How do I make trimming my dog's nails more comfortable for her?

She squirms, yelps, tries to bite but then stops herself. When we took her to the vet we asked them to trim her nails, but she gave them a hard time too and they didn't know what to do. They had us stand next to her and try to calm her down. She's done it for as long as I can remember.

Just now, I tried trimming her nails. I got the first one, and then she started trying to bite the trimmer and squirming. I pause after each one and hold her and talk to her, she'll look up at me and try to kiss me and then I go for the next one. She does the same thing. But just now, I trimmed a little too far because she doesn't let me keep the trimmer there for too long and I tried doing it quickly. I put flour on it and stopped, didn't get to the rest of them. What do I do? Her nails are so long...

First you must know how. If not have a groomer show you. Secondly your vet is full of ****. I worked in a groom shop for quite some time and we had dogs that were like bulls on fire when it came to nail trimming, but we'd get it done.

DO NOT baby talk her. "and hold her and talk to her," You are praising her and reinforcing that behavior. Stay calm, confident and use a normal tone of voice. No it is NOT 'okay' to behave that way and you'd better not be telling her so.

Play with her feet every day. Wait til she is tired, play with them for a bit then leave her be. Give her a nearly empty jar of peanut butter. Take one of her back feet and cut one nail and PRAISE good behavior! then your done. Do two or 3 the next time. Just take off bit by bit.

Ever since my dog was a puppy, he never liked getting his nails cut, and I was always scared to cut him anyways! I'm pretty sure you've heard of the "peticure" or whatever it is? I would definitely go with that, but if you don't want to go and spend $20, go to a beauty supply store and asked for their grittiest nail file. For a while, that's how i trim my dog's. It might take a little longer, but even if he does move, i won't cut too short.

I would start playing with her feet every day so that she gets used to you touching them. If she lets you pick up her foot and hold it, touch her toes, give her a treat! Keep doing that as long as she remains calm and every time you do it, she should get better and better. Treats usually help, but only reward her when she is behaving well. When she gets used to you playing with her feet, start playing with her feet and holding the nail clipper. Treat an praise for a dog well behaved. If she's having too hard of a time with it, give her a break and walk away. It might take a long time to work up to being able to clip her nails, esp if you have clipped a nerve before, but you can get there. PediPaws is another cool option where you grind the nail down instead of clipping it off. You could try that to see if she takes to that more easily than the clipper. You might have to build her trust again by just clipping tiny tiny amounts off on a more frequent basis so you are sure not to cut into the quick and hurt her again.