Scratch Boards With Treat Compartments: Review & Training Plan

Does your dog hate having their nails trimmed? Many dogs don't tolerate having their paws handled at all. That's one reason scratch boards have become so popular- they provide a way for a dog to file their own nails, without anyone touching their paws. 

While it's easy to make a scratch board at home, there are many variations on the basic, flat scratch board available commercially now. Some of these fancier scratch boards, including those with treat compartments, are designed to make it easier to train your dog to file their nails. But do they really work? 

Review of Scratch Boards With Treat Drawers

I tried out two different commercially available scratch boards with treat compartments: the FL Falatier Scratch Board,  and the Monciysn Scratch Square. I was interested in whether having treats in the treat compartments would encourage my dogs to scratch at the boards, even without training. Check out the video below to see my dogs trying these two scratch boards out.

Will One Of These Fancy Scratch Boards Help My Dog Learn To File Their Nails?

In short- maybe. My dogs did some scratching at both boards without any training, although they did more scratching on the FL Falatier Scratch Board.  They still required some active training on my part to get them to use the boards effectively (watch for a video of that training to show up below in a week or so!). But I do think that a lockable treat drawer could be a nice aid to get a dog started at scratching a nail board. 

Looking for a training plan to get you started with one of these fancy scratch boards? Check out this video: 

If you try either of these scratch boards, or have a different favorite board, shoot us an email at [email protected] and tell us about it!

Want help teaching your dog to have their nails filed or clipped? Join us inside our training membership for fearful dogs, Confidence Builders Club.