# Help with trimming nails...



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

I really need some tricks on trimming nails. I just cannot do it. She is in constant motion and if I happen to get the hair away from the nail, just as soon as I get the clipper at the nail she moves. I thought the cat was bad, but she is awful. She tolerates being combed as she loves her liver treats, but the treats won't bribe her with the nails. She is going in Monday for a good bath and trim of her private area, but I still need to be able to do this in between groomings. Does anyone have some tricks?


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

I have the same problem:frusty: Scared to hurt her


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## rokipiki (Oct 15, 2010)

How often you to to groomer? There is no need to trim nails very often. If you go to the groomer once in two months, you do not need to trim nails in between. Try with nail file (for dogs). Walking on hard surfaces is the best way to keep nails short. Roki walks a lot - his nails have been trimmed only once in last nine months. Usually, goomer gives his nails just a touch with nail file. Try to check with your vet - her they trim nails for small amount of money.


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## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

It's been 6 weeks since she went in. I am hearing them on the wood floor and they look long in her footprints in the snow. Guess I won't torment her then!


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## dodrop82 (May 21, 2010)

Tell me all about it, Lynne! Yogi is really terrible about her nails too! I groom Yogi myself, but the nails are another story. She fights like you wouldn't believe! My son has tried to hold her for me, and my Mom has tried, and she fights so hard, we finally give up so she doesn't hurt herself. I have given up on doing it myself. I take her to the vet clinic once a month and pay them $10 to do it. As long as I leave the room, she doesn't fight them at all! Unbelievable! Maybe after a couple more times of her getting used to having it done, I'll try again...but I truly don't think she'll cooperate with me...Good luck!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

LOL, just like our kids... they always behave better for someone ELSE! 

I do Tillies once in awhile and I wait till she is good and tired, basically passed out, she doesn't fight me as much and I dip a fork into peanut butter and have my son hold that and she works on getting the pb off and doesn't really notice what I am doing...


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I find if you let them pull their foot away, they will. Just have a nice firm grip on it without hurting her. Don't allow her to pull her foot away. If she pulls, just don't let go. Eventually she will stop pulling. I just got new nail clipper and love them. I was using the scissor kind for cats. I didn't realize they made the scissor kind for dogs too. They work much better. Just be careful not to cut the quick. I cut my guys nails every 2 weeks and I only cut a sliver.


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## Narwyn (Jan 24, 2010)

Lizzie'sMom said:


> It's been 6 weeks since she went in. I am hearing them on the wood floor and they look long in her footprints in the snow. Guess I won't torment her then!


Dog's nails grow at very different speeds (like their hair, or our hair/nails) so 2 months for some is wayyy too long for others!

You shouldn't be able to hear them on the floor, and I think seeing the snow prints looking long is a good sign they are too long. I'd take the recommendation that a vet (or even a groomer) may do them for the cheap.

If you let nails go too long, then they quicks grow longer, too, and it's harder to keep them short. I trim or file at least every other week and try to do weekly!


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## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

We cut Daisy's and Beau's just after their bath. Their nails seem softer then. DH holds them on his lap, wrapped in a towel, tummy side up. I hold each paw and cut their nails one at a time until we're done. They get a treat afterwards - then I dry and groom them.

When they were little - we'd give them a small nibble of cheese after each nail. Now they get a piece of cheese when we're done.

Our breeder massaged each puppy's feet - touching each pad - every day. Beau and Daisy were so used to having their feet handled they just never thought it was a big deal. *You might try the nightly foot massage with a treat for awhile and then it might not seem so traumatic.... *


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## The Fussy Puppy Gang (May 21, 2007)

I use a Dremel with the Peticure cap on to keep from catching his hair in the grinder. It took some coaxing at first, but I did a second or so on each nail every other day until he became accustomed to the ritual. He was rewarded with cheese or hot dog bits after each session. Now I grind his nails every week to keep them short. He is so used to it now that he lays back in the crook of my arm and lets me do every nail, front & back and dew claws, in one sitting.

Of course, he knows that as soon as I'm done he gets a yummy treat for being such a good boy!

My tools are the cordless Dremel 10.8V and the Peticure Safe Guard attachment.

I've found that staying on top of Pepper's nails is much easier with a grinder.


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## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies! I am taking her in tomorrow to get groomed-last time they did not trim them very short. I know that I shouldn't let her "win" and that's what has been happening. And I am using the cat clippers-I will get dog ones. She is so patient when I have to work on getting mats out because she loves her freeze dried liver, but I guess not enough for nail trims!


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