Tips for trimming nails on a skittish rescue dog that resists?

It is very common for dogs to dislike nail trims, but if you take it slow and distract with treats you may be able to make a big difference for your pet's comfort! Take your pet's favorite treat and spend 5-10 minutes a day distracting with treats while handling your dog's feet, then touching nails with a trimmer, and finally trimming a few nails at a time. It is important to stop as soon as your dog starts to get upset and try again the next day. Sophia Yin has a great video: https://drsophiayin.com/videos/entry/training_a_dog_to_enjoy_toenail_trims/

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! In order to get a pet used to having their nails trimmed you need a lot of time and patience. You need to start very slowly by touching the dogs limbs and giving treats when they don't react. You do this about 50-100 times then you move to the toes. Repeat the above. After she is used to that touch, you touch her toes with nail clippers and treat. Basically you are getting her used to the touch and tools before even getting to the nails. She needs to be relaxed the entire time. If at any time she becomes aggressive, you stop what you are doing and try again with the previous step when she's relaxed. This can take months. In the meantime, I would talk to your vet about sedatives so you can clip Chloes nails in a non-stressful manner. If you try when she's stressed it is going to make training her even more difficult. Always make every training session fun and relaxed. Good luck and kisses to Chloe!

What a great question and I applaud you for your wanting to do the best thing for your pet. Deciding where to cut nails, especially on longer nails, is often difficult. In our experience, the longer the nail, the longer the blood supply. And thus, the more likelihood you have of quiking the nail and causing it to bleed. Not to mention that black toenails are incredibly difficult with nail trims because the blood supply can often not be seen. I urge you to seek out a professional to perform this nail trim. A professional will have the appropriate equipment and experience to properly cut the nails and treat any problems that may arise during the cutting of those nails such as bleeding. During the nail trim, feel free to ask as many questions as possible about how they are determining whether to cut the nails as they are doing it. That way you may be able to get enough information to perform future nail trims. I hope I have helped you with this question. Have a great day

One option may be to use an oral sedative from your veterinarian. Ask the vet about Acepromazine or Trazodone. Working on some positive association may also help. You may need both the association and a sedative. Begin by having a high value treat. Start toughing his feet and reward him as soon as you touch his toe nails. Do this for a few days. Once Sparks seems comfortable with this behavior, show him the clippers. Rewards him every time he looks at the clippers. Gradually move the clippers closer to him until they touch his nail. Give him treats frequently. Then cut one nail, reward him immediately and stop the trimming for that session. Work up to multiple nails. Be patient and don't stress him or get injured. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi there and thanks for posting. Tigre may have endured being 'quicked' when his nails were trimmed last time or before which is when the nail is trimmed a little too close to the quick and it bleeds. This is common and often happens what the nail is overgrown. Having a nail cut a little too close can be a bit painful and is often a cause of dog's anxiety or fear of nail trimming. However, there are a few ways to get Tigre to have a better association with the clippers but it will take work and practice. You can begin by just touching his paws. Reward calm behavior while touching paws with tasty treat. Begin slowly and gradually work up to longer and longer sessions. Once he feels comfortable with touching the paw, hold the paw with your hand and progress to touching her nails, adding pressure to the nail that will simulate a trim. Reward calm behavior during this with treat. Once he feel comfortable with you holding and manipulating the nail, you can introduce the clippers. Gently tap the nail with the clippers and reward calm behavior during this. Clip the clippers without actually clipping the nail to get him use to the sound. Again reward when calm during this. Gradually work into clipping the nails. Start with one nail at a time, rewarding each time he is calm during the trimming. Go slow and always reward good behavior with tasty treat. I hope this helps and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You have basically two options 1) Get some anti-anxiety medication and try again (or have the vet office try again) 2) take some serious time to train her. Feed treats while you touch the feet. Repeat daily until she has no concern about it. Then continue to give treats while you hold the nail clippers. When she is comfortable with that, progress to touching the clippers to the nail. Finally progress to just clipping the tip of the nail, etc. Best of luck to you and Ash!

You can use a nail grinder instead of clippers; these are designed to "file" the nails down rather than cut them and they dramatically decrease the risk of bleeding during a nail trim. Sometimes the noise and or sensation is just as bothersome if not more so than trimming the nails, but it does give you a safer option at home if you are afraid of cutting them too short. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/wahl-premium-nail-grinder Thanks for asking PetCoach!