My 7 month old puppy HATES having her nails cut.. she cries,whines, climbs up my shoulder and makes the biggest scene. I suppose it was my fault for not practicing enough from the start, but I was wondering how can I get her to behave while trimming them? What do you cuts do to make cutting nails "fun" or more tolerable.
Should I try giving her treats in between so she associates cutting nail time with treats?

I try and only do a paw at a time so I don't stress her out too much

I'm really no help with this.. None of my dogs like it, so I take them to the vet to have it done.. my pug/beagle mix goes insane.. they actually recommended that I have her sedated next time I take her to get it done!

I'll be waiting to hear what people have to say on this topic as well. Jack has never had a problem with me cutting his nails but Oliver does not want me anywhere near his. I had the groomer do them when I first brought him home, but they're looking like they should be done again soon.

I don't get why it's such a big deal to them ... its just like getting our nails clipped. I really want to be able to do it without a fuss because it's something that needs to be done.. ya know!

It's a big deal to them because feet are critical to a dog's survival, so protecting the feet is a very strong, deep-rooted instinct.

Quigley also very much dislikes having his feet messed with, and for him nail trimming is far less of an issue when using a Dremel vs. a regular clipper.

You should be able to locate some threads on the topic by using the search function.

It is NOT like clipping your nails clipped actually Dogs have a large vein inside their nail and when you clip close to it, it hurts, it hurts a lot. And ditto on the foot-protection thing, all dogs have an issue with their feet being touched. Some are better dealing with it than others.

Do NOT try to do it like this:

chances are the dog will twist and add more pain to the procedure. It isn't a natural angle/height for the dog's leg. When I groom, I only hold legs this way in dogs that are really good for the clipping and who i know won't twist or fight.

What you want to do it to hold the dog's front leg underneath their body, and clip that way. It would help if you have your arm around the dog's torso (that way you are facing the dog's rear with your arm around them, looking cloesly at the paw that is folded back, you should see the paw pad). This is the standard way to clip nails that is done by groomers and veterinarians. I wish i could find a picture.

You can also have someone else help you during the procedure. I don't know how big your dog is, but someone else could either gently restrain him or pick him up so that his paws are in the air where you can easily clip them. Bring lots of treats, give him whatever is his favorite treat/toy, and give tons of praise in the end.

If you look for Shirley Chong's website she has instructions for making a doggie emery board out of wood and adhesive sandpaper. Then you can train the dog to scratch at it and do their own nails I keep meaning to make this! It's on my list of projects

Thanks for the great information! i'll have to try it out... you'll prob laugh when I tell you shes a 6 pound chihuahua... but boy is she hard to restrain.. shes so squirmy. My sister helped me out today and she did a little better.. Ill just have to keep keep up on it so she gets more use to it!

Mine now love getting their nails trimmed! (Sorry, had to brag as I don't have many things to brag about my two!).

I started off doing just one nail at a time, and hardly any nail each time, so that I was sure never to touch their quick while they were getting used to the clippers. I also advise against the guillotine-style clippers, as nails tend to get "caught" in them easily.

C has always been pretty good about getting them done, but A was definitely a squirmer. I have them down on the bed w/ their front legs reaching the end of the bed. Then I sit in front of them and grasp one nail and clip, then immediately give the best treat in the world. And that's all I would do for one day. Then I'd do the same thing over and over until they got used to it and I could up the number of nails I clipped.

I've also heard of people smearing peanut butter on the wall so it distracts them and you can get their nail done.

Just take it really slow, and even if you don't actually clip anything but just touch the nail to the clipper and then treat.

Now mine actually run to the bed, get in position, and paw at me when I bring out the clippers!

p-chan always took clipping without much fuss, but sammy was a huge baby and would scream from day one. i've slowly acclimated him to the dremel with lots of treats any time he stuck around with it on, and he's much better now. so don't be embarrassed - sammy is only 8 lbs!

Mine are all no-fuss with nail clipping; with not a peep. I don't like the guillotine-style cutters either. I think they tend to squash the nail, especially once they get dull. Also, don't try to use human nail clippers, they squeeze the quick before cutting it. I've had the best luck with the plier type, the smallest you can buy, otherwise getting the dew claw clipped could be difficult.

Definitely use lots of super yummy treats (deli meat, chicken, cheese), and sloooowly get her acclimated. If neccesary, let it go a bit longer than normal before the next clip, as you work on making the whole thing fun.

Is she calm when you touch her feet? Grab and wiggle her nail with your fingers? If she's starting to squirm and freak already, then that's the step where you need to start conditioning her to enjoy it.

After that, move on to just *touching* her nails with the clipper. When she's cool with that, and there is no squirming or pulling, then you can progress to starting to take the teeniest tiniest little snips.

I used to have to flip Ella over on the floor, and basically straddle her and hold her down (good thigh workout, btw) to do her nails. It was ridiculous.

I find it easiest to do nails while the dog is laying on the floor on their side or back (strange, but yeah). So that's what I've conditioned my dog to.

There's also the 'PB on fridge' method that people have mentioned on here. Smear a bit of peanut butter, or some soft cheese, on the fridge at doggy nose-level. Most dogs will let you do almost anything while they occupy themselves licking it off. That's how I go Ella to stop attacking the brush.

Yes, I like the pliers type too. I have a dremel, but I don't use it anymore; Sander preferred it but the other dogs are okay with the clippers. They don't love it, but once I get them properly positioned, they see the futility of arguing about it, and they get really high-value treats when it's done.

I have no advice, KaeJae gets a "magic pill" before going to the vet for a trim - it's a traumatic event everytime. I take Gina to a groomer to do hers and she is not fussed at all about it.

My guys don't love getting their nails done, but they do not object. In fact when Desi sees the Dremel she lays down and rolls over on her back to give me her feet

My pups get held in my lap with the back up against my chest.

I just use a no nonsense approach and do not make a big deal out of it. Afterwards they get a belly rub and a cookie.

As a youngster I did have to muzzle Desi for a bit.... she used to put her mouth right up against my ear and bark into it She is a twerp! She soon gave that up and all is normal.

I can totally picture Oliver doing something like that to me - telling me off because he doesn't agree wtih me! And it would be that special beagle bark. Oh geez, I get an earache just thinking about it

When we had a less active dog we used to have to occasionally trim her nails. I've never had a dog that didn't figit and squirm. My guys keep their's trimmed off now by tearing off across the patio and driveway to go chase squirrels.

Any trimming of nails we have found to be a two man job. One person to try and hold the beast down, the other person holding the object of torture (clippers) and trying to hit/clip a moving target. I say beast because that's what any animal we've ever had turns into when we try and trim nails.

Here are some tips that have helped me

1) easier if the foot is a bit cold- less sensitive nerves
2) practice just holding the foot and treating, and then just touching the clippers/tool to the nail without trimming
3) lots of treats during and after

Ronan is an absolute horror when it comes to nail trimming. He snarls and flips and freaks to the point he'll bite.

I have mild success with the pliers and praising if he'll let me touch the plier to his foot, then nail, then trimming a single nail. You can imagine how many days it takes to go through trimming every nail. And when I DO trim a nail, I've got to be ultra quick about it, so I am never able to trim more than just the ends, which also means by the time I'm done, I have to start over. You'd think he'd get over it by now, but nooooooo.

Tasha spazzes. We just get hers done when she gets her glands squeezed. She lets the vet techs do two paws before she spins in circles and herds their feet. After about 5 minutes, they can trim the last two feet. Weird, huh?

I started with one nail a day and rewarded with really yummy stuff like roast beef or peanut butter. I didn't even attempt to clip at first, just to take a paw and touch the clippers to one nail and then stop. Veeerrrrrryyyyyyy slowly! and loooootttttsssss of praise and the bestest treats for that activity.

Indie still hates it and I've quicked them both enough times that I've switched to the dremel. It's SOOOOOOO MUCH EASIER!!! and I never have to worry about quicking. Though I did wrap Indie's tail fur around it once. EEEKK! Long coated dogs need knee highs to keep the fur away from the spinning drum, but it really is so much nicer and gives a smooth nail that doesn't gouge you when they jump on you.

Good luck, go slow and make it a non-event. One quick nail and move on for that day. Slowly, you can add a nail at a time, but one quick will set you back in trust. Try the dremel, it's great!

I don't know if this has been mentioned- but give the treat BEFORE the dog decideds to resist/snatch his foot away so that you're rewarding the lying still rather than training them to pull away the foot.

Maybe I can help since this is what I do for a living. I heard a lot of good tips here and I use this combination:
First understand there is nothing you can do to make your dog love nail maintenance overnight or in a matter of a month. You MUST invest patience to make the transition from a frightened pet to one who is safely groomed. It takes two weeks to form a habit so you must be prepared to wait two weeks for each stage and involve your pet daily for the period of 2-3 minutes.

For maximum effectiveness do not speak. Dogs translate what you say at the time to the state of mind they are in at the time. For example, do not say "It's OK, etc." every two seconds when your dog is stressed or you will begin to trigger stress when you say "It's OK, etc." You will save a lot of time in the process if you do not speak.

For Clipping;
I use Safari brand pliers type clippers from the pet store. The metal is harder so they stay sharp longer. This is important because dull blades will press on the nail too long before cutting. The proper tools make all the difference when it comes to your dog or cat cooperating. My second choice if Safari can't be found is Miller's Forge. The pliers type clippers keep a sharp edge much longer than guillotine type. If you have a small dog buy the smaller sized clippers. I can't stress enough how much handier this is.

First create a place to do nails that you use every time. If you have a big dog a towel laid on the carpet is a perfect place or if you have a small dog put a towel on top of the dryer or cabinet. You can move the towel around to different places but as long as you do it on the towel or bathmat the dog gets the idea that is where we do nails.

Muzzle him. I use the Softies brand muzzles by Proguard. The dog can open his mouth to breath, pant and cool himself. This will promote relaxation as opposed to over heating. Then you are not under the gun as far as time and can concentrate more on the task at hand. http://trainingandcontrol.petedge.com/Pr...bCategoryId=320
Here are Softies for heavy biters: http://trainingandcontrol.petedge.com/Pr...bCategoryId=320
Once he realizes he can't bite you he is more likely to relax. Lay a treat like cheese or whatever your dog goes crazy for outside the muzzle where he can't get it but can smell it. He will begin to associate the smell of the treat with relaxation and nail clipping. After he has relaxed for a few minutes take off the muzzle and give him the treat. Do this for two weeks.

First get the dog to lie down on the towel wearing a muzzle and submit to staying in a lying down position. This saves you headache because they eventually translate that to submission to the clippers. You can see the quicks easier and you are much less likely to get bitten in the face. It helps to have a helper who can hold the dog on the side of the neck right where the neck meets the head. Do NOT touch the throat! Your dog is not going to relax if you are choking him and relaxation is the key to cooperation here. Get him to come to the towel and make him lie down every day. After he is relaxed for 5-10 minutes, pet him, give him a treat for a reward and stand up to walk away. It is important that you leave the area before the dog. The follower does not walk away and if you let him run off he gets the idea he is in charge of the process. After he has relaxed for a few minutes take off the muzzle and give him the treat. Do this for two weeks and move on to the next stage.

After he is relaxed rub his feet especially his toenails. If he stresses stop, pet him until he relaxes and touch his feet while you pet him. If you wait until he relaxes your dog will translate touching his feet with being relaxed. If you manhandle him he will translate touching his feet into a wrestling match. After he has relaxed for a few minutes take off the muzzle and give him the treat. Do this for two weeks.

Next stage is showing the dog the clippers after he is relaxed and rewarding him for staying relaxed by petting. Let him smell the clippers if he wants. Some of my babies need to smell the clippers every time. ! After he has relaxed for a few minutes take off the muzzle and give him the treat. Do this for two weeks.

Next stage is waiting until the dog is relaxed and touching clippers to his foot. Hold the dog by the ankle and press his leg against the body lightly. This is a more natural position for the dog than extending the leg to touch the feet and you will not have to wrestle as much. Tap the clippers up against the tip of the nail from the bottom for a second. Then pet after he stays relaxed. After he has relaxed for a few minutes take off the muzzle and give him the treat. Do this for two weeks.

Next stage is Actually clipping a nail. Wait until the dog is relaxed and clip one nail. I don't clip in a traditional manner. I look at the bottom of the foot to see where the quick is and shave off a bit of the nail with the clippers. The nail you shave off will be crumbly and whitish. Clip back a bit further. When you start to get closer to the quick you will feel the nail begin to be more firm and springy. That is enough. Clip one nail and let him go. Tomorrow repeat the process. By the time you get back around to the first nail it will be ready to trim again. After he has relaxed for a few minutes take off the muzzle and give him the treat.

I hope this helps.

I wish I knew half the techniques my Sister uses for helping fearful dogs get over their fear of having their nails trimmed. She is the queen of doing dogs nails that others cannot do. My Sister is confident and very positive and uppity which dogs automatically respond to and feel safe around her.

Anyway the few things I have picked up from her is you have to be confident. If you are in the least bit hesitant or have an underlying fear of cutting a quick the dog will pick up on your fear. If I had a dentist coming at me with a drill in hand and he didn't seem confident your darn sure I will pick up on that and I will be stressed to the max. On the other hand if I have a dentist who is confident easy going and puts me at ease then I am going to be very at ease.

Make it as quick and light as possible, just tip the ends until you are more confident. For my dogs many times I will snip their nails as I am watching TV with them. I don't make a big deal of bringing out the nail trimmers they are on my desk for the dogs to see all the time. With my Rottweiler she was down right ferocious for nails (as Mordanna mentioned a dogs feet are vital to survival and they can be very protective). I would snip one nail while we were both relaxed watching TV and praise her with belly rubs. I always praised after the nail was clipped either with a great treat or attention. I was calm, Athena was calm and I didn't go gung ho doing all the nails at once I would just do one at a time. For Beau he was different he would not allow nail cutting when he was relaxed, he had major issues with being handled when first rescued. My Sister did basic obedience with him and trained him to stand and did his nails like she was cleaning her horses feet, she would massage her way down the leg to the paw and then cut. I did some things as well to desensitize my dogs to having their paws touched such as paw massage and leg massage which totally relaxes them and allows them to trust you.

Never ever fight a dog to do their nails, but, also don't allow a dog to realize that if they do get aggressive you will back off. The worst thing I have heard of is some groomers & vet techs who actullay pin a dog down!!! this is not helping the dog get over the fear and there certainly is no trust being built. My Sister uses positive techniques to calm a dog when they are in fight or flight stage. Massage, blowing in nose, patting on the head (something like soft beating on a drum). Redirectional techniques work great when you need to get them done. Some people before they snip will say some thing like where's the kitty or good dog in a cheerful uppity voice that sounds like a really fun upbeat moment. Sometimes you can get all the nails done without the dog even knowing. Another trick is to put them on a surface they are unfamiliar with or unsure of such as the bathtub (with a bath mat down of course) some dogs will stand perfectly still in the bathtub and we can do there nails in there with no issues (my Sister does this often for large dogs). With small dogs one person will hold the dog and cradle like a baby while the other person snips the nails, and the person holding the dog talks in an uppity tone. You don't want to talk in a baby voice etc and make the dog more scared. Feel confident when doing nails as well, you can't fake it as dogs will pick up on faked confidence

Has anyone tried that new nail thing they're advertising on tv? Is it a dremmel? Anyone know? I'm thinking of getting one.

Whisper is soooo much better about allowing me to do her nails but still doesn't love it. I usually cut one nail, then I give her a piece of dehydrated chicken to chew while I do the rest of that foot then repeat.

Yintzy, is it this thing?
https://www.nailgroomsale.com/Default.aspx?mid=526963

I was thinking of ordering one. Anybody know anything about it? (It looks like a dremel to me.)

It's not - this one is something you move and it shaves the nail. Let me see if I can find it.

do you mean the peticure? http://www.peticure.com/

it's basically just a dremel with a cover. i can't remember, i think somebody on here has tried it - just do a search.

I have. I also read about it on a leading pet stylist website. It's a copycat of a Dremel grinding tool with a sandpaper tube on a mandrel on the end. The problem with a Dremel is hair gets caught in the wheel and it yanks out the entire piece of hair at once. Another problem with using Dremel is "skipping" off of the place you are working on and grinding things you don't intend to like fingers, glasses and for some reason one lady said she forgot she had it in her hand when she pushed her glasses back onto her nose and Dremelled her nose. This is a fundamentally unsafe invention, even for professional stylists. There is also lots of toenail dust which gets in your and the dog's eyes, nose, mouth and lungs to consider.

Peticure has developed a protective cap that keeps hair out of the grinding mechanism. This cap contains most of the dust and keeps the grinder from slipping off due to the holes the nail goes into. Unfortunately they cannot market it as an accessory to Dremel or they have to face patent lawsuits so they copycatted the machinery of a Dremel, too. The peticure device has numerous problems such as early motor burn out, electrical shortage in the cord, going too slowly to make a difference before the dog gets tired of it, battery dying right away which has to be replaced by sending off to China for another one (the goal of the company is 8 weeks to replace crappy batteries and tools but so far that has not been possible for some reason. Basically the peticure is made in China and the Dremel is made in Germany. Enough said about that.

You can purchase the protective cap from peticure for $20 which is what I did and I screwed it onto the end of my Dremel. There is a wheel that has numbers of the speed from 0-10. I recommend people start at 2 and after they get used to it they can move up. I now use 6 and it literally grinds the nail down to the same length as clipping a nail in the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME. The best of both worlds.

Many times dogs that are terrified of clipping have no prior association with the grinder and take to it much easier but I still do not ever recommend doing nails unless the dog is wearing a soft muzzle until you are absolutely (and I mean absolutely) sure of your dog. HTH!

One last note: I have watched both commercials for pet zoom and peticure and neither one is actually on during the commercial. ! Look closely.

My "groomer" thoughts on peticure - http://www.ourdogsonline.com/ubbthreads....b_or#Post186787

IMO its bunk and its better to use a regular dremel. If your dog is going to squirm while you do its nails, good luck getting the nail into the little hole. Also the cover obscures your view of the nail and the quick. Also I can just about guarantee that the cat in the commercial was under heavy sedation (ETA: or as above mentioned they're not on? Heh i didn't notice that, but that explains why the animals are so good )

Peticure cover has several sizes of holes. (I think six?) for different sized dogs. I also could not see how much had been done and had to take the cover off the nail to keep checking but it was worth it to me to not breath up so much dust. Dremmeling the nails is a great service for an older client who's skin tears easily.

I don't know about the kitty being under sedation but I know as a stylist I NEVER met a kitty that was that blase' about having his feet messed with. The president of National Cat Groomers Society of America laughed out loud when I asked her if she had ever tried to grind a cat's nails. Her answer was a)yes b)it does not work c) she had the scars to prove it. Cat's nails come off in layers. Do we really want to shred apart the layers with a grinder? How gruesome.