my dog has to be held down to get his nails trimmed, we live in the country , he runs alot but not on concrete

Answer 1

If you think that running on concrete or other hard surfaces will wear his nails down and slow the need to be trimmed, you will be disappointed to hear that it doesn't. As far as holding him down to clip his nails, it is common. You can try to make him more at ease by handling his paws often( rubbing gently, messaging) to make him more at ease with having them held for trimming. You don't need to do them all at once either. Do a couple and let him relax a while before doing a few more. You can do this over the course of a few days if necessary. The younger he is when you start the easier it will be to ingrain in him that it is safe, and he may even come to enjoy the grooming or at least take it in stride.

Answer 2

The most important thing is to show her through experience that if she stays still, she gets treats.

First, sit down with her every day with the clippers in your lap or near you. Don't use them yet. This can be your bonding time with her. Have some little treats you can give her. Put the clippers down on the ground and put a little treat right next to them, and even on top of them. After a few days, start gently tapping her feet and nails with the clippers. Keep praising her calm and ignoring her fear or excitement. What you are doing is 1) desensitising her to the clippers, 2) teaching her that if she is calm around the clippers, there will be rewards, and 3) letting her learn from experience that the clippers are not scary and they do not hurt.
When she lies calmly to have her nails tapped with the clippers because she has learnt to expect a treat if she behaves calmly in that situation, it's okay to start clipping her nails. Always give a little treat afterwards. Use lots of calm praise and require her to lie calmly. If she keeps pushing her nose into your hand to stop what you are doing, start again with the clipping. Just do one paw at a time for a while, and give lots of praise and a treat after you're finished.
After a while, she will have learnt through her own experience that they don't hurt, that you require her calm co-operation, and that her co-operation in this situation has rewards. Make darned sure you don't cut them too short and hurt her. It takes a lot to undo that mistake. Put a lot of time and patience into this learning procedure as it is really worth the effort to have a dog that is handler-friendly, it makes her life easier too if she is easy to handle when she is groomed. Don't rush her through the desensitisation process; you want her to have plenty of time to learn for herself that the clippers mean nothing except a little treat when it's all done. If it takes a few weeks for her to learn that they aren't a signal to behave like an idiot, then it's still worth it.

Answer 3

Try using a pumice stone or a course Emory board. Round off the edges with the Emory board when finished and your legs will really appreciate it. For every time he sits a little still reward with a pat on the head and a little treat. I have several (chicken dogs-not literally) that hate to get their nails trimmed but 2 vets made them bleed previously when they cut them too short so now I do the nails myself. Your dog will get used to it.

Answer 4

the groomers will do it for you or you can wait til your dog is asleep. finally pet him a lot & get him all calm then perhaps while he's distracted or not looking clip a nail and he'll realize that it's not so bad after all

Answer 5

to get him used to the triming play with his feet while you just lay there or play.... if that does not work then you may just have to hold him down

Answer 6

There may be something of use here.

Answer 7

i dont know why that is a problem or even a question!