i had to muzzle my male dobie, and my (ex)hubby had to SIT on him to hold him down so I could trim his nails without getting kicked in the face or nipped
oh man, it was such an ordeal. my girl dobie would just sit there quietly and hand me her paws... she was cool
we started on the wrong foot with dakotah (no pun intended), he bled once and that was IT
even as a 3 month puppy he would buck and scream bloody murder, the two of us couldn't hold him down! it was exhausting and traumatic. so i used my noggin and decided to win him over, no way were we going to do this with a 120 lbs adult dog with big teeth
i started to sit with him outside on the balcony, a place not associated with any "bad things", made him lay down, and brushed him, gave him cookie tidbits. Held the nail clipper, let him smell it, handled his feetsies, more cookies, then gently and quickly clipped the tip of one nail, another cookie. Repeat the process for a few week, and meh, it worked!
he now comes to lay down on the carpet when i call him with the nail clipper in my hand, he still haaates it but holds still and doesn't look at me, sighs, "get it over mom!" thank goodness cuz he's a BIG boy with BIG thick nails! whew!
