b'Nailed It:Building Trust With A DogIs Earnedby Anna CookeFor some pet parents, trimming their dogs nails is taking him somewhere to have his nails trimmed.like wrestling with an octopus. Imagine a usually Sedation is what many pet parents end up doing.laidback78-poundAustralianLabradoodle Others continue to struggle, or worse, stop doingsuddenly throwing himself into a death roll as soon anything at all, subjecting their dog to future healthissues, discomfort and pain.Asaveterinarytechnician,DebiHufstedlersaw her share of dogs who were terrified of havingtheirnailstrimmed.OnedoginparticulargaveHufstedler her aha moment. Hoochwouldliterallytrembleatthemeremention of a trip to the vet, said Hufstedler. It alljust terrified him and stressed out his owners.He was a big dog who had to be carried intothe veterinary hospital to have his nails done. Thatsquite an ordeal for something that should be doneeveryfourtoeightweeks.ButforHooch,hisowners ended up opting out of regular nail trims toavoid the trauma.WhenHufstedlersuggesteddoingHoochsnails at their home, his owners were thrilled, andHooch became a very lucky puppy. She wonderedhow many dogs were not receiving the nail caretheyneeded,forwhateverreason.HerHoochhunch resulted in the creation of Lucky Puppy NailSpecialists. WhatbeganwithamobileunithasexpandedintotwostorefrontlocationsoneinLakeland, the other in Brandon. They offer qualitynail care services for all breeds, sizes and tempera-ments of dogs. The mobile unit travels to sites inPolk, Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.At Lucky Puppy Nail Specialists, the nails arenot trimmed the standard way. They use a customfiling system, with two different types of customizedDremelbrandrotarytoolsandasafetyguard,Jax, a lucky dog developedbyHufstedlershusband,Jeff.Thecustomized tools have become instrumental to theas someone touches his paws. That was the case successofthebusiness.That,alongwiththewithBacstar,whohatedhavinghispawsand compassion and care intrinsic to the work ethic ofnails touched.Hufstedler,herpartnerJenniferScherschel,andEvery place in town refused to do his nails, their entire team.saidTracy,Bacstarshuman.Tomakematters Tracy,Bacstarshuman,heardaboutLuckyworse, he would pee all over the place. We tried Puppy Nail Specialists through The Doggie Bag, agoing to our vet for six months, but it kept getting dog boutique in Lakeland. Bacstar felt instantly atharder and harder to get him in the door. We would ease, said Tracy. Instead of dragging him throughhave to drag him in. Tracy tried trimming Bacstars the door, he walked in wagging his tail.nails herself. Many dogs fear nail grooming as a result ofIt was disastrous, she said. The next consider- past negative experiences, the unfamiliar sensations,ation for Bacstar was to have him sedated before or anxiety from having their paws handled. 46 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'