Nail trimming advice

[KellyL]

Need help getting him to at least tolerate nail trimming. He's 6 months old has white nails and hates it with a passion and will go to any length to "make it stop". I have tried everything at least everything I can think of. I've handled his paws everyday since we got him at 8 weeks and have always trimmed his nails on a regular basis. I have never seen a dogs nails grow so fast, he needs them done every 5-10 days at the very least (hoping they slow down when he's done growing )

I've tried conditioning him to just letting me hold his paw, then moved on to just touching the clippers to his paw, and then actually putting nail to blade. With lots of praise, pets and treats when he let me do it without trying to nip.

To no avail. He fought me every inch of the way today so much so that I cut the quick and I feel so bad. Does anyone have any ideas that I could try? I use treats during this process and lots of praise. At one point I even tried a muzzle as his nails needed to be done desperately but of course that didn't stop his squirming and his attempts to escape like his life depended on it.

I've thought about getting a dremel tool and trying that but again that doesnt solve the problem of calming him down so I don't think it would be any better

 

[Roge]

Do you walk him on a pavement/ road surface .. Roge is 7 and iv never had to trim his nails and I think it's because I walk him on the road and it keeps them filed down ..

 

[RockTheBoxer]

I've never had to trim Rocky's nails. He's just over a year and a half. He runs A LOT, on all types of surfaces so I'm guessing they stay filed down from that.

My kitties nails on the other hand...those get trimmed every two weeks or they are razor claws coming at me!

 

[KellyL]

I do walk him normally on pavement but right now with the snow everything's too "cushy" to file them down why it's been more of a struggle the last month. Before it was just a nail here and there and his dew claws........

 

[Gatorblu]

It was impossible to trim Arabella's nails with clippers. My husband would have to hold her down and feed her treats nonstop and it still a good 30-40 minutes to trim her nails. I don't know who got more stressed out over it, her or me. I bought a Dremel, and conditioned her to it. I let her sniff it while off. I let her see and hear it turned on, I would put it against her first off and then on. Then I had my husband hold her while a lightly grinded a nail or two and worked my way up to all the nails, and for 3 seconds on each nail. (You shouldn't go over 3 seconds as the nails will heat up and then hurt.) She now will sit right down and hand me her paw and let me trim them right up without anyone holding her. She gets a pat and a cookie afterwards.

 

[KellyL]

Over how long of a period did you condition her to it before using it on Arabella

Think I will invest in a Dremel. I'd rather spend the money and give it a try and it not work then to continue stressing us both out.....he's a smart boy and learns quickly so hopefully I can condition him to it. He'll do anything for a treat except get his nails done

 

[Gatorblu]

It took just 2-3 weeks to get her to just sit still and tolerate it. After 6 months it was the breeze it is now.

 

[TwoDogs]

I swear by the Dremel. While you still have to be careful, you are much less likely to "quick" the nail. If you are wondering if it will make your dog freak out, you can test them by seeing if you can touch the handle end of an electric razor to their paw/nail. If your dog has a big issue with this, then you can expect to have to do a fair amount of counterconditioning to the Dremel. If your dog doesn't give a hoot about the noisy, vibrating thing being held against his nail, then you'll probably have an easy time getting him used to the Dremel.

 

[KellyL]

Thanks for all the advice everyone

 

[Cami]

I use the Dremel also. Hubby holds a spoonful of peanut butter in front of Raine's face and I go to work with the Dremel. We sometimes have to stop half way through and add more PB but she couldn't care less what I did to her as long as she had her face buried in anything edible.