Dog Paw Handling Training: The Lick Mat Kit
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Nail trims are the job everybody puts off, and the reason is almost always that the dog has never been taught to hold still for anything. Dog paw handling training works best when the dog has a job of its own during the handling, which is what a lick mat is for. This kit is two mats with different textures and two toppings, one everyday and one for the first attempt. Our guide to paw handling and nail trims is the method; this page covers what to have set up before you start. Other kits are in the bundle guides.
Giving the dog something to do with its face
A dog being handled has nothing to occupy it, so it watches your hands. Watching your hands is how a dog decides whether to pull the foot back.
Put something in front of it that takes concentration and the hands become background. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the mat matters more than the clippers in the early weeks.
Two surfaces and two things to spread on them
The Camp eMat is the one for the first sessions. SodaPup makes it from TPE at about 8 by 8 inches in a retro van and camping design, with suction cups that stick to tile, glass or vehicle windows. SodaPup describes it as one of the best suction cup lick mats for active dogs, made in the USA. Suction is the feature you are buying. A mat that slides across the floor while the dog is pulling at it turns a handling session into a chase. Skip it if your only spare surface is carpet, because the cups need something smooth to grip.
The Air eCoin is the one for later. It is a flat nylon disc, 5 inches across, in blue, with treat-holding grooves on both faces, and because it is nylon rather than silicone or rubber it holds up if the dog chews it rather than licks it. It also goes on the top rack of the dishwasher. Use this one once the dog has the idea and wants more resistance than a soft mat gives. SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC items are sold and shipped by SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC through Shopify Collective and arrive separately.
Our Freeze-Dried Cheddar Cheese Bites are the everyday topping. Single ingredient cheddar, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, 8 ounces to a bag. Crush a few pieces, add a splash of water, and press the paste into the grooves; it will freeze if you want the session to run longer.
Our Freeze-Dried Beef Liver is for the first try and the hard days. Single ingredient beef liver, 53 percent crude protein on the guaranteed analysis, in 1.5, 3 and 6 ounce bags. The first time the mat appears it is a new object and the dog has no reason to like it yet, so that session gets the better topping. After that, cheddar is enough.
No clippers or grinder in this kit
You will notice there are no nail tools here. That is on purpose, because the tool is the last thing to introduce, not the first, and a kit that arrives with clippers invites you to use them in week one. Get the dog lying down and licking happily for two minutes first. The tool conversation comes after that, and it goes much better.
The first two weeks, one foot at a time
Days one to three, mat only. Stick it to the bath or a tile wall, load it with liver, and do nothing else. You are teaching that the mat means good news.
Days four to seven, add a hand. One touch on a shoulder while the dog licks, then stop. Then two touches. Work down the leg over several days rather than going straight for a foot, because the foot is the part the dog cares about.
Week two, hold a paw briefly while the mat is loaded, and let go before the dog does. That last detail is the one that matters, and it is the one people get wrong: if the dog pulls away first, it just learned that pulling away works.
Wash both mats after every session and pick up anything left on them. Loading a treat toy covers the fillings in more detail, and indoor enrichment ideas has other uses for the same two mats.
Two mats instead of a second pair of hands
The usual alternative is asking someone to hold the dog, which works until nobody is home, and which teaches the dog that handling is something done to it rather than something it participates in. Two mats covers both stages of that, and they keep earning their place afterwards at bath time and on long drives. If you would rather not improvise the topping each time, the lick mat topper trio is there as an add, and you can compare the rest of our freeze-dried dog treats by protein on Explore.
What people ask about handling practice
Three that come up whenever someone buys two mats at once.
Why two mats rather than one good one?
Because they do different jobs. The suction mat holds still on a vertical surface for bath and grooming work, and the nylon one takes a dog that chews at a mat instead of licking it.
My dog licks it clean in thirty seconds. What am I doing wrong?
Nothing, except not freezing it. A paste of crushed treats and water frozen solid runs several times longer than the same thing spread on at room temperature.
Can I use this for ear checks and brushing too?
Yes, and that is most of the value. The same setup works for anything that needs the dog to hold a position, which is why the mat gets used long after the nails are under control.
Related guides
Three kits that use the same two rate approach on other training jobs. They are grouped on the training cluster page.
