Yelp!

Just as things were going so well... Duncan and I had a set back last night. I've been working on getting him to let me touch his paws so that I could clip his toe nails. His nails are getting so long that I occasionally hear one scrape on the sidewalk during our walks. But to this point I haven't been able to clip them on a regular basis because he wouldn't let me touch his feet all the time. I was able to clip the nails of one foot last week - just the tip to start. So last night I went to try again. He let me touch and hold one of his back legs easily without protest, so I continued. I carefully clipped the tips off one, two, three nails without issue. Then I got the quick on the fourth. Big resulting drama. It all happened so fast. Duncan released a loud painful yelp and snapped at me. I knew better. I should have put his muzzle on him, but doing so puts him an immediately defensive demeanor. He didn't bite me, but one of his teeth did bump my forehead, leaving a tender red mark. Thankfully I did NOT react by hitting him, a sometimes automatic response that would have only made the situation worse. So then of course his poor little toe was bleeding. He didn't like it when I put the styptic power on it and snapped at me again. He did not want me anywhere near him; not to comfort him - nothing. At this point I was close to tears. I had hurt him, and he did not trust me at all now. I felt so bad. I just sat there and looked at him for a few minutes, trying not to cry. I had to just let him be for awhile. So we got in the car and went for a quiet ride. Then we stopped by Petco for a bit. The ride and visiting with some other dogs seemed to calm him down and when we got back in the car to head home he let me pet him and kiss his little head. When we got into bed that night it was like nothing had happened. He curled up next to my pillow and too his bedtime biscuit from me and let me cuddle on him a bit, and we went to sleep. But now I'm worried about what will happened the next time I try to clip his nails. I called my vet. They charge $15 to cut toenails. Besides the money, I would rather Duncan be able to trust me to be able to do it myself than have someone he doesn't know do it. But maybe it would be better for both of us if I have someone else cut his nails. Sigh.