Being held is not Mollie's favorite thing so we definitely don't want to use that as a reward for her. That would be like using a root canal to reward a person for a good deed. But we do want her to be accepting of people handling her. It's not comfortable when a puppy is super mouthy when we try to hold them for grooming, vet visits, etc. I start out by getting a dog use to handling after they have had plenty of exercise and there is not a lot going on around them. Our first sessions are short just to get her used to it. If she's struggling, I just wait her out. She's not let down until she is quiet and calm. As she gets better at it I will add more time and I will start to handle her in more distracting environments.
With practice, she can be tolerant of things like trimming her nails (something most dogs dislike).
I have also been handling her feet a lot just when we are relaxing so she is comfortable with this process. I do the same thing with handling of her mouth, her ears, and her tail.
And, of course, periodic food treats will help make this a more pleasant process for her.
Part of what makes these sessions successful is being able to read Mollie's body language. If she was doing a play stance or in the middle of play, I wouldn't chose that as the time to work on something that might be challenging for her like the grooming and handling. I don't want her to associate it with things that she doesn't really care for like ending play.
We're continuing with her socialization, introducing her to new people and new things. I can also use opportunities like this to work on her attention to me in more and more distracting environments. Rico the miniature donkey was particularly challenging for her. When I couldn't get her attention by saying her nail, I put a good smelling treat right under her nose, wiggled the treat and lured her back to me.
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