Are there other ways to trim your dogs nails?

Ok, so my dog will NOT let me trim his nails. He is a 7 month old beagle, and is friendly for the most part until I try to trim his nails, then he turns into Cujo....for real. He freaks out. I know that I can take him to the vet and they will sedate him in order to trim them, but I was wondering if there was another more natural way for his nails to ware down. Like if i take him down to the river a few times a week and let him run on the rocks, do you think that would help ware down his nails...need help.....thank u all

Try a groomer. They can muzzle the dog and try it that way. It may not work but is worth a try.

take him to a groomer or petsmart they will do it.

Take him to a groomer, they are used to cutting nails on psycho dogs.

Two of my dogs hate even the sight of nail clippers, so I use a coarse emery board. It works very well.

This is first and foremost a training issue. You need to work with your dog letting you handle his feet. Spend lots of time rubbing his feet, massaging his pads, playing with his toe nails. You need to do this when you are not trying to get his nails trimmed.

Once your dog is no longer afraid of having you touch and handle his feet and toes, then you can try to trim his nails with a dremmel if he doesn't like the clippers.

Someone must have quicked him and caused him great pain when he was first trimmed to make him object so badly.

Walking him on rough concrete surfaces will help wear the nails down - but this will not replace having his nails trimmed.

his nails will not naturally wear down by walking on rocks, they will wear down minimally by walking on concrete a lot ... but i would try to get your dog used to this because he is only 7 months old and he needs to have this done to him for the rest of his life ... if he bites when you get a muzzle ... you can also wrap him in a towel or blanket ... and pull out one paw at a time, two people might be needed to do this at first ... and when clipping, unless the nails are clear and you can see the vein just clip a little bit because if you hit that quick you are going to make the process even harder ... when you are done love him up and give him treats and hopefully he will mellow with the situation :O)

I am a groomer and have been for many years and i can say there has never been a dog i could not do! about %75 turn to Cujo when it comes to their nails...a professional groomer will be able to get them done even if they have to muzzle him, or lay on him and sometimes it even takes 2 or 3 groomers to hold them down...he will be better behaved for a groomer too becuase he knows he can get away with that behavior with you because you let him...but us groomers dont take no crap haha...i have NEVER turned a dog away for nails and have always in the end got then trimmed...no matter what haha, but one way you can keep them a bit shorter is to walk him on concrete every day...that will help file them down, but trimming is still a MUST! and do NOT try the pedi paws thing they are aweful! they always scare the crap out of the dog and traumatize them worse!

You can trim his nails, you just need another person to help you. I trimmed my friend's pug's nails after the vet said she was biting them, so they wouldn't do it. My sister and I just put a blanket over the dog's head so they can't bite us and lay them on their back while between our legs and they will struggle, cry, yelp and sometimes even urinate for the first minute or two, then they settle down.

But to answer your question, you could take him jogging on the asphalt or cement a few times a week that ought to at least wear them down a bit.

Also the vet or groomer can help you too

There are many things your can do. Besides the ones already mentioned, you can:

Counter condition: Reintroduce to him the clippers as a positive experience instead of a high tension experience. Do this by just showing him the clippers and treating. Repeat until he is totally comfortable with just seeing it, than increase challenge by touching him with it and treating immediately. Repeat again until he is totally comfortable with it. Increase challenge again and tap his nails with it and treat. The key here is to repeat, repeat, REPEAT! If you do this consistently he will associate nail clipping with positive things. Do this until you can clip one nail, and then one paw and then all paws, etc. Depending on his severity, this may take 1 day-a couple months. Keep sessions short. Maybe 5 mins at a time but frequently throughout the day.

Exercise: Try exercising him more. He will have less fight with less energy, and more trust in you. The exercise with you will help you bond more and create a better relationship. Something you could try is after a long swim at the lake you can put him on his sides while he's relaxing, put a nice cool towel over his head and clip his nails. The nails will be softer from the water activity and easier to cut while he relaxes. Have someone assist you and rub him while you clip so he gets a full spa treatment.

You can do it.

For the dog with black nails, clip it after a warm bath, it will show the quick more easily. Have spring water, a q-tip, and syptic powder nearby for easy reach (syptic powder clots blood in case if you cut the quick). Cut it at 45 degree angles and stop when the tip of the claw is facing the floor slightly. If you cut the quick, dip the q-tip in the spring water and then dip it into the sypric powder. Hold it to the claw where it's bleeding for 10 seconds while comforting the dog.


Good Luck!

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