Dargo is all corgi, so he was born hating getting his nails trimmed. I tried the recommended technique: sitting down, dog on your lap, with his back against your belly while you work on his nails.
I failed miserably. Dargo howled like he was in profound despair, and wiggled so much I couldn’t get a single nail clipped.
It started very early, the training that was intended to teach Dargo some impulse control. One of our tricks was to ask Dargo to sit-stay outside his crate while we put down his meal. And he used to do pretty well. When we’d ask him to stay, he’d wait until my arm would be well inside the crate before rushing in.
Once he’d gotten that far, I upped the ante. I’d pickup the food again if he went for it before I put it down. Sure enough, four days ago, Dargo waited until the dog dish was on the floor of the crate and I had withdrawn my arm. Then he looked up at me.
“Okay!”
What I really wanted to say of course was “I just love you my wonderfully smart puppy! Look at you, waiting for breakfast! You’re just the smartest one of them all!”
But “Okay!” is the cue to get food, so that was the one he was listening for.
It helps that I’ve been doing two of these sit-stays at once. I also ask him to wait when I open the front door for our morning walk. He’s figured that one out, too.
It’s amazing to me that a young pup of five and a half months is doing so well.