I tried to teach Miro foot-handling the same way I taught The So-Perfect Darwin. From the time I brought him home at eight weeks, I'd run my hand all over him down to the feet. Randomly I'd pick up a foot and let go before he jerked his leg away. That was the routine: pick up foot, play with toes, release, treat.
He
never got used to it.
When the first nail-trimming time came, I tried to introduce him to the Dremel. Most dogs prefer it to a clipper.
Whoa! he went, squirming all over the way you would hearing fingernails screeching on a blackboard (what can we say now that we use whiteboards and markers?). So I switched to a clipper. Alanis insists on a Dremel and sometimes leans her whole weight, which is only 45 lbs, on me like a horse when I'm holding her foot.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhkc0RKBFhGqLoYX3vnw81uCqySMrvTGB8nVHdEwKK83xmvrBe_QjrMEjXwndio6R-D_MQJdBZAfixT4ekeaX6Eap0-POWwQPo7JMksZzvTRE-VpBCRSi2uEkHESUUeTXMtzfQEjubhQm/s320/feet+094.JPG) |
the instruments of torture |
When I trimmed around Miro's feet with a scissors and clipped the fur between his toes with a #40 blade on the electric clipper, his foot would jerk at a touch even when the rest of him was standing still and relaxed on the table. Slowly I realized there's more here than a dog not wanting his feet held. His feet are ticklish.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNG4GZACwDmYu-D-X-4QpminbBT5dV1jvw3SBovHeSRBFqdsm1P4iQMoQg4JPS_T9h5kqZYvWP3aGjpn2Uz-dsgABM_Ul3tzEzl9THELcPUAWG0AoKJhEZrYrAlxG6ugVluSeV95_EFRu/s320/feet+097.JPG) |
The well-trimmed foot that grew out in about five minutes. Note the remodeled corner of the bed. |