Dudley bared his teeth at me!

[ColColt]

Jeni-Has he ever done that when you were giving him a bath? That sort of surprised me as I thought Cardigans were a bit more "laid back" than Pems.

[CorgiMum]

Originally Posted by Cheyenne60041

I walked up to a rather vicious 1.5 year old Rottweiler tied up by the house on our street in order to return their escaped Lab one morning. That dog has never seen or met me and I was on his property. He wanted to bite me sooo badly, I could just see it his eyes and posture. He growled at his owner too when she came to get the Lab. I am not afraid of dogs at all, no matter what they are.

I have been around a lot of large breeds like Rottweilers, all variations of "pit bulls", Preso Canaro's, Doberman's, German Shepards, etc. a lot of them I have caught running loose and return to owners and others I have dealt with when I was volunteering at the animal shelter.

But the point is I seem to know what dogs are thinking and I guess I know how to behave around them.

IMO you are reacting to agression with more agression. And, apparently have been lucky. Getting hold of a loose agressive dog to return it to his owner is in no way relevent to building a life long loving & respectful relationship with a canine companion.

Jeni, sounds like your pupper was testing you, and you passed.

I would have done exactly as you did. Firm, but fair.

[Jeni D]

ColColt: Dudley loves baths! He's just not fond of having his nails trimmed. All in all though, he is a pretty laid back boy.

I really do think it is the clippers themselves that he is scared of because I play with his feet on a daily basis and he could care less. We went back to the basics today and just let him sniff the clippers and get a treat as was suggested. Thanks guys!

[Cheetah]

I roll Shippo over on his back and stick him between my legs, since he's so short. It's easier to get to his feet that way. >^^;< He stays awake and calm during toenail clipping, but when I am trimming his hairy feet, he falls asleep lmfao...

[mochamix79]

Huw & Haf have tested us a number of times, and hitting is never EVER condoned in this house. Light but firm fingers in the neck get their attention and they know I mean business. Huw is pretty good at having his toenails done, but we need more work to have them all done at the same time. Haf is such a wiggle worm, I haven't found the best position for her yet. She really hates being on her back, so I usually try to have her on my lap so I can have my face close to hers and talk real gently and soft to her. She seems to respond well to that. About the hair thing, we use small beard cutting scissors. They have a rounded end and are very small. This works great with no loud noise. I love reading all of the different ways each person has with their corgi...it has really been helpful in raising Huw & Haf.

[Jespah]

I agree that you did the right thing Jeni. My two hate having their feet dealt with and our dogs can only tell us vocally by growling or yelping that they're scared or don't like something. Telling him that you wouldn't put up with it the way you did sounds good to me. Firm, but fair.

I can't even comment on the "whacking".

[LittlePonzo]

Jeni, it sounds like you did the right thing. I usually take Ponzo to Petsmart or while he's at the vet he gets his nails and pads trimmed, but I have trimmed the hairs between his feet a bit too. In my opinion, do the deed when he is tired, less likely to react or care if he's pooped or worn out. And if you could use the kitty trimmers and some small nail scissors, they are much less threatening to Ponzo, the large scissors can't come near him, he buries his head in the my lap or under my arm and squirms around. I don't know if these ideas will help but you can do with them what you want. Good luck for next time and stand your ground.

PS- Not commenting on the whacking...okay, maybe just a little...What is this 1955! Haven't we come a long way in what we know about how to correctly train dogs since then? I thought the newspaper smack went out the door with burying noses in poop! Must have thought wrong!! Oops, my bad!

[Hayashi_eri]

Buta made a low growl once when I went near her while she was chewing on her favourite treat stick. I was quite sad that she would growl at me as she is an angel 99% of the time so i went near her slowly, calling her name sweetly, then hugged & rubbed her belly. I guess she was pleased with my approach & have never growled at me ever since.

[jprechel]

Jeni, it sounds like you reacted just fine to Dudley's little fit. Bethany and I usually trim Ace's pad hair at night when he is falling asleep. We generally put him on the bed with us for some "lovin time," and when he gets really sleepy Bethany gently holds him and I start trimming. I should also say that I found a small curved tip scissors works best for us. One of my many hobbies is tying fishing flies, so I had a pair in my tying kit. They allow me to get in real close. Ace seems to be untrusting of any strange mechanical device that is too close to him. From radio control cars to vibrating massagers he will have no part of them. Maybe Dudley would react better to the simple old scissors?

[milosmom]

Jeni, I think you handled it just right. I had a similar situation with Milo about trimming his nails. My vet told me to be firm and if Milo growled, whined, whatever....not to stop because if I did, he will have learned that all he has to to do is growl or make noise... and he will get his way. Then I'd have twice the difficult time the next time I tried to do anything he didn't want to do. I think the vet was right too. Milo may not like it but he tolerates it. I just know when enough is enough and give lots of praise and a treat when it is over.
I have never hit Milo. The most i've done is cup his head in my hands and look him in the eyes and say in a stern voice, I AM THE BOSS, I AM THE MOM, STOP ACTING STUPID. It works for him because it makes him
re-focus and settle. I almost never do that anymore, that mostly happened in his "teen" years. Now, I simply say "stop" in a serious tone and make sure we have eye contact when I say it.
I think you should ask your vet or a dog trainer whose judgement you trust if this behavior keeps happening, but I bet it won't!

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by ColColt

Jeni-Has he ever done that when you were giving him a bath? That sort of surprised me as I thought Cardigans were a bit more "laid back" than Pems.

They are "generally," but doesn't mean they like having their nails and feet done any more than any other corgi.

Debbie

[Bayoucorgi]

Jeni, you did the right thing.

Liam put his mouth on me once during nail clipping when he first came to us. I think he had gotten away with it in his former house. He had his first lessons on the 'no-mouth-contact rule' with the stern muzzle shake (no smacking). As soon as he tasted me he spit me out like I was poison. He rolled on his back, squinted his eyes and started licking my hand as if to say, "sorry, I forgot, oh sorry, so sorry, didn't mean to, oh gosh sorry". If you give one good lesson as it seems you did, the problem usually goes away right away and forever.

Good girl!