First Nail Trim: Nail Trim Conditioning with a New Puppy! (Patreon)

In this video I show you some nail trim conditioning with this young puppy who hasn’t done this before. I start by showing him the item and marking (yes) and reinforcing for interest in the nail clippers. I then work on touching his leg. If I can’t touch his leg, I can’t clip his nails. What I’m looking for is the puppy not to flinch or have a reaction to me touching the leg, then I move on to the paw. At 1:14 you see me holding the foot for a second longer and the pup isn’t bothered. My rate of reinforcement is high. 

Next I move to the other leg. Starting higher up on the leg towards the shoulder and then moving down keeps them more comfortable, as just starting with touching the foot can be jarring for some dogs. At 1:39 I flex the dogs toes to start putting a bit of pressure on them, like one would need to do to get the nail ready to be clipped. 


At 1:41, I hold a bit too long for the dog’s comfort and probably should have gone back to an easier step, though he just investigates with his nose, but doesn’t pull away. But for some reason I decide to push on to starting introducing the clippers and the leg touch at the same time. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose! 

2:09 By this point we have a puppy that is totally comfortable with me lifting the paw and bringing the clippers nearby so I move on to clicking the clippers shut so they can get used to the sound with the foot hold. 

2:26 I almost clip the tip of the nail. Notice I do it quickly and as part of this patterned repetition I’ve established. 

2:32 I actually clip the nail. Dog pulls back just a bit but overall is relaxed and calm. THEN I IMMEDIATELY GO BACK TO NOT CLIPPING A NAIL. This is really important. I don’t keep pushing. The dog was awesome, I don’t try to clip all of them. I go back to an easy step and reestablish a pattern. 

2:47 I put more pressure on but still don’t clip the nail. 

2:55 I start examining the nail, which is something one would do when clipping nails to make sure they don’t get the quick. 

3:06 I cut just the tip off, again, no negative reaction. Then I go back to my pattern feeding. 

3:18 I cut another one. Again, puppy is looking to me in expectation of a reward here. YAY! That is the goal! A puppy that knows the game and knows that nail trimming = good things for them. 

3:23 I cut another one without event. Notice I don’t wait for the dog to finish eating to go on to the next thing. 

The licking at the end was either appeasement or because I legit had cookies all over my hand. Either way it was a great place to stop. I ended with an easy thing - touch the clippers, then one more pick up of the foot and we’re done. Total time for this puppies first nail trim experience was less than 4 minutes and you can bet they were excited when the clippers came out the next time :)