Any tips for trimming dog nails??

[chiknlady]

I have a pit with 1/2 inch long nails--not because I haven't tried to trim his nails, but because every since a leg injury last year he snarls and pulls away when I so much as touch his feet. Well last night he punctured the sofa and we are not far from injury ourselves--so any advice would be appreciated.

 

[arllcountrygirl]

It kinda of depends on the dog, You can try this ...
Have some one hold sit on the floor and put him in their lap. Give him small pieces of a hot dog for being a good boy. Then slowly start messing with his paws - for everytime he doesn't growl - tell him good boy and give a treat - When this isn't such a big deal to him then take a pair of wire cutters and slowly clip one nail at a time for the first few - stop and praise him each time and give treat.

Hope this is as clear as mud

Kinda of hard to type what I am trying to say.

 

[arllcountrygirl]

Forgot to add that when you make the cut - do it fast don't go slowly b/c they don't like the pressure.

 

[Redfeathers]

I've trimmed many a dog nail in my time

and some of the dogs have had definate fear inflicted attitudes that I had to work with by retraining their way of thinking when it is time to get the job done. I had to get them to understand that I wouldn't hurt them through positive training. I turned it into a treat fest and for each nail done I made a big deal about it verbally and with the use of treats...it doesn't matter what it is, string cheese, popcorn, part of a dog cookie, whatever they like. Just go slow and be ready to take a long time until it clicks that this is something that they will learn to love. No matter what you can't cut too much and get the quick, otherwise you are sunk. Little bits at a time. You might have to use a soft muzzle to avoid injury.

Now the dog I have that would growl and shake and almost pee himself with fear, holds perfectly still and loves the treats and all the "good boy" praise.

Good luck!

 

[ThornyRidge]

I have this problem also. My 87 lb lab will not even let you touch her feet.. especially the back paws.. forget even trying to hold her to trim her nails.. I keep her walked on cement/asphalt that does help and if they ever get too bad I attempt to goto vet and it takes 3 of us plus vet to hold her while he snips claws.. I believe part of it was a bad experience she had at a doggie groomer where they don't really let you stay around and when I was called to come in to help because she was acting up she was snarling and growling at the assistant.. hmmmm.. guessing she did something to her and now I have to find a way to get her past it and attempt nail trimming..

 

[briteday]

I have small dogs and even so, occasionally I muzzle them to do nail trims. Also, the more you do it, and praise /treat them, the easier it gets. We do our dogs every two weeks (makes it easier for them on the hardwood floors) and they have come to accept it as part of life. But every once in a while one of them decides not to cooperate, so we put the muzzle on and procede.

If your dog has really long black nails you just have to do it often and gradually so as not to hit the quick. And keep a nail file (the kind a manicurist would use for touch acrylic nails) next to your chair and invite /treat the dog to allow the nails to be filed even further if you are afraid to clip too far. The filing will make the process on dark nails go faster since you can't see where the quick is, but filing is gradual enough that you will see the nail bed appear as you get close to the quick. Or let the vet be the bad boy and get them trimmed the first time. They can even anesthetize the dog to get them cut back all the way and give pain meds for afterwards. Then it is up to you to maintain the nails.

If your dog has light nails and you can see the quick, just do as much as you can but keep up the routine every two weeks so they learn to accept it and you are able to keep going back a little more each time as the quick will recede.

Here is a good site about clipping nails...

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/dog_nails.aspx

 

[blueberrylu]

This may not work on your dog until the fear issues subside, but I use a Dremel tool to grind my dogs nails down. It works wonders and I love how you can round the nails off so they are not jagged.

 

[chiknlady]

Thank you everyone--I will boil some hotdogs for a doggie spa day!