Animal Welfare Professionals

I'm in a predicament and would love advice. I have a foster pet who has trauma around the neck. Our besr guess is he was tied up outside or someone overused a shock collar. 

We cannot get a collar on him. 

When we approach him, his spidey senses go up, so we cannot give him a shot with a sedative.

He seems to not respond to oral drugs (gabapetin, trazadone, ace promazine) - both the night before, and I hours before the morning of. He was unaffected - jumping up a tree - and any more the vet said would be an overdose. 

We tried a trauma-informed behavioral trainer. Did 3 sessions but at $125 a session, week cannot do anymore.

We got him a harness that does not go around the neck, and he even shakes when we hold it up. (We've been putting it on the coffee table & near his bowl for the past month, but he books it when we pick it up.)

I know it'll take time. It's been 2 months and his nails are growing. Anybody have any ideas? He's the sweetest guy in the world, and VERY loving when I'm sitting or laying down. 

#FosterPrograms

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Samantha Singer
Volunteer grant writer
Big Bones Canine Rescue
CO
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Maybe a scratch pad for his nails. You put a treat under a small cloth and get them to paw it to get the treat. Then you move the treat and cloth onto the scratch pad and do the same adding a "dig cue" once they get it.  Susan Garrett has a good program called pedicure please that teaches it and is pretty affordable. I don't restrain my dogs for their nails as it makes them worse. We usually have 1 person feed them and one person clip and I let them stand up and just lift each foot like you would a horse. Alternatively, you could try a licky mat with suction cups and stick it to something like the fridge or dishwasher door.  I let mine leave if they need to and a lot of times they will come back and try again. You get a lot of "no" when you first start, but once they realize you'll stop if they ask they are a little more willing to stay.

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Heather Helmes
Volunteer
Spirit Animal Sanctuary Inc
NY
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