General Question Nail trimming

[TonkaTruck28]

I was wondering if anyone had any miraculous nail trimming advice. Tonka hates the stemmed and clippers but we go with clippers because more gets done. He growls and bites and cries the whole time and I can usually only get a nail or two in one sitting. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Here's my best tail trimming advice: have someone else do it. I take Bea and Bo to the "beauty shop" for their "mani-pedi's". In spite of their utter disdain regarding the actual procedure, they LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to the Beauty Shop. The girls there fuss all over them and they get cookies to boot. Even though they don't like it, they cannot WAIT to get past that dutch door to where the "beauticians" are at.

I think of it this way; it's gotta be done so why not make it an outing for the dogs and another chance for me to practice leadership in a public setting? Win Win!

 

[elearn]

I had written a detailed post last night, but I was so tired, I re-hit "Reply to Thread" and lost it.... so here's what I said in a nutshell LOL


The one thing that has been absolutely successful....letting the vet do it! Plus he does it for free with an exam (and he does all the nails in literally 1 minute, when it takes me 2 weeks for the whole process).

Some other things I try/tried myself that you may try:

Herman loves to lay in the sun (even on the hottest days) so when he plops down and refuses to move, I trim his nails then. I can at least get a few done like that because he's immobile. When he does this he lets me do just about anything to him. Not sure if that will work for Tonka or not.

I have a Dremmel - he was interested in it for a while, but now runs from it. I have a Peticure - that thing is loud and seems dangerous and it scares both of us. So like you, I feel the clippers are best, but I think the trick is to have really good ones. I'm not sure what the best brand for sharp clippers is for this is but I know that will make the process go faster. I'm still hunting for that perfect pair.

I have tried giving him an opened bag of treats, but the bag is closed enough he has to concentrate to get the treats. But he gets too worried about what I'm doing with his feet.

I have tried tying his leash to a door knob to at least keep in one location and not running away, but he just about strangled himself trying to get away.

I have tried having his daddy hold and cuddle him, but that ended up with BOTH of them yelling and screaming at me. "You're hurting him! Stop it!"

I have tried walking him on cement regularly.... no surprise, he's lazy and doesn't want to walk more than 5 feet. I really think this method will work, eventually.


I not NOT tried that scratching board technique (where they scratch their nails on sandpaper) - he'll probably just snatch the sandpaper and run under the sofa to eat it the sandpaper.

I DO think that having a grooming table will help as he will feel less secure about running away. But I dont have anywhere to put it. So maybe putting Tonka on a table might help? I did put Herman on a footstool when he was smaller and he let me clean his ears, etc. because he was scared. LOL

Maybe there are some tidbits or a combo of tidbits here that may help you and Tonka LOL

 

[RaRett]

I have 2 different methods (Other than 'letting someone else do it')

The 1st secret - do as much as you can in a sitting - if you can only get 1 or 2 nails done, so be it -
the 2nd secret - LITTLE BITS - never go for a big trim (like we do for our own personal nails)

I use the scissor style - and I can get Gizmo used to it slowly VERY Slowly. but when she is played out is when its best, cause she's relaxed, and has that 'I dont give a Flying F what he is doing to my nails, I want to sleep' attitude.

Now Hershey is the Gem - I dremel his, we started him out very young getting used to the sound of the dremel, and playing with his toes etc - I dont know if you can imagine this or not, but I sit cross legged on the kitchen floor, lay him on his back across my legs - he goes into a trance just about - I can use the dremel for days on his nails just like that non-stop. But I usually hit and run each nail, and then come back again, just because ya never know how long they will sit there and be patient. I'll have to get a video of his position, because its a RIOT ! He's like a Dead fish!

 

[JeannieCO]

I trim all my guys nails, always have. Trick is to keep at it. They're going to resist, always always stay positive, if you get one or two nails done that's success. Wilson fought me good in the beginning. I would NEVER let him leave on his terms even if I had to hold him and sweet talk him it was always positive and he only got to leave on my terms. He now literally falls asleep on his back when I trim his nails. I use clippers and the dremel on all three. Emma fought me too and the last two trims I was able to do all her nails on while on her back. This took lots of time to accomplish this. Treats are a wonderful thing to have handy too. I just use their kibble. I also did my other two boys (Ace & Orion who have since past).

[MENTION=5580]elearn[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4706]RaRett[/MENTION] have some good advice.

Here's a good article to read.
http://www.englishbulldognews.com/f...06-Nail-Clipping-Dremel-What-you-need-to-know

I also did my first attempt at a video but since I did it myself it was a bit hard. But here you go anyway.
http://www.englishbulldognews.com/f...os/17269-emmas-nail-trim-clippers-dremel.html