I clip Rocky's maybe once a month. I started out getting a groomer to do it but then decided to try it myself. I started out giving him a treat after each nail I'd cut and he learned quickly not to fear the clippers. Now he just acts like he wants me to hurry up - like when I'm cleaning his feet on a muddy day, but doesn't mind the process at all. It takes me about two minutes and I'm done with all four paws. He still has his front dew claws too but they're as easy as the others.
I received advice early on that the guillotine type clippers are the best/easiest. This was certainly not the case with me and Rocky. I went through three sets of guillotine clippers before I finally decided to try the "plier" type. The problem was that the moving blade of the guillotine clippers had a little play in it (it would separate from the stationary blade by a millimeter or so) when extended to cut the nail. This often caused the very tip of the nail to flex and go between the blades making a second cut necessary. Then it would be sharp and sometimes splinter. The plier type seem to do much better on thick nails as the two blades are held tightly together at the pivot point and there's no chance of the nail tip wedging between them. The result is a quick, clean cut. I don't even have to file any sharp edges any more.
Now, I do have a Dremel so I may have to try that out. It sounds like it may take longer though and his nails end up rounded within a day of clipping anyway. We'll see...
