Other Seldom Mentioned Grooming Bits

Nails
After writing about clipping and stripping it ocurred to me I have never seen a case of a dog afraid of getting her nails cut on The Dog Whisperer. It is an extremely common fear in dogs, according to my vet. Perhaps there is no way to rehabilitate a dog with this fear. What I do know is that cutting the nails of a fearful mini schnauzer in no way compares to cutting the nails of a fearful standard or giant. You will be trying to hold down a much bigger animal, a dog that knows how much physical power it has, a dog that knows how to let you know you've overstepped your boundaries. That describes my standard Kafka.

He arrived from the breeder with this fear, and there was no way to gently persuade him that the grounding tool wouldn't hurt him. He would wiggle, he would wail, and he would bark. We just could not position him in a way that would enable us to grind. Later we tried the cutting tool, but he would only let us do one or two per day if we caught him sleeping. As he grew, so did his dislike, until we could only cut one or two nails with the aid of a muzzle. Then he needed a sedative because three people at the vet could not hold him down. So size does matter. And when his nails are long and he jumps on you, it's a hazzard.

Ears
The vet came out laughing after a checkup. He was only four months old. "All I see is fur, fur, fur, down that canal!" She sold us a vinegary solution you are supposed to rinse the inner ear with. We are also supposed to stick a cotton ball in the canal to soak up any extra solution. This is once a week to prevent ear infections. He tolerates this well as it does not involve scissors or other cutting instruments.

But if you read the puppy care books out there they will tell you to invest in a pair of tweezers to pull out hair from the ear canal. The books don't tell you that sometimes this causes the follicle to bleed and that this in turn might get infected. They don't tell you many dogs hate it. But we found out.

Teeth
This is the lightest part of our grooming saga. We have been brushing his teeth since he was very little, and he loves the taste of meat-flavored toothpaste. But he bites every single toothbrush we've bought. It is a game to him: "Let's see if I can catch this foreign object in my mouth!" We have gotten him used to getting his mouth inspected (after all, he is our Master Swallower) and he allows our fingers in there, provided we keep giving him a taste of that great toothpaste...