# Tucker can do his own nails!



## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I decided instead of spending God only knows how long getting Tucker used to a dremel I'd see if I could get him to scratch sand paper like I've seen videos of. It's going really well! He has been favoring his right paw but we're working to fix that. The only big problem I'm having is that the way he scratches files down the top of his nails, but not the bottom, it's like he must curl his nails while he scratches. I've laid the paper flat, and held it up at an angle, but it is still happening. I think I'm going to try having him scratch UP the paper, from above and see if that works next time. Anyone else who has done this ever had that problem?

Here is a video from our training session today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwHUZoo6Gaw&feature=plcp


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i can't see it.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

It doesn't like me either.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I think it's fixed, try it now.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

OMG. i have not laughed this hard in a while.

that's awesome what you did.

and he knew to change paws. wonderful.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

That's really cool. So it really works huh? What grit sandpaper do you use?


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## Nana52 (Apr 28, 2012)

not working for me ... bummer.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

He is SOOO cute! That's a really cool trick! Ruby is horrible with having her nails trimmed, Iv wanted to buy a dremel I doubt Ruby would let me get anywhere near her with one of those. Is it pretty easy to train that? How do you start? Take the dogs paw and scratch the sandpaper for them then reward? Rubys nails get pretty long, its hard to maintain it with clippers.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

It was VERY easy to train. Tucker has experience using his paws in other training sessions, it's one of the first behaviors I teach (to touch things with both his nose and his paws). So because he had so much experience doing high fives and giving me his paw when I hold out my hand, and just pawing things during shaping sessions all I did was present the board and he pawed it right away. For a dog who has not learned to use his paws yet you can simply present the board like I have it in the video (for the first few sessions I'd hold it at an angle instead of flat, the dog might not really notice it if it's flat) and encourage the dog to paw it. You can wait him out, tease him with your hand, use a toy, hold a treat in your fist on the board, anything to get the dog to lift up a paw. As soon as the dog makes ANY effort to lift a paw, even if he makes no contact with the board, say "yes!" and give a treat, then repeat. Once the dog starts using the paw a lot prompt him less and less with your hand/food/toy and opt for waiting him out. He'll give the paw a try since it's been working so far, so make sure you reward any attempts with the paw again. From there you'd just start perfecting it, making the dog have to touch the board, actually slide his paw down the board, paw harder, paw multiple times, etc.

If you have a lot of trouble you may try laying the board flat and sticking a treat under it, near the edge so the dog can smell it but not get it. Hold the board still so he can't move it and wait for him to try and paw the treat out (even if he doesn't touch the board, you just want him using those paws), then reward him with another treat and wait for him to go again. Do not reward with the treat under the board or else the dog might only paw at the board when a treat is under there. when the dog is pawing repeatedly remove the treat from under the board and see if he'll paw again. 

It does file them down really fast and easily, but like I said I'm having an issue with getting at all portions of the nail, but it may be because his nails are longer than they should be, and are thus curled slightly, so the top gets rubbed off, not the tip of the nail. It's hard to explain. On Shirley Chong's site she talks about doing this and says that the nails might not file down neatly when the nails are long, but once they are at a nice short length they should file evenly. I just need to be careful I don't let him quick himself!

I'm not sure what grit the paper is, the box said "medium" but I don't know exactly what it was. It's pretty coarse though.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

LOVE IT! what an awsome idea!!
edited to add that i shared this video on my FB!


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## nfedyk (Jan 13, 2012)

That was unreal to watch. Tucker is the cutest little fella. I can't believe how he changed paws whe you told him. They really do understand so much.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I was shocked when he changed feet when I told him lol, I always call the boy dumb, but it really depends what he's being taught. I'm pretty certain he still has no idea what "wanna go out" means, and teaching heel took FOREVER, but teaching him to bow or spin was easy, and at the park he's learned when I ask if he wants water to run back to my bag, wherever I left it. So I don't know, maybe he's not as dumb as I think lol.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Maxy24 said:


> I was shocked when he changed feet when I told him lol, I always call the boy dumb, but it really depends what he's being taught. I'm pretty certain he still has no idea what "wanna go out" means, and teaching heel took FOREVER, but teaching him to bow or spin was easy, and at the park he's learned when I ask if he wants water to run back to my bag, wherever I left it. So I don't know, maybe he's not as dumb as I think lol.


i thought he looked a whole lot smarter than my bubba LOL.


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

That is really cool, what a great idea.
Tucker is so smart. He was trained well!


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

That is awesome! I need to do this with Jackson. Can you just buy a piece of sandpaper like that at like... Home Depot or Lowe's? (I know, probably a stupid question). Jackson is like Tucker in that he automatically paws at things when we sit down for a training session so I think this will be an easy way to file down those nails.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I'm sure you can get it at home depot, my dad's a carpenter so he just had some. It comes in a box though, I don't believe you can buy single pieces, my box has 25. But chances are you'll need them all eventually, it can't last forever. Oh and I looked on the box and mine is 100 grit. I've also seen people use the non slip stuff they put on deck stairs, it's like tape so you can easily adhere is to a surface for the dog to scratch and it likely lasts longer than the sandpaper.


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