Pretty Paisley

How do you trim a Mastiff’s toenails? Very carefully! Read how Paisley learned to lie calmly for nail care.


Paisley had a lovely day!  Our big goal was to introduce the dremel so that Paisley’s nails can stay short and beautiful.

We worked on Down.

Then headed into the nail care training plan.

Paisley took a lot of time to be ok with the first foundation steps.  She was unsure of the noise at first, and the first time we tried touching her on the body with the dremel on, she was fearful and tucked her tail, so we backed way up.

We did LOTS of pairing the sound with cookies, and then touching it to her while off, and then beginning very short touches with it on + lots of snacks.

By the end of the first session Paisley would tolerate the sound and would lie calmly while doing body touches.

After 30 minutes Paisley got a break and went outside.  We took some glamour shots.

Worked on the come when called.

Then decided to check in on the Gentle Leader + leash manners.  Paisley sat and stayed politely while the Gentle Leader went on.

Then it was out into the world!  Paisley did a GREAT job going from “Go Play” to “Let’s Go” today and was hardly concerned with the head halter.

She decided to sport a Flying Nun style ear flip.

“Are you done yet?”

Last, we went back in and back to the dremel.  Paisley was much more comfortable and was able to do body touches with the dremel on, while her tail stayed up and happy.  We even started actually touching the nails – just for a split second!  Next we need to add in some foot restraint and lots of duration.

At an hour on the dot Paisley decided that enough was enough and crawled into her napping spot.  Nighty night!