The joy of dog ownership

[JerseyWendy]

So our Oscar (American Bulldog) HATES having his toenails clipped. I've never hurt him, never made him bleed, so I honestly don't know what caused his phobia when it comes to his toenails.

In any case, last year I had my vet (and the rest of his staff) do it. Oscar successfully drug 5 grown men around, but they got the job done. My vet then recommended I give him a tranquilizer next time, so I can do it myself. So when the time came I picked up the pills, gave them to Oscar, only to have him look like this for 3 straight days. :11:


Not only did he look dopy, he still fought us like mad with the trimming.

He will NEVER be "tranquilized" again, that much is certain.

So from then on out, it "only" took 3 of us to do his nails successfully. Husband would hold the front (while he's muzzled AND blindfolded), and my son would take on his rear.....while I did the nails. It's been working GREAT.

Well, son is in college, and his nails were too long, so we decided to give it a try with just the 2 of us. I snuck upstairs with the trimmer, muzzle, collar and blindfold, while Oscar was snoozing on the couch here in the computer room. I left Ziva (my other dog) outside, so she wouldn't ruin the "mood". :20: Quickly got the collar and muzzle on him, husband threw the blindfold on, and I had the trimmer handy.

WELLLLL....Oscar wanted nothing of it, and he's as strong as an ox. Husband tried hard to keep him as still as possible, while I was quickly working on his front feet. I'm on his 3rd or 4th toe when husband is gagging like mad and says "Can't you smell that?" I said "Yup, I can't only smell it, I can see it squirting all over the place." :11:

If any of you are wondering what "it" was....Oscar, in his sheer panic, released his anal glands. :32: On the couch, on the carpet, on the towel...ON the husband. I'm frantically trying to finish up, laughing so hard, but then had to stop when I was done with only the front paws, because husband was getting ready to puke.

The carpet is washed, the couch has been cleaned, I did a load of stinky laundry, husband is currently washing HIS stinky stuff, and Oscar....well he's JUST fine.

 

[thekarens]

Poor baby!

 

[Terry57]

Oh man, I am dying here! LOLOLOL
Oscar looks so pleased with himself in that last picture!
Poor Alex That smells SO BAD when they release those anal glands.
Skunks have nothing on that.
I am going to look for that ball thing we were talking about for you, though maybe a diaper would work better next time?
still lolol

 

[jenphilly]

He is beyond adorable, love those faces!! Like the last photo, can hear him say, so you wanna try that AGAIN....

 

[Allee]

I love that first photo of Oscar, he looks like you cut off the entire paw. He's a stubborn booger, most pups will give in after a few trims. Oscar does look quite pleased in that last photo.

 

[Betrisher]

Oh Oscar! You ROCK! I do love a dog that keeps his hoomans on their toes. ROTFLing all over the place, Wendy! Fancy thinking you can subdue such a noble animal as Oscar just like that! You should have more respect. Your poor hubby - I'm so glad it was him, not me, that copped the anal glands! Euuww!

I do love the second photo with Oscar looking as pleased as punch and saying 'There ya go: don't be tryin' that one again in a hurry!'

PS. Forgot to add: I met a Dogue de Bordeaux the other day in a secondhand shop. I've read about them, but never met one in the flesh till then. What a huge dog that was! His feet were nearly as big as dinnerplates!

 

[crimson]

oh Wendy that is too FUNNY!!!....guess your hubby got his didn't he

poor pup, he really hates that doesn't he....I think you need Cesar(dog whisperer) to help your dog get over his fear of those nasty nail clippers, lol.

Harley our G.S./Husky dog HATED/REFUSED to get his nails trimmed to....over time and plenty of treats, he now is a very good boy....but it took 6 months to get him there.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Thanks, I just choked on and spewed my lemonade all over myself!!! That was hilarious!! Poor Mr Wendy! :vomit_smi I would have surely DIED! I have no tolerance for excretions of any kind and a veeeerry weak tummy and anything "iffy" gets me heaving

Oscar looks entirely pleased with himself I do believe he's filing that little trick away under "How to get out of getting my nails trimmed"!!

My precious Mulan (she was a 'boerbull' which i suppose canbe described as a type of skinnier bull mastiff), whom i lost last year, was the same. In her heyday, she was active enough to naturally wear down her nails but after the age of 11, she got a bit slower and needed help keeping especially the front nails short. However, she did not like it at all!! No-one could attempt the procedure but me and even then, it took a week to get through all 10 her front nails. She knew biting was not allowed so when I started on the first nail, she would 'sigh' deep in her chest, meaning 'no mommy!'. The next nail caused a proper growl and then i knew that we were done for the day I would always just do 2 a day. I was never brave enough to test her 'no biting rule' beyond the 2nd nail.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Poor baby!

Who? Oscar or the husband?

Oh man, I am dying here! LOLOLOL
Oscar looks so pleased with himself in that last picture!
Poor Alex. That smells SO BAD when they release those anal glands.
Skunks have nothing on that.
I am going to look for that ball thing we were talking about for you, though maybe a diaper would work better next time?
still lolol

I would consider a cork, but that won't help much, so maybe a diaper is a GREAT idea!

He is beyond adorable, love those faces!! Like the last photo, can hear him say, so you wanna try that AGAIN....

I already dread tomorrow, when we have to tackle his REAR feet. I may be cleaning that room all over again. :11:

I love that first photo of Oscar, he looks like you cut off the entire paw. He's a stubborn booger, most pups will give in after a few trims. Oscar does look quite pleased in that last photo.

Oh Allee, I SO wish he'd get used to this already. I've tried everything, I really have. I've gone as far as trying to FILE his nails manually while he is getting a belly rub. NOPE, he wanted nothing of it. I'm always amazed at the speed and agility he has once he realizes I'm after his toenails. He gives true meaning to the term "warp speed"...or even "teleport". :30:

Oh Oscar! You ROCK! I do love a dog that keeps his hoomans on their toes. ROTFLing all over the place, Wendy! Fancy thinking you can subdue such a noble animal as Oscar just like that! You should have more respect. Your poor hubby - I'm so glad it was him, not me, that copped the anal glands! Euuww!

I do love the second photo with Oscar looking as pleased as punch and saying 'There ya go: don't be tryin' that one again in a hurry!'

PS. Forgot to add: I met a Dogue de Bordeaux the other day in a secondhand shop. I've read about them, but never met one in the flesh till then. What a huge dog that was! His feet were nearly as big as dinnerplates!

Poor hubby? Why? He wasn't the one wearing the muzzle and the blindfold.

I LOVE Dogue de Bordeauxs. STUNNING animals, and they even manage to produce more drool than Oscar, and that alone means something.

oh Wendy that is too FUNNY!!!....guess your hubby got his didn't he

poor pup, he really hates that doesn't he....I think you need Cesar(dog whisperer) to help your dog get over his fear of those nasty nail clippers, lol.

Harley our G.S./Husky dog HATED/REFUSED to get his nails trimmed to....over time and plenty of treats, he now is a very good boy....but it took 6 months to get him there.

Oh yeah, Beth, he got "it" all right, BAHAHAH! I'll continue working with him. Perhaps by the time he's 10 he'll mellow out some.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thanks, I just choked on and spewed my lemonade all over myself!!! That was hilarious!! Poor Mr Wendy! :vomit_smi I would have surely DIED! I have no tolerance for excretions of any kind and a veeeerry weak tummy and anything "iffy" gets me heaving

Oscar looks entirely pleased with himself I do believe he's filing that little trick away under "How to get out of getting my nails trimmed"!!

My precious Mulan (she was a 'boerbull' which i suppose canbe described as a type of skinnier bull mastiff), whom i lost last year, was the same. In her heyday, she was active enough to naturally wear down her nails but after the age of 11, she got a bit slower and needed help keeping especially the front nails short. However, she did not like it at all!! No-one could attempt the procedure but me and even then, it took a week to get through all 10 her front nails. She knew biting was not allowed so when I started on the first nail, she would 'sigh' deep in her chest, meaning 'no mommy!'. The next nail caused a proper growl and then i knew that we were done for the day I would always just do 2 a day. I was never brave enough to test her 'no biting rule' beyond the 2nd nail.

OMG Michelle, you had an African Boerboel???? Like THIS one? African Boerboel Information and Pictures, Boerboels

I've only ever seen one of those in person, and it was good thing the owner had him firmly attached on a leash cause I would have taken him home otherwise. They are SUCH gorgeous, magnificent, HUGE animals, and SO sweet, yet quite protective of their people.

I can easily see why you wouldn't want those jaws firmly planted on your hands while clipping toenails.

 

[MomtoPercy]

OMG Michelle, you had an African Boerboel???? Like THIS one? African Boerboel Information and Pictures, Boerboels

I've only ever seen one of those in person, and it was good thing the owner had him firmly attached on a leash cause I would have taken him home otherwise. They are SUCH gorgeous, magnificent, HUGE animals, and SO sweet, yet quite protective of their people.

I can easily see why you wouldn't want those jaws firmly planted on your hands while clipping toenails.

Yup, I did indeed! . She was the most gorgeous girl - strong, loyal to a fault, loving and gentle with her family. She looked exactly like the yellower dog in the link, Jabari. Boerboels get a bad rap in SA because if not well trained, they can be dangerous and there have been a few instances of boerboels mawling children. But we got her when my son was just 5 and she never so much as lifted a lip at him. I was very strict with him about how he was allowed to behave around her and we never had any problems. She only bit one person in her whole life - the idiotic neighbour who taunted her from across the road. One day he had to enter our property and she dutifully allowed it. But as he turned to leave, she gave him a good chomp to the butt! I was very apologetic and offered to pay medical bills (which he declined as the damage was not that bad) but secretly, I was snickering to myself and I gave her a big treat bone when he left

 

[RavensGryf]

Wendy!!! OMG!!!! That's AWFUL... I still have to say how adorable in both pics Oscar is. Isn't he just stinkin' adorable?!!

HOW.... Do you effectively remove anal gland juice and smell from cloth (couches, carpet, etc)??

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wendy!!! OMG!!!! That's AWFUL... I still have to say how adorable in both pics Oscar is. Isn't he just stinkin' adorable?!!

HOW.... Do you effectively remove anal gland juice and smell from cloth (couches, carpet, etc)??

"Stinkin" being the key word here. :32:

Let's see, so far I've used "Resolve Pet Stain and Odor Remover" and some Simple Green. The clothes and dog stuff were washed in Borox and Tide with LOTS of Downy. Upstairs we have both windows open in the computer room and doused the room in a bottle of Febreeze. :54: The couch cushions are currently airing out outside, but they got the blunt of it.

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow... Are the birds gagging too LOL!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wow... Are the birds gagging too LOL!

BAHAHAH! No, they are clueless. They're downstairs, thank God! I would have never used all that Febreeze if the birds were close by. I can't even imagine what we would have done had this happened on our living room couch, pretty much NEXT to the birds. :11: :11:

 

[RavensGryf]

Oh gosh, thankfully it wasn't near them... "The birds are clueless" HAHAHA

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Oh wow, i'm just catching up on some of the threads i have missed lately. How terrible to be that scared....and smell that bad! LOL
Two of mine are fine with the nails but one is scared and screams. But a 6 pound dog is a little easier to subdue!!! Poor Oscar looks soooo stoned in that photo.