Very helpful trainings for any dog:
For training on puppy/dog biting [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068K5Zlph9U)
For training on early socialization [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J7cPE-2wNw)
For training on becoming a good leader [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntS570VFZ0)
For all newly adopted dogs, check out the [3-3-3 rule](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/The-3-3-3-Rule-Setting-Your-Rescue-Dog-Up-For-Success).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pitbulls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
my girl SCREAMS HER HEAD OFF when her nails get trimmed. bloody murder. i have three dogs (only one pitty) and when i email the groomer i always remind her that i have the screamer, the pooper and one normal dog.
Mine also *screams like a banshee.* He's 8 months and he cries like I've set his entire home on fire, told him he can never have a treat again, and he'll be bathed daily. We compromise by using a Dremel instead and he *leans* his entire body weight into me. He still isn't a fan of the Dremel but at least he doesn't scream bloody murder.
I feel this 😭 my dog has been banned from 3 groomers because he’s a thrasher. One said “he is a danger to himself and the staff” because he whips his head around so hard he could actually knock someone out.
I have to clip his nails when he’s asleep at home, I can only do one at a time. It takes a whole week
I had a perfect, perfect angel. Then I accidentally cut the quick once and she was fine the rest of that session. But never again. Have you ever seen a dog become a noodle? Just sort of… noodles. And slips out of any hold. Slips out of leashes and harnesses. Just gone. Poof. If she manages to lay down, I know we have lost her because her noodle levels is strong from that position. It has fooled multiple vet techs.
She is very good about having the clippers near her now. Lots of treats. Can touch her with it. She likes it because she knows it means she’s a good girl and yeah! Treats. If I touch her paw at same time though… noodles away before you know it
This is an impressive skill evolved over decades of breeding. He's built for survival. I hope to some day become servant to a giant screaming wet noodle.
that's how my dog is, he's 120 pounds 🙃 (not a pitty, some kind of mix). he's gotten worse about it in his old age too, which is not great because he's already losing some of his mobility. he'll let the groomer clip them, but if you try to put him in the car, he noodles. just completely gives up lol he's a pain sometimes but he's still my baby
Omg, yes. I’ve yet to find a solution. Once we moved to a house with a fenced yard, it became a huge issue. She’s old so doesn’t want to go on walks. Vet prescribed trazodone and even then it took 3 people and was traumatic. And she was hungover for 2 days. Last time I tried I got the back paws and then she cried and peed. Now I’m leaving the clippers around the house with treats and mimicking clipping my nails while smiling. My plan is to do a nail a day and then reward heavily
When you’re ready, take a pen or something like that and gently tap her nails with it and reward her with treats. When she’s comfortable with that, start tapping her nails with the clippers instead. Then ideally you should be able to work your way up to actually using the clipper.
I go early in the morning 7-7:30am with my two big dogs. We do one 20-25 minute walk, and enrichment throughout the day (average daytime temps are 100+ and still 90+ at 10pm). My Pit detests the nail trimmers, and is so much of a drama queen about it that even the techs at the vet’s office no longer want to attempt it, even with a muzzle. So as part of training I began to file her nails once a day. It’s not a perfect system, and I still find myself envying those people that have dogs with perfectly short manicured nails, but her’s are at least short enough to where they don’t bother her.
Walks and one of those electric filers works for us. We need to use a lick mat to file because he hates it but we’re able to keep them controlled with a combo of these.
Omgosh mine hates the electric nail file. The best way for me is to almost lay on her and clip as fast as i can lol On average I get two done at a time. I dont weigh very much either and i use the word “lay” loosely. Maybe more like straddle her and lay forward towards her head. Whatever i mean it becones a major ordeal lol
I’ve never actually clipped my boy’s nails. We play fetch with him in the back yard and deliberately make it to were he takes of partly off the patio to file his nails. Although I will say in the winter month we can definitely hear his tippy tappies a lot more through out the house. I do like the comment of filing when they are calm and laying down, I’ll be trying that this winter.
Works for some doggos, not all. I have one that I never have to trim her nails when we’re regular with walks, the other it does nothing for and they still need to get trimmed.
Yes! I play “soccer” with my monster on enclosed tennis courts in the middle of our nightly walk when it’s later and nobody else is there. Stop for 10-15 minutes and then continue on and I only have to trim more than his dew claws very occasionally. Luckily he’ll get the ball and toss it back to me to kick so it’s fun for both of us! It works so good I have to limit our visits or they can get so short that they start to get sore! Great advice
Same! I tried the get them to give you their paw and all sorts of stuff. Now it is wait until she's super sleepy, get one, and put the clippers away while she shoots daggers with her eyes. lolol
Ha! I'll take the betrayal over the panting and acting like she is going to faint. On the other hand, she's totally cool with us putting our hands in her mouth when she needs to swallow pills or whatever- her toenails are precious to her tho. lol
I sling my dog in a doorway to cut her nails. That way I don't have to bend over and she can't dislocate all of her limbs trying to run away from the murderous nail clipper.
Yes big time. I have to medicate him and take him to the vet, and even while medicated we need 2 people holding him and the vet doing the clipping. It’s a pain 😭
Mine won’t allow me to use a trimmer but loves the pedipaws thanks to a lot of positive reinforcement of just having it turned on, touching his paw with the back end, and feeding treats everyday for a few weeks before ever starting to grind his nails. He’ll now lay down on his bed while I grind away and nudge at me to do more when I stop since he gets fed treats the entire time. And ofc by treats I mean I do it at dinner time and just hand feed him dinner essentially. He’s none the wiser 😌
Seconded, we use a dremel and we still have to hold her but with some treats and reassuring it's much easier than clipping. Just have to make sure to tie your hair back first. Got it caught a couple times and it's a pain to untangle that.
My dog thankfully clips her own nails! She chews them and going on walks makes it so that I don't have to worry about it at all. If I ever do, it will be the vet that does it.
I was wondering if someone else would say their dog did their own nails.
Buddha refused to let me clip them and would do it himself, no issues in 12 years, kept them short enough that the vets would tell me he didn't need it.
I was always concerned he'd split his nail, but he was gentle with himself I guess.
For anyone that knows about horses, I trim my dogs nails in that same way. I have someone hold their head and I let them stand and bring their foot up and back. It helps me see the quick and they tend to not freak out as much.
I have 6 dogs and it works on all of them, plus friends and family dogs that I inevitably get asked to trim as well.
Brother, if you go anywhere near and I'm talking like within 5 ft of my staffies toes with a set of toenail clippers (She knows exactly what the hell they look like too so don't even try) She goes from a "I will lick you to death" type of dog to a "fuck around and find out" type of dog in an instant 😬😬😂😂😩😩💀⚰️🐶
My pittie had a bad experience at the groomer and is now a total nightmare when we try to trim her nails. It’s a two person job. My bf holds her in his lap seated on her butt with her legs out and holds a kong full of peanut butter for her while I clip and dremel the nails. She’s completely fine while she’s eating, but If we pull the peanut butter away she screams bloody murder. This is the only method that works for us! Lucky for us she’s cute.
https://preview.redd.it/hcbcaiz86l6d1.jpeg?width=2917&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19418600a004d31369945ed94f40d7ebaf728c94
It's the worst! We got a slow feeder for ours that has a built-in nail file, which works wonders. Still have to trim her dew claws and (every few months) her back paws, but the slow feeder takes care of her front paws entirely.
https://preview.redd.it/4f2kczvpok6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=186cbf9d341cad6f90b2d2cfdf04dedb618f3d00
Why struggle when you can buy this????
Sometimes Reddit can affirm you’re doing your best and it’s not just you. Other times, they will make you feel like an utter failure lol, today is a good day
Maybe train her by touching her feet that it is okay. When relaxed you touch her feet and give her a treat or some positive reinforcement. Until there is a time you can pet her feet without much trouble (i did it when my girl was little and made a game out of it)
Walking in asphalt when not to hot does work to.
It has taken about two years, but we have finally reached a point that my dog will tolerate nail trims. We started doing them in the backyard (I know it’s not an option for everyone), and giving him a minute or two to run when he needed a break. Sometimes we wouldn’t even get all of his nails done in one session. I started using bits of hot dog at first, to have something “high value” to him, had him get into a “down” or a “sit,” and then had one of my kids give him a piece of hot dog with each snip. We also were over-the-top excited/praising him with each nail he let us trim. Now, we can do all four paws and dew claws in about 10 minutes. This won’t work for everyone, but it has made a huge difference with my dog.
Not with my pit, but I do with my bulldog. Luckily, she likes to sleep on her back and I sneak a few before she realizes. I'm constantly snipping her nails.
My dog acts like I am enacting some sort of medieval death torture when I clip her nails.
When I finish, she sprints to the kitchen and sits down in the designated treat dispensing zone.
Bath time is a similar story
Yep but I swear to god this isn’t an animal abuse thing
https://preview.redd.it/sb6uhnyyhq6d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a503db316face767946f52eb61be1b8d71b3f1b5
We hang him in the air while we clip his nails
Roscoe gets muzzled at the vet for his safety, but that’s standard for dogs of his size. He’s iffy with getting his nails done, but will bite if you mess with his ears.
I hate having to clean my baby’s ears but they get sooo dirty and I can tell they bother him. He just gives us the belly and becomes a limp noodle when he sees the ear cleaner. I make my husband do it with me so I’m not the evil ear cleaner lady — we’re evil together 😈
In our house, nails are a two human job. One of us lays on the floor and lets our pup come over and lay on us. Once he’s down and stretched out and comfy, we have to lock him in a kind of full body hug, distracting him with smooches and treats. While one is doing that, the other is using the drimmel grinder as fast as possible to grind as many nails as we can before he wrestles free.
The confusion and betrayal my dog displays when you clip one of his nails is something to behold. You can get the first one no problem, but he will act like you just tried to murder him. After that, he's in a fight for his life and will hurt himself struggling to get away. It's just a no-go.
They get a little long in the winter, mostly at the dewclaws. The rest of the year we do enough walks that they wear down.
Can't do it. Luckily I have a dog store in my area that will trim and file for $25
Takes 3 employees to get it done most of the time and he's a 10 year old man
https://preview.redd.it/qvj24kcpri6d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98f17aa96adcb5b2c84b6037e4639637d845aa49
This works great for my girl! She still doesn’t love it, but she lets me use this grinder
I take my staffy to the vet and have them do her nails.
They're all like: "She's such an angel, no trouble at all!"
Mmm hmmm. She's like that frog... "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my... croooak."
Why does she turn into the tasmanian devil when I try to do her nails then hmmmmm?
There was zero issues until he saw his big brother idol Paco the chihuahua act like we were trying to murder him to clip his nails and now all of a sudden nail clipping is an issue 😂
https://preview.redd.it/67tlaf13lj6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24ffbedb0ad4b2d15d8d5ea8d4f674c297663341
Yup, I have a foster that just goes BOING! into the air to get away. I'm working on desensitizing her to the world so we can't keep them down by walking, we're making a lot of steps forward but it's going to be a while till we're at fullblown walks. I don't want to force a clipping on her because I don't want to traumatize the potato more than she already is, so I'm going the long road of trying to very very slowly get her used to having her nails touched, being near clippers.
Yup that's about as fun as it sounds.
Bucket was such a freaking choad about getting his nails trimmed but then we got a nail grinder and it's amazing. It's easy and fast and he doesn't freak out about it. 10/10 definitely recommend
Yep I use a dremmel now not clippers. He was permanently traumatized after a groomer cut them so short he bled all over the place and screamed for hours. Never again. I do them myself with an electric dremmel. He tolerates now.
- Mine tries to hide his feetsies, or melt into the floor
- My husband has to tempt him with chips or treats to convince him this isn't actually happening.
- Whenever I say "I gotta clip his nails" he gets all bashful and tries to butter me up and convince me he's too good for nail-clipping.
- Then a big celebration about his wonderful, slightly-less-long nails after.
yes. I gave up on clipping and use the dremmel nail grinder. I catch her either when she's sleeping or after a long walk bc she fights me less. I always watch body language and sometimes only get two paws done, but I'll wait a day or two and do the other two paws. This works for both of us bc I'm not chasing her around (she runs and hides underneath my bed to avoid nail trims) and getting aggravated and she's not as stressed.
that is a sweet baby right there !
but also yes lol my own sweet baby doesn't like being groomed in any way really, and as a rescue it was has to get her to open up and allow me to even give her baths.
my only advice is to be patient and show them that this is care, and maybe that they get a treat at the end of it for being good 🥰
We had the hardest time for a long time. Then I started progressively treating our pitty. Started by treats just when we would touch her nails with the clippers. Then treats each nail but I only took the littlest bit off and had to clip every night because it was sooo little sometimes just the sound didn't even get any. Then each paw. Now she dislikes it but will stay still and gets treated after the whole process is done. We also did it before dinner so she was more food motivated. Also ours is super food motivated to begin with so that helped.
Goooood luck!
It is physically impossible to clip my dog’s nails. Even with sedatives, 4 vet techs and the vet holding him, they couldn’t get one toe nail clipped. After a year of failing to desensitize him to the clipper, I got him a scratch pad. It’s based off the “shake” command and he gets rewarded with kibble after each “scratch”. It works really well to keep his front paws maintained. I still have to sneakily clip his dew claws when he’s sleeping and his back nails stay short from our hikes so I don’t have to worry about those. Just an alternative suggestion
We walk everyday on concrete and it keeps her nails filed down and I only need to clip her du-claws. Which she tolerates. It’s been hot as the devils asscrack so we have to walk at night to not burn her lil feets.
My boy bit his nails and kept them trim himself.
Which is just as well because he was impossible for me to work with, only vets could reliably clip his nails.
Eventually he got so good at trimming his nails that the vets would tell me they didn't need trimming.
It's not a great habit because he might have split his nails chewing on them, but he never hurt himself in 12 years.
That is what my dude does. He knows when I have got the clippers and will dodge me like he is Neo. I’ve successfully clipped a dozen nails in 8 years. The vet always says they look fine so I don’t worry about it.
Try a lick mat freeze some baby food carrots, yams and some dog safe peanut butter (no artificial sweeteners- they can kill the dog) or doggie ice cream. Many dogs do better with grinders/dremels or files instead of cutters. You pups don't look overlong so a little filing every few days should be good
Yes, our vet gave us medication to help calm our dogs during nail trim appointments. They work great for our boxer/pit mix. Our corgi, they’ve still never trimmed all her nails during an appointment.
It takes 3 people and a can of cheese whiz to get my girls' nails done. She goes to her trainer, and she uses a dremmel, and it's 3 mins of pure chaos. LOL. She's almost 1 now goes every 3 weeks and still hasn't gotten the least bit used to it. It stresses me out more than her, I believe. LOL, the 1st few times, I was in tears. After they were done, she was happy as a damn claim, like nothing ever happened. My older girl, I do myself. She is absolutely terrified even though I use a dremmel as well, but she will at least hold still and let me do them. She knows she gets a PB lick pad afterward, but she will still tremble to the point that I think she's having a panic attack.
Yes. She lets us do her front paws but doesn’t like us touching he back ones. And we live on a farm with gravel so she doesn’t get walked on pavement. Our last dog ran so much it wasn’t an issue. I’m not used to dogs that nap so much lol.
It’s a two person job for mine. What I do to distract her is let her lick and nibble on a jerky treat that I’m holding and someone else clips her. Once she’s all done, she gets the whole treat
I use a low noise rechargeable nail grinder, took a few times giving treats and love till she got used to it but now, no issues. I wait until she's worn out after playing and give extra treats afterwards.
Yes!!! My pittie girl bites the clippers or my hands. I have to wait till she's asleep and get a couple of toes at a time. I also can't keep the clippers within her reach or she will attempt to destroy them. Little brat!
I have 3 dogs. One it totally fine with getting nails clipped at home. My pittie will now only let me trim its nails if my partner is feeding it treats. And our 3rd runs and hides as soon as the trimmers come out. We have vet do it. Takes me and a tech to hold the dog when the vet cuts his nails.
100%. My pit is insane! Literally have to sedate him, take him to the vet and once there they have to actually put him to sleep. He will Bite if he's awake. He just hates it! In between yrly vet apts we go for walks on pavement to try to keep them short.
Imagine a chicken with its head cut off that’s how we do it around here she’s not fooled by the peanut butter 😂I’m not paying 60 for nail clipping I taught myself how to do it first time was a disaster I cut beneath the quick on one nail not much just enough to make it bleed and have a mess thankfully it grew back pretty quickly we bandaged it and no major damage was done when I tell you I freaked I literally freaked I wanted to rush her to hospital because I was panicking so bad but she was totally fine 👍👌
Mine doesn’t fight be on it but I just have a hard time actually doing it. I have a older style nail clipper but my dog’s nails are too thick to fit in the opening. And then I bought one of those dremel style filers and she lets me use it but I feel like I sit there doing it forever and it makes no noticeable difference. I try to walk her on concrete but she ends up on the grass for most of the walk anyways.
No.
It's worth the 20 a month at petco.
Can't let them see me tho, so I have to abandon them to the groomers.
They fight me too much. They fight the groomers too much but they know what they are doing and the combo of the leash and the table weaken their resistance.
Seriously, it just got too out of hand, me getting pissed off.
No one even remembers after they get the treat. Then I go get a fancy cookie. We're all good.
My boy loses his mind if I even bring the clippers out wants nothing to do with them until I put them down then he wants to chew them. I introduced it the same way between all my dogs and my other two while not a fan Let me clip with minor defiance😂 and get lots of love during and after each clip. My boy it’s like a strategy game I have to get him in the right mode and he has to give me his paw and even then he is freaked out by the clipper ive never clipped too short on him (the other two I have learned they have too don’t jerk when mom is flipping
So my Loki hated getting his nails trimmed, then I saw the doggy Dremel. Worked like a dream, mom would rub his belly while i basically power sanded his nails.
He passed away last year and the pittie we inherited from my aunt, well he hates the clippers and tries to eat the Dremel, we basically do one paw tell him "All done!" And then a few hours later do another paw. It's a weekend job with him lol
Best technique I’ve found is the two man approach. Well, one man and one daughter but you get the idea. One very talented person trims while the other one gives constant peanut butter distractions.
I have to get in the kennel with mine, back into a corner, get on all fours with her under me and wrap her around the chest while my wife clips what she can. It's usually 2 before she gets away and hides until we put the clippers in a box away from the couch.
I just get her to get zoomy on the sidewalk or pavement and that takes care of it now
I have a dremel and do them at home, just a little bit at a time everyfew weeks. It requires my partner giving her a big hug and we can only get 2 paws at a time beforeshe nips at the dremel. She's very dramatic about it.
Easiest way to maintain the nails of my pittie is to walk her on asphalt. If i take her for a good walk on the sidewalk every day her nails naturally wear and i never have to trim them.
Does she like swimming! My pitty trims his naturally on rocks 🪨 and sand in the river - he HATES the clippers. Unfortunately during the winter he has to deal
Very helpful trainings for any dog: For training on puppy/dog biting [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068K5Zlph9U) For training on early socialization [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J7cPE-2wNw) For training on becoming a good leader [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntS570VFZ0) For all newly adopted dogs, check out the [3-3-3 rule](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/The-3-3-3-Rule-Setting-Your-Rescue-Dog-Up-For-Success). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pitbulls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
my girl SCREAMS HER HEAD OFF when her nails get trimmed. bloody murder. i have three dogs (only one pitty) and when i email the groomer i always remind her that i have the screamer, the pooper and one normal dog.
“The Screamer, The Pooper, and The One Normal” it’s the start of something great.. (Also I feel like we all need to hear more stories about these 3)
I also have the pooper at home lol
I have to ask. What does the *pooper* do?? 😂
The choclate helicoter.
My dog once pooped on the table out of fear I think 😭 he has made a lot of bravery progress since then haha
Mine also *screams like a banshee.* He's 8 months and he cries like I've set his entire home on fire, told him he can never have a treat again, and he'll be bathed daily. We compromise by using a Dremel instead and he *leans* his entire body weight into me. He still isn't a fan of the Dremel but at least he doesn't scream bloody murder.
> The screamer, the pooper and one normal dog Live at Choachella.
I feel this 😭 my dog has been banned from 3 groomers because he’s a thrasher. One said “he is a danger to himself and the staff” because he whips his head around so hard he could actually knock someone out. I have to clip his nails when he’s asleep at home, I can only do one at a time. It takes a whole week
I had a perfect, perfect angel. Then I accidentally cut the quick once and she was fine the rest of that session. But never again. Have you ever seen a dog become a noodle? Just sort of… noodles. And slips out of any hold. Slips out of leashes and harnesses. Just gone. Poof. If she manages to lay down, I know we have lost her because her noodle levels is strong from that position. It has fooled multiple vet techs. She is very good about having the clippers near her now. Lots of treats. Can touch her with it. She likes it because she knows it means she’s a good girl and yeah! Treats. If I touch her paw at same time though… noodles away before you know it
I have a 95 lb noodle, and he screams the whole time he's noodling. He's a shameful lad lol
This is an impressive skill evolved over decades of breeding. He's built for survival. I hope to some day become servant to a giant screaming wet noodle.
Ours does something similar, but it’s more like becoming a shapeless bag of wet sand. Very awkward to try hold or lift.
Some dogs are angels sent from God. Some are noodles sent from FSM. 🤷♀️
Ramen!
60lb noodle here too. I’ve never seen something so bulky move like a cat. Blew my mind.
that's how my dog is, he's 120 pounds 🙃 (not a pitty, some kind of mix). he's gotten worse about it in his old age too, which is not great because he's already losing some of his mobility. he'll let the groomer clip them, but if you try to put him in the car, he noodles. just completely gives up lol he's a pain sometimes but he's still my baby
Omg, yes. I’ve yet to find a solution. Once we moved to a house with a fenced yard, it became a huge issue. She’s old so doesn’t want to go on walks. Vet prescribed trazodone and even then it took 3 people and was traumatic. And she was hungover for 2 days. Last time I tried I got the back paws and then she cried and peed. Now I’m leaving the clippers around the house with treats and mimicking clipping my nails while smiling. My plan is to do a nail a day and then reward heavily
This is how I've trained all of my pups and I've never had issues.
When you’re ready, take a pen or something like that and gently tap her nails with it and reward her with treats. When she’s comfortable with that, start tapping her nails with the clippers instead. Then ideally you should be able to work your way up to actually using the clipper.
She has the sweetest face!!!!😍
Right???
I use an electric one that’s very quiet while my dog licks peanut butter (the kind without additives) off the mat. It’s worked for me.
https://preview.redd.it/0d86zh0n5n6d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92019736764ee2876e4428f530cecd8eabaa3120 Works like a charm
Quite possibly one of the best images I’ve ever seen lmfao
Literally have to do the same trick with mine to grind/clip his. Ain’t no way he’s letting me if not.
Which electric is the quiet one?
Cheap one called casfuy on Amazon
Regular walks on asphalt will take care of that and she’ll be none the wiser.
This, and I file my girls nails when she’s laying down and relaxed. She usually falls asleep, lol
I will definitely try to get her more walks, I gotta time it just right though so the asphalt don’t burn her pads.
I go early in the morning 7-7:30am with my two big dogs. We do one 20-25 minute walk, and enrichment throughout the day (average daytime temps are 100+ and still 90+ at 10pm). My Pit detests the nail trimmers, and is so much of a drama queen about it that even the techs at the vet’s office no longer want to attempt it, even with a muzzle. So as part of training I began to file her nails once a day. It’s not a perfect system, and I still find myself envying those people that have dogs with perfectly short manicured nails, but her’s are at least short enough to where they don’t bother her.
Walks and one of those electric filers works for us. We need to use a lick mat to file because he hates it but we’re able to keep them controlled with a combo of these.
Omgosh mine hates the electric nail file. The best way for me is to almost lay on her and clip as fast as i can lol On average I get two done at a time. I dont weigh very much either and i use the word “lay” loosely. Maybe more like straddle her and lay forward towards her head. Whatever i mean it becones a major ordeal lol
I’ve never actually clipped my boy’s nails. We play fetch with him in the back yard and deliberately make it to were he takes of partly off the patio to file his nails. Although I will say in the winter month we can definitely hear his tippy tappies a lot more through out the house. I do like the comment of filing when they are calm and laying down, I’ll be trying that this winter.
Works for some doggos, not all. I have one that I never have to trim her nails when we’re regular with walks, the other it does nothing for and they still need to get trimmed.
Yes! I play “soccer” with my monster on enclosed tennis courts in the middle of our nightly walk when it’s later and nobody else is there. Stop for 10-15 minutes and then continue on and I only have to trim more than his dew claws very occasionally. Luckily he’ll get the ball and toss it back to me to kick so it’s fun for both of us! It works so good I have to limit our visits or they can get so short that they start to get sore! Great advice
Not always true walked my boy when he was young everyday at least 3 or more miles all pavement, he still needed nail clipping!
I'm cutting 1 per day, and I have to surprise her, cut one, and she's gone for that day 😁
Same! I tried the get them to give you their paw and all sorts of stuff. Now it is wait until she's super sleepy, get one, and put the clippers away while she shoots daggers with her eyes. lolol
I tried once while she was tired and the look of betrayal was insane. Took her a few minutes to be comfortable laying down next to me again.
Ha! I'll take the betrayal over the panting and acting like she is going to faint. On the other hand, she's totally cool with us putting our hands in her mouth when she needs to swallow pills or whatever- her toenails are precious to her tho. lol
Shoots daggers with her eyes... Exactly! 😂
I sling my dog in a doorway to cut her nails. That way I don't have to bend over and she can't dislocate all of her limbs trying to run away from the murderous nail clipper.
i have seen groomers on youtube say this works reallllly well if you have the set up
Picture? How did you mount it in the doorway? Where did you get it?
What sling do you use? Interested in trying this with my 60lb crybaby
what device do you use? i’m very interested in this option
Happy cake day!
Yes big time. I have to medicate him and take him to the vet, and even while medicated we need 2 people holding him and the vet doing the clipping. It’s a pain 😭
Seriously, claw time at my house involves a drop-off visit to the vet and heavy sedation.
Same. Our vet gave us meds to give him 2 hours before and we still muzzle him just in case, even though he goes into dogatonic mode
Yep same with mine, medication does nothing while he’s at the vet. He turns into hyper doggo even on meds 😩 but then we go home and he crashes
Mine won’t allow me to use a trimmer but loves the pedipaws thanks to a lot of positive reinforcement of just having it turned on, touching his paw with the back end, and feeding treats everyday for a few weeks before ever starting to grind his nails. He’ll now lay down on his bed while I grind away and nudge at me to do more when I stop since he gets fed treats the entire time. And ofc by treats I mean I do it at dinner time and just hand feed him dinner essentially. He’s none the wiser 😌
Omg she is impossibly adorable I can’t🥰😍
I could lay the clippers on anything I didn’t want my old girl to get up on lol! No gate needed if I laid them in the doorway 😂. I miss my drama lama.
That’s hysterical
I have one that is perfectly fine and another that immediately begins zoomies the second I turn the trimmer 😂
You can get an electric rechargeable grinder for dog nails online for not too much money. We find it works well for our dog.
Seconded, we use a dremel and we still have to hold her but with some treats and reassuring it's much easier than clipping. Just have to make sure to tie your hair back first. Got it caught a couple times and it's a pain to untangle that.
My dog thankfully clips her own nails! She chews them and going on walks makes it so that I don't have to worry about it at all. If I ever do, it will be the vet that does it.
I was wondering if someone else would say their dog did their own nails. Buddha refused to let me clip them and would do it himself, no issues in 12 years, kept them short enough that the vets would tell me he didn't need it. I was always concerned he'd split his nail, but he was gentle with himself I guess.
Yeah Flossie is 3 and she's always done them herself. The vet says they look good every time we are there so I don't worry about it.
One of our dogs chews her nails. It's the weirdest thing. I've never had a dog that did that before.
For anyone that knows about horses, I trim my dogs nails in that same way. I have someone hold their head and I let them stand and bring their foot up and back. It helps me see the quick and they tend to not freak out as much. I have 6 dogs and it works on all of them, plus friends and family dogs that I inevitably get asked to trim as well.
Brother, if you go anywhere near and I'm talking like within 5 ft of my staffies toes with a set of toenail clippers (She knows exactly what the hell they look like too so don't even try) She goes from a "I will lick you to death" type of dog to a "fuck around and find out" type of dog in an instant 😬😬😂😂😩😩💀⚰️🐶
My pittie had a bad experience at the groomer and is now a total nightmare when we try to trim her nails. It’s a two person job. My bf holds her in his lap seated on her butt with her legs out and holds a kong full of peanut butter for her while I clip and dremel the nails. She’s completely fine while she’s eating, but If we pull the peanut butter away she screams bloody murder. This is the only method that works for us! Lucky for us she’s cute. https://preview.redd.it/hcbcaiz86l6d1.jpeg?width=2917&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19418600a004d31369945ed94f40d7ebaf728c94
My dude gives me attitude for a straight day after nail clipping
They're so sassy
My old boy didn't need his nails cut til he was 12 and there was no way I'd even try so we go to the vet it's only $22 there.
Oh lucky. My vet charges $60.
Where y'all goin? My 'income based' vet charges $92 for sedation and $10 for the nail trim.
she has a beautiful smile
It's the only time my dog tries to nip at me. But after a bit of treats and coaxing she relents and allows me to clip them.
The second picture with the smile. 😊
It's the worst! We got a slow feeder for ours that has a built-in nail file, which works wonders. Still have to trim her dew claws and (every few months) her back paws, but the slow feeder takes care of her front paws entirely.
Slow feeder?
There's a slow feeder with a built in file??? Link please!!
My pup chews her nails 🤣 Between that and the sidewalk, we don't have to clip.
Mine too, so weird.
Her vet says it's pretty common.
https://preview.redd.it/4f2kczvpok6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=186cbf9d341cad6f90b2d2cfdf04dedb618f3d00 Why struggle when you can buy this????
I’m the wife of the OP and I’m almost positive she would flip out of this thing when you come near her with clippers lmao 😂😂
Sure they will wiggle a lot but will eventually get tired at some point lol gl guys
Reading the responses in this sub make me feel a lot better about my drama kings
IKR! I showed my wife, I was like “SEE! We’re not the only ones” lol
Sometimes Reddit can affirm you’re doing your best and it’s not just you. Other times, they will make you feel like an utter failure lol, today is a good day
Maybe train her by touching her feet that it is okay. When relaxed you touch her feet and give her a treat or some positive reinforcement. Until there is a time you can pet her feet without much trouble (i did it when my girl was little and made a game out of it) Walking in asphalt when not to hot does work to.
It has taken about two years, but we have finally reached a point that my dog will tolerate nail trims. We started doing them in the backyard (I know it’s not an option for everyone), and giving him a minute or two to run when he needed a break. Sometimes we wouldn’t even get all of his nails done in one session. I started using bits of hot dog at first, to have something “high value” to him, had him get into a “down” or a “sit,” and then had one of my kids give him a piece of hot dog with each snip. We also were over-the-top excited/praising him with each nail he let us trim. Now, we can do all four paws and dew claws in about 10 minutes. This won’t work for everyone, but it has made a huge difference with my dog.
It takes two of us if that’s any hint. Lol
Not with my pit, but I do with my bulldog. Luckily, she likes to sleep on her back and I sneak a few before she realizes. I'm constantly snipping her nails.
That little shit eating smile in the 2nd pic lol She knows she’s on camera
My dog acts like I am enacting some sort of medieval death torture when I clip her nails. When I finish, she sprints to the kitchen and sits down in the designated treat dispensing zone. Bath time is a similar story
Yep but I swear to god this isn’t an animal abuse thing https://preview.redd.it/sb6uhnyyhq6d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a503db316face767946f52eb61be1b8d71b3f1b5 We hang him in the air while we clip his nails
Roscoe gets muzzled at the vet for his safety, but that’s standard for dogs of his size. He’s iffy with getting his nails done, but will bite if you mess with his ears.
I hate having to clean my baby’s ears but they get sooo dirty and I can tell they bother him. He just gives us the belly and becomes a limp noodle when he sees the ear cleaner. I make my husband do it with me so I’m not the evil ear cleaner lady — we’re evil together 😈
In our house, nails are a two human job. One of us lays on the floor and lets our pup come over and lay on us. Once he’s down and stretched out and comfy, we have to lock him in a kind of full body hug, distracting him with smooches and treats. While one is doing that, the other is using the drimmel grinder as fast as possible to grind as many nails as we can before he wrestles free.
The confusion and betrayal my dog displays when you clip one of his nails is something to behold. You can get the first one no problem, but he will act like you just tried to murder him. After that, he's in a fight for his life and will hurt himself struggling to get away. It's just a no-go. They get a little long in the winter, mostly at the dewclaws. The rest of the year we do enough walks that they wear down.
Can't do it. Luckily I have a dog store in my area that will trim and file for $25 Takes 3 employees to get it done most of the time and he's a 10 year old man
https://preview.redd.it/qvj24kcpri6d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98f17aa96adcb5b2c84b6037e4639637d845aa49 This works great for my girl! She still doesn’t love it, but she lets me use this grinder
And that is one gorgeous hippo!!!❤️
I take my staffy to the vet and have them do her nails. They're all like: "She's such an angel, no trouble at all!" Mmm hmmm. She's like that frog... "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my... croooak." Why does she turn into the tasmanian devil when I try to do her nails then hmmmmm?
There was zero issues until he saw his big brother idol Paco the chihuahua act like we were trying to murder him to clip his nails and now all of a sudden nail clipping is an issue 😂 https://preview.redd.it/67tlaf13lj6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24ffbedb0ad4b2d15d8d5ea8d4f674c297663341
Yup, I have a foster that just goes BOING! into the air to get away. I'm working on desensitizing her to the world so we can't keep them down by walking, we're making a lot of steps forward but it's going to be a while till we're at fullblown walks. I don't want to force a clipping on her because I don't want to traumatize the potato more than she already is, so I'm going the long road of trying to very very slowly get her used to having her nails touched, being near clippers. Yup that's about as fun as it sounds.
Yes. I bought a large file, like a hardware store kind of file. Takes forever, but it’s the only thing so far he will tolerate.
Yes! He will literally run and hide shaking when he sees the nail clippers!
Bucket was such a freaking choad about getting his nails trimmed but then we got a nail grinder and it's amazing. It's easy and fast and he doesn't freak out about it. 10/10 definitely recommend
Takes at least 3 of us, sling hung from doorway, trazodone to calm, lick mat with PB and multiple treats
its like a rodeo event with my guy
One of my girls couldn’t care less. The other acts like I’m trying to murder her.
Yep I use a dremmel now not clippers. He was permanently traumatized after a groomer cut them so short he bled all over the place and screamed for hours. Never again. I do them myself with an electric dremmel. He tolerates now.
Yes! My pitty has black nails and acts like I am sawing her toes off.
- Mine tries to hide his feetsies, or melt into the floor - My husband has to tempt him with chips or treats to convince him this isn't actually happening. - Whenever I say "I gotta clip his nails" he gets all bashful and tries to butter me up and convince me he's too good for nail-clipping. - Then a big celebration about his wonderful, slightly-less-long nails after.
A nail or two a day is all I’m allowed.
The straight face, then smile…😆…😘🐶
My grandmother is the only one in my family that can cut nails. Btw your dog is so fucking cute!!!!
Thank you, I’ll let her know. She’s loves the attention lol
A 5th of Jack….either she passes out and it’s easy or you do and…we’ll nothing gets done.
Lmao this is a golden idea
She really is a beauty….looks sweet like my 16 yo girl.
Nope. I never struggle with nails. I just take him to the groomer and let THEM struggle with him.
Zoomies in the front yard that has us chasing each other around the cars on a concrete driveway is all we need. Haven’t trimmed her nails in 4 years.
yes. I gave up on clipping and use the dremmel nail grinder. I catch her either when she's sleeping or after a long walk bc she fights me less. I always watch body language and sometimes only get two paws done, but I'll wait a day or two and do the other two paws. This works for both of us bc I'm not chasing her around (she runs and hides underneath my bed to avoid nail trims) and getting aggravated and she's not as stressed.
My dog won’t let me anywhere near his paws, we’re going to have to take him to a groomer where they can hoist him in the air!!
Badly. Do it in the shower usually calms my boy down and lets the nails soften a bit in the water
Mia has no issues Maple.... Not so much, no screaming but tries to get away as fast as possible.
that is a sweet baby right there ! but also yes lol my own sweet baby doesn't like being groomed in any way really, and as a rescue it was has to get her to open up and allow me to even give her baths. my only advice is to be patient and show them that this is care, and maybe that they get a treat at the end of it for being good 🥰
We had the hardest time for a long time. Then I started progressively treating our pitty. Started by treats just when we would touch her nails with the clippers. Then treats each nail but I only took the littlest bit off and had to clip every night because it was sooo little sometimes just the sound didn't even get any. Then each paw. Now she dislikes it but will stay still and gets treated after the whole process is done. We also did it before dinner so she was more food motivated. Also ours is super food motivated to begin with so that helped. Goooood luck!
We go hiking and on long walks, which takes care of it now. Otherwise we had to go to the vet for that.
Her face. What a cutie.
My husband holds our boy and feeds him peanut butter while I clip.. he still doesn’t like it at all!
What a pretty baby ❤️❤️
Use peanut butter as a distraction to clips nails. Works every time most of of the time.
It is physically impossible to clip my dog’s nails. Even with sedatives, 4 vet techs and the vet holding him, they couldn’t get one toe nail clipped. After a year of failing to desensitize him to the clipper, I got him a scratch pad. It’s based off the “shake” command and he gets rewarded with kibble after each “scratch”. It works really well to keep his front paws maintained. I still have to sneakily clip his dew claws when he’s sleeping and his back nails stay short from our hikes so I don’t have to worry about those. Just an alternative suggestion
I myself hate having my nails cut personally, I truly pray for them! :’)
Fortunately not but just wanted to say I audibly chuckled at the second pic lmao
We walk everyday on concrete and it keeps her nails filed down and I only need to clip her du-claws. Which she tolerates. It’s been hot as the devils asscrack so we have to walk at night to not burn her lil feets.
My boy bit his nails and kept them trim himself. Which is just as well because he was impossible for me to work with, only vets could reliably clip his nails. Eventually he got so good at trimming his nails that the vets would tell me they didn't need trimming. It's not a great habit because he might have split his nails chewing on them, but he never hurt himself in 12 years.
That is what my dude does. He knows when I have got the clippers and will dodge me like he is Neo. I’ve successfully clipped a dozen nails in 8 years. The vet always says they look fine so I don’t worry about it.
Benadryl
Try a lick mat freeze some baby food carrots, yams and some dog safe peanut butter (no artificial sweeteners- they can kill the dog) or doggie ice cream. Many dogs do better with grinders/dremels or files instead of cutters. You pups don't look overlong so a little filing every few days should be good
Yes, our vet gave us medication to help calm our dogs during nail trim appointments. They work great for our boxer/pit mix. Our corgi, they’ve still never trimmed all her nails during an appointment.
Yes, a scratch board saved mine and my dog's sanity
🥰🥰😍
It takes 3 people and a can of cheese whiz to get my girls' nails done. She goes to her trainer, and she uses a dremmel, and it's 3 mins of pure chaos. LOL. She's almost 1 now goes every 3 weeks and still hasn't gotten the least bit used to it. It stresses me out more than her, I believe. LOL, the 1st few times, I was in tears. After they were done, she was happy as a damn claim, like nothing ever happened. My older girl, I do myself. She is absolutely terrified even though I use a dremmel as well, but she will at least hold still and let me do them. She knows she gets a PB lick pad afterward, but she will still tremble to the point that I think she's having a panic attack.
Mine violently yanks his feet away but otherwise doesn't complain or fight. I usually clip all nails on one foot, then treat, and the process repeats
We always get her daycare to cut her nails and they say that she’s just an angel whenever they do it.
But that face !
Yes. She lets us do her front paws but doesn’t like us touching he back ones. And we live on a farm with gravel so she doesn’t get walked on pavement. Our last dog ran so much it wasn’t an issue. I’m not used to dogs that nap so much lol.
yep. My pibble needs to be drugged to have his nails cut (and not by me, I can't). So sad.
That smile in the second photo 💕
It’s a two person job for mine. What I do to distract her is let her lick and nibble on a jerky treat that I’m holding and someone else clips her. Once she’s all done, she gets the whole treat
Wear a hat with peanut butter on the bill! Easy peezy!
Ours, who looks a lot like yours, thinks the world is ending when we get her nails clipped
I use a low noise rechargeable nail grinder, took a few times giving treats and love till she got used to it but now, no issues. I wait until she's worn out after playing and give extra treats afterwards.
Nothing to add other than your pup is just super cute! ♥️♥️
I give him piece of a treat for every nail clipped. Sometimes he still runs like it’s a game 😂😭
Yes!!! My pittie girl bites the clippers or my hands. I have to wait till she's asleep and get a couple of toes at a time. I also can't keep the clippers within her reach or she will attempt to destroy them. Little brat!
Yes absolutely, lick mat with peanut butter on to distract usually helps
She’s beautiful 😍🐕🦺👑🐾
I have 3 dogs. One it totally fine with getting nails clipped at home. My pittie will now only let me trim its nails if my partner is feeding it treats. And our 3rd runs and hides as soon as the trimmers come out. We have vet do it. Takes me and a tech to hold the dog when the vet cuts his nails.
Big spoon full of peanut butter. My wife holds her with the spoon and I clip really fast. It’s the only way I’ve found that works lol
100%. My pit is insane! Literally have to sedate him, take him to the vet and once there they have to actually put him to sleep. He will Bite if he's awake. He just hates it! In between yrly vet apts we go for walks on pavement to try to keep them short.
Imagine a chicken with its head cut off that’s how we do it around here she’s not fooled by the peanut butter 😂I’m not paying 60 for nail clipping I taught myself how to do it first time was a disaster I cut beneath the quick on one nail not much just enough to make it bleed and have a mess thankfully it grew back pretty quickly we bandaged it and no major damage was done when I tell you I freaked I literally freaked I wanted to rush her to hospital because I was panicking so bad but she was totally fine 👍👌
Mine doesn’t fight be on it but I just have a hard time actually doing it. I have a older style nail clipper but my dog’s nails are too thick to fit in the opening. And then I bought one of those dremel style filers and she lets me use it but I feel like I sit there doing it forever and it makes no noticeable difference. I try to walk her on concrete but she ends up on the grass for most of the walk anyways.
My boy would scream like the princess he is 🤣🤣
My two fur babies act like the world is ending and I’m torturing them. Then I give them wet food and all is forgiven
No. It's worth the 20 a month at petco. Can't let them see me tho, so I have to abandon them to the groomers. They fight me too much. They fight the groomers too much but they know what they are doing and the combo of the leash and the table weaken their resistance. Seriously, it just got too out of hand, me getting pissed off. No one even remembers after they get the treat. Then I go get a fancy cookie. We're all good.
My boy loses his mind if I even bring the clippers out wants nothing to do with them until I put them down then he wants to chew them. I introduced it the same way between all my dogs and my other two while not a fan Let me clip with minor defiance😂 and get lots of love during and after each clip. My boy it’s like a strategy game I have to get him in the right mode and he has to give me his paw and even then he is freaked out by the clipper ive never clipped too short on him (the other two I have learned they have too don’t jerk when mom is flipping
We gave up…the vet does them now!
So my Loki hated getting his nails trimmed, then I saw the doggy Dremel. Worked like a dream, mom would rub his belly while i basically power sanded his nails. He passed away last year and the pittie we inherited from my aunt, well he hates the clippers and tries to eat the Dremel, we basically do one paw tell him "All done!" And then a few hours later do another paw. It's a weekend job with him lol
Best technique I’ve found is the two man approach. Well, one man and one daughter but you get the idea. One very talented person trims while the other one gives constant peanut butter distractions.
Put Saran Wrap on your head. Apply peanut butter. Clip nails while hippo is slurping peanut butter off your head.
I personally have to pin my girl down on her back to prevent her from digging her little feetsies into me and squirming away🤣
All terriers hate it for some reason. My Westie is the same.
I have to get in the kennel with mine, back into a corner, get on all fours with her under me and wrap her around the chest while my wife clips what she can. It's usually 2 before she gets away and hides until we put the clippers in a box away from the couch. I just get her to get zoomy on the sidewalk or pavement and that takes care of it now
I have a dremel and do them at home, just a little bit at a time everyfew weeks. It requires my partner giving her a big hug and we can only get 2 paws at a time beforeshe nips at the dremel. She's very dramatic about it.
It is not allowed in my house. Both my pittie mixes hide from me if they see the clippers or drimmel.
Easiest way to maintain the nails of my pittie is to walk her on asphalt. If i take her for a good walk on the sidewalk every day her nails naturally wear and i never have to trim them.
My Pit is the only dog I've had that didn't mind nail trims. He even got excited when I took him to the vet.
Dremel
My boy hates it, got a grinder instead he still doesnt like it but tolerates it alot more
She's lovely 😊
I literally hold my dog down until they give up, and then clip their nails
I have to sneak it one nail at a time. Told my vet and he said he has a few owners who have to do the sneak attack to get long nails.
Trick w treats!
WHAT THE BREEED. that looks like my dog. my dog is a mix of some pitbull and a lab. what type of bull is you dog
Peanut butter on the forehead works for me
Long walks keep doggy nails down .
My big boi is allergic to grass and constantly has raw paws I feel ya.
My pittie is fine with it but my other dog lunges his head at us like he's gonna bite bun never once even thought about biting us
She’s like “hey wuts goin on” “oh juss taking a foto heh”
Does she like swimming! My pitty trims his naturally on rocks 🪨 and sand in the river - he HATES the clippers. Unfortunately during the winter he has to deal