DOG NAIL TRIMMING - HELP?

Have you asked your vet? If all else fails, they should be able to help....

You could try a dremel to file his nails down instead of clipping them. Some dogs are much better for that.

If he just won't allow his feet to be touched then as someone else mentioned, he might need to be sedated (they should be able to cut them pretty short though in that case, so he won't have to have it done every few weeks)

We have a pit that weighs about 110 pounds, and now that he is old, nail trimming is not as difficult. I must say, I was never able to clip his nails, my husband has always had to do it. The only way we can get him is to corner him, practically sit on him, and clip...SO F*CKING STRESSFUL!
We now also have a French Bulldog, and the only way to get her nails done is I have to hold her up in the air, (so she has no leverage to kick), and my husband clips her nails. We have tried the nail grinders with no luck, they are just terrified of the noise they make....
So really, i have no solution for you, just to let you know you are not alone! Its one of the things I dread the most....

One thing I have found though, is if you are able to walk him on a sidewalk or road, it helps to wear down the nail naturally, thus not having them get out of hand so quickly. We walk Freya (the frenchie) almost every day, for about 30 mins, and we only have to worry about clipping a few nails that do not hit the pavement consistently....

I have a 4-y-o Amstaff (pitbull) X Bull Mastiff who was previously owned by an abusive "trainer" for the first 3 years of his life. I am having a hell of a time trying to get his claws trimmed down because he absolutely throws a fit. the only dog salon in town wont take him anymore because he is so strong and they cant hold him down (he is about 80lbs of solid muscle). I haven't had a dog prior to this but his nails are getting BAD and I don't know where else to look for help!!! lol.,
It is to the point where he will scratch himself and actually hurt himself and he has torn holes in bedding because his nails are too long.

TIPS PLEASE? I am sure there are lots of dog owners on here --- help !!!

thanks bunches! xoxo

Pitbull owner here... I lovvvve my pitty.. but he is sooo strong I won't even try to cut his nails... At our vet, they have the vet tech's cut them, its $10 but between 2 of them and myself, we get it done lol. Plus if they hit one of his quicks, they use the quick clot stuff. If I were to do that I would probably pass out from the blood and worry of him being hurt by me. While it is still stressful for the both of us, I am more than willing to pay someone to do this for me...

Glad to know you are the proud owner of that poor dog... I hate people who abuse animials :grumble: .....but love people who rescue and adopt animals.

Every single day, feel his paws and nails. Don't cut them every day, but get him used to having his paws and such handled. We've been doing this with our Rotti pup since day one and now anyone can just go and grab his feet and he doesn't even react.

Lot's of good treats while you touch his feet. Make touching his feet the most wonderful thing in the world because he gets chicken or turkey or whatever great treat you can give him. Then buy a dremel and turn it on, give him a treat, turn it off. Over and over. Then touch the dremel, when it's off, to his paw. Then remove it. Over and over. Once he's okay with that, turn the dremel on, touch his foot, then turn it off.

The first time you try to actually use a dremel on him, have a kong with some peanut butter in it and have him licking that while you dremel his nail. One foot each day. Eventually he should be much better and not as fearful. Good luck!

I work at as a vet technician and can honestly say this is such a common problem! Since he is so strong and has such huge objections to having his nails trimmed, I would definitely recommend taking him into your veterinarian. Let them know ahead of time that he is difficult for nail trims. A lot of groomers won't lay dogs in lateral recumbancy to do nail trims, they just have them stand, and sometimes that can be more stressful for the pet and it gives the person doing the nail trim less control over the foot. If he is extremely difficult/aggressive, they may either give him a short-acting sedation at the clinic, or send you home with a sedative and have you feed it to him before bringing him in so he is more loopy and relaxed.

What you can do at home to help with the situation is try to get him comfortable with having his feet touched. LOTS of praise/love/treats are imperative. When he is laying calmly with you, just brush your hand along his feet, hold his paw for a second. As he gets more comfortable with that run your fingers between his toes and pads. Again, give him lots of treats and love/praise throughout doing this. Once he's fine with that you can move onto pulling out the nail trimmer and letting him sniff it, give him a treat, touch him with it, give him a treat, etc. It's a long process. I have a Rottweiler/Catahoula mix who was also from an abusive home and it took almost a full year before I was able to trim all 4 paws completely without her being stressed and moving around.

On a side note, I personally prefer to use a regular dog nail trimmer. They are faster and easier to get the dog comfortable with it (in my experience with both my dogs and at work). I purchased a PediPaws and have also tried other drimmels. However they are quite loud, which is scary to the dog, it feels really weird grinding on their toenails vs. a clean cut with the trimmer, and they do heat up after a short amount of time, which can burn your dog's feet. Some dogs do fine with them, but I have yet to meet one of those dogs.

Hope this helps. Definitely don't wait too long to get those nails trimmed. Last thing you want is for any of the toenails to curl under and grow into the pawpad - those are very painful and cost you more money in repairing the pad!

Just thought of something else hahaha. The longer dogs go between nail trims, the quick inside the nail grows too. After this first nail trim you may hear your vet say something like "he has long quicks". That just means because he hasn't had regular nail trims his quick has grown out so they couldn't cut the nail super short because of the extended quick. To get the quick to recede, he needs to have regular nail trims. With regular trims (Every 4-8 weeks) the quick does recede, and then the nails can be trimmed shorter.

Well if all else fails they can do it at the vet and sedate him to do it. But here is my suggestion. This might take more than one try, maybe over a few days to a weeks time span. Buy some dog nail clippers. Have your dog lay down and wait until he is completely relaxed. Usually after they are laying down for a few minutes and give out the "Sigh." Go sit down beside him but down talk to him. Have the clippers in hand. Have some treats in your pocket. Start petting him gently all over making your way down to his paws. If he is okay with his paws being pet continue to pet/massage all of his paws, picking them up, fiddling with them. Just get him used to his paws being messed with. Rub your fingers in between the digits of his paws. If he is calm while doing this give him some treats. If he is not calm and fidgets while you pet and hold his paws just continue to do this for a few day with treats *So he will associate touching paws with treats* until he gets used to it. If he is okay with you touching his paws at first take the clippers and start rubbing them on his body and rub the clippers down to his paws. Just like the clippers are an extension of your hand and pet all of his paws with the clippers. Hold up each of his paws and rub the clippers through the digits of his paws. If he is calm for this give him treats. If he is fidgety and whiny stop doing it, wait a few seconds start doing it and give him a treat as your doing it. To associate clippers to paws with treats. This is how I had to get my dog used to it. Took about 5 days. Hope you are able to get it all worked out!

My Chihuahuas are big babies when it comes to nails. One of them was banned from Pet Smart! lol We let the vet trim them when they go for shots and we were going to Petco, but it adds up when you're there all the time. I bought the Pedi Paws off of ebay for like $9. It grinds down their nails just fine. We've been using it for a while now, with good results. You can replace the paper they grind on and batteries when needed. Pretty good and cheap.