My 15 year old chowmix wont let me clip his nails

[kayladog]

This was always a fight. He is very attached to my daughter who moved away from home over a year ago she is the one who rescued him. We are guessing he was around 9 months to a year when we got him and he was abused the owner was going to shoot him. Do chows adobt one person as their leader ? Im thinking daughter was his pack leader and now that she is gone he rules the roost.
Since daughter has moved he will Not let me clip his nails and I cant get a leash on him or get him to the car. I had the vet over to the house this morning and the vet was not able to get the shot of ACE into him and gave up. Im a dog groomer and usally cut any dogs nails but my own dog has beat me. Oh yeah something that has never happened ever in all the years we have owned him he bit me while the vet was here. He only drew a little blood and the bite was no worse then a cat claw in my arm and he was soooooo very sorry he was as surprised as I was. He has been fixed.
He is a very good boy..good with grandkids and sleeps with my husband and me along with the other dogs in the house. He has never tried to eat the cats in fact he is scared of the cats. He is just a all around good dog. Im not afraid of him hurting me he has a good heart.
He is fearfull of having his nails clipped and they have to be clipped.Are most chows fearfull?
The vet said Ace tablets would not work does that sound right to you all?
Any ideas?

I wasnt sure where to post this and Thanks in advance for any help offered.

[kiwani]

He only drew a little blood and the bite was no worse then a cat claw in my arm and he was soooooo very sorry he was as surprised as I was....The vet said Ace tablets would not work does that sound right to you all?

I posted Acepromazine's precautions and warning link in your other thread. Yes, once a dog is excited/stressed he can over-ride the effect of the med, and I'll mention again that it isn't recommended for use in older dogs. At his age, he probably has some arthritis as well, making it a more painful experience for him.

It sounds as though he was also allowed to become his own boss, and now if he should need medical care, it will be an ordeal. It's not too late to enforce NILIF training (nothing in life is free). You are going to have to work in small steps too, such as clipping only one nail per day, for example, rather than overwhelm him with stress.

[Coco Chow]

What I would do is giving him very good treats when you show him the nail clipper, until he's comfortable to just see it.
Then try to give him treats just because he let you touch a paw. You need to do it until he understand "when she's going to touch my paw, good things will happen".
Then later, same when you can hold the paw in your hand.
Then, when you can use the nail clipper in the air with him comfortable and you holding a paw, give another valuable treat.
Try to clip only one nail after that and then give a very valuable treat.
Maybe the day after that you can try to clip 2 nails in a row.
Do you see the process? It can take days to have him comfortable.

I think too you won't be able to do the 4 paws in a row any time soon. Just take your time with him and find a very good treat for him to motivate him.

[Clockman]

Any luck with the clipping? I'm going to assume you're a woman, so this might be harder to do. I'm a guy and when Emma fought me over her nails, I sat on the ground, flipped her on her back, wrapped a leg gently over her belly and waited for the squirming and flailing to stop. I held the paw and clippers together and waited for the fight to end. Then, I clipped a nail. She'd pull back and flail again, but I never let her go. I just hung in there until I had every one done. I didn't let her go immediately after they were all done. I rubbed her belly and head and let her calm down. Then I let her go and we played for a while.

She's still not crazy about it, but all I do is put her on her back in my lap and I can cut them in two minutes while I watch TV. Chows are dominant and part of the reason he's taken over ruling is because you haven't. I'm sure the "empty nest syndrome" left you a bit vulnerable and sort of threw the household into a new, unknown state. As a result, he emerged as the new leader, whether he wanted to or not. Your job is to take it back.

It's not, "can I have your paw?" It's got to be, "I want that paw; give it to me now." Your home may be your castle, but to keep the overthowing of your kingdom down, you have to squash the uprisings! Chows make the perfect insurrectionaries! You don't have to be mean, but you have to be 100% certain of who's in charge and what's going to happen.

[Coco Chow]

Force your chow might get you to get bitten one day because that's what an uncomfortable animal will do. Especially when he's 15 years old and probably full of little pains all over his body.
Why risk it when it is so much easier for everybody to teach the chow to like the nail clipping process.

[bama]

Clockman, I know you mean well, but that advise will get someone bitten.
The real issue is trust. You will never get a chow to trust you if you force things upon him/her.
Kiwani is right, he was allowed to become the boss and now must learn he is not, through training, not force.
I agree with Kiwani, on the arthritis, at 15 this poor thing probably has arthritis and is guarding those paws for
dear life! The paws are in pain and to apply pressure/holding to the paws will cause the chow to do what comes
naturally....protect himself.
I would not call the scrape a bit. Trust me, if your chow had wanted to bite you, your hand would be in a cast right now.
Dogs use their mouths as an extra limb. I'm sure your faithful chowkid was only trying to grab your hand to move it,
just as they would a naughty puppy. Because, their teeth are so sharp, it leaves a mark, but that is NO bite.
I just want to be clear on what is a bite and what is not, because many dogs are unfairly put to sleep due to this simple
mis-understood act.

I would work on building a relationship with your chowkid, touching and petting, at his comfort level.
Try leaving the clippers out in plain view, then picking them up and moving them from time to time.
This will teach your chowkid that the clippers are not threat to him.
Then, when you cut nails, try doing it after a long petting session, then cut only one nail.
Wait a day and cut another. There is no need to hold them down and cut every nail, simply because WE
want to get it over with.
I hope this helps.

[chow fancier]

I agree with Elodie and bama, take the slow path. Desensitization will take time but be much more effective in the long run and no one should be injured.

In the meantime, you need to take back the role of leader in your home. My chows are well loved, never hit or physically forced to do anything but they are aware that the humans are in charge. NILF (nothing in life is free) continues to ensure that the chows know humans are the source of all good things and chows must do as instructed to receive those good things. I started with a simple sit on command as the behavior required before providing good things and now the chowdren will come up to me and sit in front of me to ask for things (since they speak no English, sometimes it takes us a while to communicate what it is they are after). So, I would recommend that you require your chow to sit, then give treats, food, open the door, etc. Always the chow must do something to earn the good thing. It is their job and all chowdren require a job. I guarrentee you will be amazed at the change in the respect you are given, in the reduction of stress on both humans and chow, and the rewards you will receive for setting limits.

Good luck, God Bless and keep us all updated.