit more from anxiousness, but overall he’s fine. He even does well with temperature taking.

But the second the tech goes to take him to the back, he becomes a quivering mass of scardey dog. He huddles against the floor (linoleum), his nails scratching, trying to find purchase. The poor tech has to pull him out of the room.

June doesn’t have any personal doggie issues with getting her nails trimmed. However, we have learned that if the techs take both dogs back at the same time, she will “catch” Smokey’s anxiety. The one time they had both dogs back, we could hear him whine, and then we heard her howl her little head off. It was like they were performing surgery without anesthetic.

So now, June trots into the back, smelling on the new smells, gets her nails trimmed and comes back to us. Then poor Smokey gets dragged off, whimpers through the process, and comes back to us promising to be a good dog if only we would never, ever punish him this way again.

I feel bad, for the tech and for my dog, especially since I know, in 6 months, we’ll be right back in the vets office for a nail trim.