My dog HATES to have his nails cut: he pees, poops, bites, scratches. Groomer won't take him, vet is exp help

Question

The groomers won't work with him anymore and the vet has to sedate him everytime. Last nail trimming was $50. Any suggestions would be great!

He is part beagle and we recently adopted him. Not sure of his age, but somewhere around three. He is afraid of everything. So, walking him at night... in the dark... when its cold is not an option. We've had him to training and he bit the trainer as well.

Answer 1

You could see about getting your dog a sedative in the form of a pill in which you could give him before taking him into the vets/groomer for a nail trim to see how it goes. Most vets are good about giving these to try to help out, especially if they have seen how your dog acts after having the nails trimmed. I would discuss it more with your vet and it would be alot cheaper to have them on-hand before bringing him into the vet than taking him in and them having to sedate him. Good Luck!!

Answer 2

I can relate to that, I use to work for a dog groomers and kennel, and its not unusual for dogs to dislike having their nails cut. Even the best of them are very temperamental when it comes to this! We have a very sweet English Bulldog, that has the best disposition except when it comes down to cutting her nails. I cant find a groomer or vet to do it! I get my husband to hold her, while I cut her nails myself. She is so bad, that we only do one foot at a time. Sometimes we only do one foot a day. When we are done though, we say good girl, and give her a biscuit. We don't want her to resent the experience anymore than she already does. My dogs nails are white, so it is easier to see where the veins are, but if your dogs are black, that would be hard. Some groomers muzzle the dog when they cut the nails if there is a problem. It certainly is a problem, I agree! All it takes is just one time if they get the nail cut too close, to resent the experience altogether. You may want to call around and ask the advice of different vets, although they probably will all suggest that you give him a tranquilizer before bringing him in. Hope Ive helped some. Good luck!

Answer 3

Desensatize is the only thing you can do. Give treats AS your cutting as well. And not just when your going to cut his nails. Always treat when you go to cut a new nail. OR you could be cutting and as you cut have someone else treat as your doing it. That way the dog is getting a good thing while doing something he hates. That should help. also have someone else pet him if he doesn't try to bite, wait until he's doing good for a while with the treats first though. Good luck.

Answer 4

We don't have a lot of suitable walking surfaces for natural nail trimming around here either. Once a dog gets trimmed too close, they will always be (at least) nervous about trimming. My pit bull only lets me or her vet trim her nails. Try retraining him. Start by just handling his paws. Check his nails one by one - but do nothing more. Do this every day, maybe even twice, until he is comfortable with you handling his paws, and inspecting his claws. (You may want to start outside if he's going to poop!) Then start using a girls card board Emmery board. You can get a 5 or 10 pack for about a dollar at any drugstore. Drag the file across only the longest claw he has. Once he lets you do this, work on filing one paw each day. Eventually his nails will only need filing once a month, unless you have more road or sidewalk time. Good luck.

Answer 5

Your dog is terrified, it's that simple. By using counter conditioning and desensitization you can help your dog feel better about having his paws handled. You can start by gently touching your dog's paws when he's in a very comfortable place, maybe sitting on your lap or getting pet. Reward your dog whenever you touch his paws. Bring out the clipper and reward the dog for sniffing it. You take the process of having nails clipped and break it down into pieces, getting the dog used to the pieces and rewarding with high value rewards. It takes time and patience but if it's going to save you $50 a pop, it may be worth it to you. You could also find a place with asphalt to take your dog to run around. My dogs have worn their nails down to the quick chasing balls in a local tennis court.

If your dog has had the quick cut before he's going to be especially reluctant to take that risk again. You can learn about counter conditioning at

www.fearfuldogs.com

You might also do a search on youtube for a great video of a woman clicker training a dog to have its nails clipped. Not sure of the exact location, but try a combination of those terms on youtube search.

Answer 6

I agree with Owl..sounds like a Min Pin!

Anyhow...you really just need to work with him and hopefully he will get use to it.
You can try a dremel, but some dogs just hate to have their feet even touched, so that may not work.
The only option I can think of is to walk him alot on the concrete. I know you said he is afraid of everything, but he is just going to have to get use to it. It's going to take time and alot of patience and work on your part, but he has to get over things. Is your driveway blacktopped? Walk him around on that.

Do you know how to cut nails? Are his nails white so you are able to see the kwik easily? The only other thing I can think of is for you to try. I had a Rottie that hated her nails done. Took 3 of us to hold her down and I still couldnt get them done. So I would do the sneak attack on her....when she was sleeping, I would sneak up with the nail trimmers and do one nail at a time. I had to be quick about it though and I only got one shot at it. Just do not trim back so far that you make him bleed. I would keep a muzzle and some kwik stop on hand just in case.

I dont know about the tranq's...Im not a big fan of them myself. I have seen some dogs go the other way on tranq's and have seen some owners give too much that the dog is out for hours and hours. I personally would only use it as a last resort...thats just me though.

Answer 7

Must be a MinPin.
Sorry... bad joke. But after working with vets all this time this was the signature of a MinPin nail trim. Couldn't help myself.
Seriously though. You best bet is probably going to be to head down to the pet store and buy yourself a good muzzle and a set of clippers with a safety guard (so you don't trim too much) or a dremmel (my favorite) and some quick stop powder in case you do cut a little too far back.
He is going to hate it but what is good for our dogs is what we are concerned with... not with what they like or don't like.
Good Luck
~Tyed~

Answer 8

I had nails to trim for the cat from hades. Even the vet hated to see her coming in. He gave me several mild tranquilizing pills. Had to use the jaws of life to pry her mouth open before she chewed my hand to a nub, but they work. Shouldn't be too difficult to get doggie dearest to chomp one down. Once he's lightly out of the loop, trim his nails. Call your vet, explain the situation and ask for something to give your anxious pooch. Keep him indoors while the pill does its job so he doesn't go gallivanting stupidly down the road. Also have him stay inside until he's once again his drooling self.

Answer 9

I agree with Owl.. This needs to be done and if I can do it anyone can. I have a dog that does the same thing and after 3 years she's down to just screaming. The neighbors think we are killing her. Always helps to have someone strong to hold the dog. My husband does this for me. Always wearing an old shirt. Good luck.

Answer 10

Try playing with his feet in a relaxed setting. He is not going to like it at first. Very few dogs (in my experience anyway) naturally tolerate haveing their feet messed with.

Reward him with treats.

Feet messed with = Treat

Try walking him on concrete more to increase the trim interval a bit.

My late beloved Shovelhead died at 16 YO & he NEVER did get used to having us trim his nails...

$50 to do our Cattledog's nails sound like a bargain to me... :-)

Good luck