The lattice dynamics of layered copper oxides is usually studied within the shell model using parameters obtained from calculations of simpler oxides. In this paper, this approach is complemented with a model treatment of the cation-oxygen short-range potential parameters. For two groups of ionic pairs, Ae2+-O2- and Re3+-O2- (where Ae is an alkaline earth element and Re is a rare earth element or yttrium), the estimated values of these parameters and various cation coordinations are applied in shell model calculations of Ca2CuO3, (Pr,Sr)2CuO4 (T, T', and T* phases), YBaCuFeO5, YBa2Fe3O8 and HgBa2CuO4. The results of the calculations are found to be in reasonable agreement with the existing Raman and infrared data.