Nail Trimming : They say it should get easier ! " Who's They ?"
 

I've had Kuma since he was 8 weeks old. I have been trimming his nails since then but every time I get the trimmers out, he goes ballistic. He grabs my arms, hand in his mouth, he runs and jumps ( playing ) i try to scolled him and tell him that it's not play time it's trim time and for him to sit still, ever try to keep a German Shepherd still ???
Does anyone:grouphug: have any suggestions ( other than a tranquilizer gun ) on how to get him to co-operate with me?
I've even threatened to take him to the vet for a trimming, they put the dogs in straight jackets so they don't move i think!:rolleyes:
He is well aware of what the trimmers are, he was introduced to them at a very young age and I've only cut him once... a long time ago.. i'm too afraid to hurt him. ( "THEY" say, they don't forget and I would have to sleep with one eye open if i did cut him !" )
Please, I NEED HELP !

Try giving treats as you are trimming his nails? My GSD x BMd use to do the same thing I ended up having to muzzle him to trim his nails as he use to hold onto my hands so hard that I would have indents from his teeth. My dog now a BC just lays there and lifts each leg up for you to trim what a difference, he is so easy to do.

Thanks Dog Lover
Muzzlin eh?? I'm going to try that!
People say animals don't feel etc ... when I muzzle Kuma he shoots me the dirtiest looks ever as if to say, "Just wait till this is off lady ! " But knowing he likes the muzzle, he might relate to happy thoughts when he's being trimmed.

And It must be a GSD trait, the arm holding thing... Thanks for the advise.:thumbs up

well start by making sure your dog is DEAD TIRED from a long run or play session, and take advantage of their normal "sleepy hours" too. you can also give a gravol or two to make doggy extra drowsy the first few times, until he learns it's no big drama to get his nails trimmed. try to have someone else at his head while he's lying on his side, to pet his face, perhaps cover eyes with a towel, distract with favorite treats, etc. this gives you free leverage to hold the feet & trim quickly and efficiently. keep styptic powder close at hand in case of accidents, always use a well-oiled and sharp tool, and most of all be firm and confident. if the dog wiggles or starts to panic, take a time-out (dog still lying down as you are the boss and say so, NO running away) to soothe and hush, and start again. try not to make the whole thing last longer than 5 minutes. in the beginning you may only be able to get a few short essentials clippings off the top of the nails, but the point is to do this once or twice per week until it becomes a calm routine for everyone. physically holding a dog down, muzzling, yelling & fighting will only result in panic, struggle and fear yelping and possibly biting. :yuck:
good luck! :)

lol... yes "they" say it gets easier.... sure it does.... I gave up. I started when my pup was around 12wks - and kept at it - I got him used to me touching his paws, let him get used to the clippers, left them out to desensitize him - and I eventually got to the point where I could get 1 or 2 nails in a night (if I was really lucky)...

then I realized, it's totally WORTH the $5-$10 to have a groomer do it. For some reason, Tucker (my pup) doesn't put up half the fight w/ a groomer as he does with me, so I just bring him in and let the professionals handle it. All the nails get clipped, it takes less than 10 minutes, less than $10, and we're on our way - with nice short neat nails.

This takes a long time to do, but I draw 4 little paws with the nails on a piece of paper and once a day I cut a nail. I can't do anymore as she then struggles to get away, but it does get done. Also, it definatly is worth the $10/20 you would have to pay to get it done professionaly.

I was having a lot of trouble with kayla too, cutting her nails was such a production! I bought a dremmel (electric filer) which was a bit better but still not good enough. Then I took her into Pet Value in ontario and asked them to do it, I wanted to see if they had any tricks up their sleaves. I expected them to use at least a muzzle or something, but they just told me to hold her head and in 2 minutes they were done with hardly a fight! I don't know how she did it, but I did notice they trimmed with her leg bent, kind of like cleaning out a horses hoof if you know what I mean? This way they could see the quick so they didn't cut it, and since they were standing behind Kayla she didn't have to look and seemed much calmer about it. Her nails haven't grown out enough for me to try this myself so I don't know if it will help or not but I'm keeping my fingers crossed :fingerscr Oh yeah they only charged $5.

this is kinda what i mean by the dog's foot being bent back so you can see the bottom of the foot, it seemed to work quite well but probably easier with someone holding the dog's collar...

Can you get your dog to lie down on it's side without a struggle? To me that's the first step. If you can't pin your dog down when you don't have intentions to "torture", then you can't expect him to just relax all of a sudden when you're pinning him with the scary cutters in your hand.

I don't know if Precious ever had her nails cut before we adopted her. Dh does the cutting and I do the calming. :) While she's lying down and dh is at her nails, I am by her head, talking calmly and cooing at her, petting her head and giving her treats as rewards for being good.