PURPOSE: To teach your dog to relax and not be reactive upon having his/her nails trimmed, body touched or collar touched.
Pair food reward with touching your dog on his/her paws, body or collar. The food and the touch should occur at the same time or the touch after the dog has started eating the food (assuming the dog is not a food resource guarder).
As your dog becomes accustomed to being touched, switch the timing delivery. The touch comes first with the food reward immediately after-wards. This way, the touch indicates that a food reward is forthcoming.
Go gradual with this process so that your dog is never rushed into accepting the touching or petting.
With nail trimming, introduce the nail trimmers the same way. The dog sees the trimmer (without being trimmed) which indicates a food reward is forthcoming.
During petting sessions, be sure to separate your dog’s toes and apply slight pressure on the nails or more importantly restrain the individual toe for a few seconds to help your dog prepare for future nail trimming sessions. Food can be paired with this exercise as well.