# My dog jerks whenever her feet get touched.



## Captain_Russia (Nov 18, 2015)

I've been able to get her through lots of sensitivity training without a problem, but everytime somebody touches one of her paws she twitches or jerks. Once you hold her paw for a little bit you can mess with it and she stops jerking around (though she'll still try to walk away if she's on the floor), but when you first touch her paws she really doesn't like it. She doesn't have a problem with putting her paws on you (such as doing a handshake), it's only when _you_ touch or grab her paw. I feel like this may have something to do with my mother, because when I first got my puppy (despite my being able to train her perfectly fine and my mother knowing NOTHING about dogs or training) she decided she would "desensitize" my puppy by picking her up and flailing her hands all over the poor thing while making loud noises and tugging at her paws. Needless to say, it was a setback. I actually have to lay her on her back in my lap or between my legs just so she stays still long enough for her nails to be trimmed! She's better than she was, but we seem to have reached a wall in the training and I don't know how to get past it. Does anyone have any advice to help her be comfortable with paw handling?


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## Lillith (Feb 16, 2016)

Treats. Lots of them. The feet are a sensitive area, and many dogs do not like them being touched. I had success with clipping nails if my husband fed Ralphie little bits of hot dog every time I reached for his feet and clipped a nail. He cared about nothing else except those treats. I can do it by myself now, and he will lay still if he knows he gets a little treat after each nail clip. It also helps if they're tired when you clip the nails, because then they don't have as much energy to fight and are more willing to just lay there and get fed! You could try just touching her feet and holding them in your hand while feeding her treats to help get her used to her feet being handled.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

That's pretty normal. If she settles and lets you do stuff to her feet, I would continue to reward and a lot of that jerking will probably go away.

For her front feet, you can teach her to put her paw on your hand which eliminates you reaching out to grab them.


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## Captain_Russia (Nov 18, 2015)

Lilith; The only problem with treats is that I have no help - I can't keep her still, mess with her feet, and give her a treat at the same time by myself. I've tried getting her to sit so I can give her a treat, but as soon as I touch her paw she stands up to move around. I'd have to grab her paw and pull her closer just to keep her there and I don't think that will help, even if she got a treat for it.

elrohwen; I probably should have added that she'll only settle if she's being held or is laying down. If she's standing, sitting, or doing anything else she'll move her paws out of reach. She already knows handshake, so it's an easy way to get her paw onto my hand, but it's useless as a way to trim nails because she'll take her paw off again if I try to mess with it.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Captain_Russia said:


> elrohwen; I probably should have added that she'll only settle if she's being held or is laying down. If she's standing, sitting, or doing anything else she'll move her paws out of reach. She already knows handshake, so it's an easy way to get her paw onto my hand, but it's useless as a way to trim nails because she'll take her paw off again if I try to mess with it.


I put my dogs on a grooming table. They can't go anywhere, they don't really mind handling, and they relax. Do they jerk their paws away for a second? Sure. Do they then settle and let me hold their paw and trim nails? Yes.

But if I randomly grabbed a paw while they were standing around, then yeah, they would look at me for a second, then probably pull it away form me. If I asked them to put their paw in my hand first and then held it, they would be more ok with it because they initiated putting their paw on my hand. I still still hold the paw though - they're not going to leave it there while I trim.

I guess I'm not sure what you want here. I know very dogs who have zero reaction at all when grabbing and holding a paw for nail trimming, and who will stand there perfectly still for it without you actually having to hold the paw, or put them in a certain position first.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

Kris is the opposite. No way can you trim her nails when she is lying down. She is fine if I have her standing and just trim her nails by lifting up one foot at a time like you do with a horse. If she is lying down she just keeps jerking it out of my hand no matter what I do. I have nobody to help either so finally took her to the doggy day care and had them help. They did her standing while I gave her treats so she is good now even though I do not give her treats till I am finished all four feet.


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## Isaac30001 (Mar 18, 2016)

If all else fails, you could try doing it while she's in a deep sleep. My dog never wakes up when he gets his nails trimmed, but he is a really deep sleeper, so it might not work for you.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

My dog is the same way, he will put up (I say that because even with me, he HATES it) with me handling them, but no one else, as far as he is concerned, is allowed to touch them. 

When he was your pups age he HATED everything, brushing, his feet being handled, etc. I used treats, I would pick up one paw, hold it for a second, than praise and treat, rinse and repeat, making the beat where I held his foot longer each time, until I could pick up both of them, hold them for a beat, so on and so forth.

I also leashed him so if he tried to move away, I could take hold of it and reel him back in.


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