a lesson in how not to trim your dog's nails.

Claire's weekend looked a little something like this:

Saturday

Skipped breakfast, went to the dog park, flirted with boys, flirted with dogs, flirted with kids, ate breakfast at 2pm, accompanied friends to the 12South Taproom and ate some of MY lunch when I wasn't looking, went to Amy's house and hung out with her and Kingsley, watched movies, finally went to sleep...

Sunday

Ate breakfast, rested while I went to church and to lunch with a friend, ate my favorite pair of slippers out of sheer boredom, went to the dog park, flirted with more boys, flirted with more dogs, flirted with more kids, ate dinner, played some reverse fetch (I throw the ball, she runs after it but doesn't bring it back, I fetch it for her and throw it again), and now sleep...

She's very popular. Her popularity and the demand for her attention requires a chauffeur. That's me. I'm pretty tired after managing her busy schedule, you know? But before I settle in for the night, I just had to share about my recent experience in trying to save some money and clip her nails myself rather than take her to the groomer... I was just trying to pamper her with a pawdicure (yes, I said it, and yes, it's ridiculous) on Friday night before her weekend outings, but she did not see it like that. Not at all.

I've always heard that you need to reward dogs with treats step by step when trimming their nails. You know: show them the nail clippers, give a treat, have them sniff the clippers, give a treat, pick up the paw, give a treat, clip the nail, give a treat. And repeat times sixteen (or eighteen if your dog has dew claws like Claire). I tried that method, but only got to the "pick up the paw" part before she pulled away and ran into the other room. Once I tracked her down, I tried again. And then again. It didn't work. Then I decided to wait until she fell asleep, but once I picked up her paw, she woke up and ran away. And it's not like I didn't try to hold on, either. She's just really strong. And wiggly. I waited until she fell asleep again, which took some time because she was trying to stay awake to keep an eye on me and the clippers, and then I (...wait for it...) laid on top of her to keep her still and tried to grab her paw. The problem was that the second I laid down on top of her, she freaked out and started trying to buck me off of her. And she succeeded. I weigh more than twice what she does, and she still managed to throw me off like it was no problem at all. At that point, I gave up. Claire wins.

And back to PetSmart we go for some grooming...