Quote: bob scott

Geoff, your comment about "having to stop and love her up to calm her down" caught my attention. What your doing there is renforcing her behaviour.
Just an FYI for all. I find using the dremel is a lot less stressfull for most dogs then the clippers.

Yes you are right I paint myself into corners like that. It is a fine line between getting it done and just giving up for another day though. I panic when I have a sharp instrument in one hand and a squirming dog in the other.

I've read that the dremel is the way to go, how long does it take for you to do your dog's nails with it? What is the model that you use?

Waste high slippery table, 2 people (1 to hold the dog so I can concentrate on not drawing any blood}, a towel over the dogs head so he can't see what going on, and lots of calm praise- works for me on every dog I've ever owned. The towel covering his eyes helps eliminate jerking in anticipation of the clip. It's kind of the same theory people use when they look away when getting a shot at the doctors office.

Maybe it's because I used to be a groomer, but I've always made nail-trimming a non-issue. I think the more 'fuss' you make of it, the more your dog makes of it. I do them the same way as I would do cleaning on a horse's foot; I can't straddle my dogs because they're too big, and I'm too short. For the front, I stand next to the dog's shoulder facing the rear and look at the paw from underneath; for the rear, I do the same facing the dogs tail. I've used the same procedure for my adult rescue-dogs and my puppies. I've only had a couple who really put up a fuss, but I kept trimming anyway, and they got better over time. When I'm done trimming (takes about three minutes or so for all) I will then treat. It helps to have a tired dog for sure. I usually do it every week, or at least go through the motions so it quickly becomes a non-issue to the dogs. I know a friend of mine had a hell of a time with it though. She put a jar of peanut butter on the floor in front of her dog to eat while she took her time over the nails. She said it worked well for her.

My dog can't stand it. I've never once cut her quick or been harsh with her, so I have to assume it was from her being a shelter dog/stray or someone before cut her quick. She just runs away - I usually put her in a down, kneel on the leash, and praise and treat/reward for every good behavior - even if it's just not pulling away when I lay my hand on her paw. We've gotten better, but still need a lot of work - you can see how long they were in my sig. :< I trimmed them that day, but it stresses her out pretty badly so I've tried to work on it every other day or so just handling her paws (she shakes well and is always offering her paws, but if you attempt to cut? she's gone!).

My dog also hates it and I've been doing it every week since she was a baby- the last couple of months she's started showing teeth. I stand her and stand next to her with her neck between my knee and elbow so she can't turn her head around, then lift and bend the foot underneath so I can see the underside of the nail and clip that way. This week, we were in the kitchen and I had some liver pieces on the table by her nose- she couldn't reach them but the smell kept her pretty distracted.