Nail clipping terror

edited June 2008 in General
Sasha just hates having her nails trimmed. She freaks out completely, yelping and thrashing and screaming. Like nothing I've ever seen from her before. I have to pin her down under me to be able to cut her nails, otherwise she bolts and tries to wrench her paw from my grip. Her nails are very thick, jet black and long. I can't see the blood vessel in them at all, and clipping them is a challenge.

Today was especially bad. The paper towel under her paws looked like a war zone, there was so much blood. Sometimes she struggles so bad after I clip, I can't stop the bleeding trying to hold her down. She is afraid, and will even yelp and struggle if I miss the nail completely. Sometimes she will nip me. Today, I cut off too much from one of her back nails, and, with a yelp and a scream, Sasha pulled back, past my blocking arm, and bit me right in the nose. Her lower canine went into the nostril, and the upper one went on top of the nose. Surprisingly I wasn't angry at all, I carried on with the clipping. I knew that she would throw tantrums, that I had to stay there and keep going despite this. After her explosion, however, Sasha was, surprisingly, relatively calm throughout the rest of the procedure, like she had burned all her energy and ran out of it.
Thankfully there was only a little bit of blood in the nose.

Comments

  • edited November -1
    Wow, that sounds horrible. I'm so sorry you got bitten. I'm also very impressed you kept your head about you when it happened, I don't know if I would be able to.

    Joey is a complete terror with the nail clipping too. Lucy doesn't like it, but she will allow *me* to do it (not a groomer). Have you tried a dremel? I have heard that many dogs that don't do well with clippers tend to do better with the dremel provided it is introduced slowly and with positive association. Even if you don't cut the quick, using a clipper can put pressure on it which is what freaks out a lot of dogs (as I understand it). Romi once posted a link to the peticure which seems like a cheaper option than buying a whole dremel if you don't already have access to one.
  • edited November -1
    I let the groomer take care of nail issues. I can't be bothered with the temperments of necessities :-P Worth every penny...
  • edited November -1
    with Hachi's tendency to BM when we are trying to clip her nails, we are seriously considering the peticure!! Maybe we wouldn't have to keep an extra bag of starch or flour on hand for the rest of our lives!
    they haven't bit me yet - thank God!! How awful!
  • edited November -1
    What worked for Harlow was to wait until she was resting and then I would use a coarse emory board to gently file a couple nails. I would praise her and give her little treats. I started off just doing a couple of swipes of the emory board on a couple of nails and the session would end on a high note. I did this almost every day. Gradually I did more nails at a time and one day I just clipped a couple of nails like it was nothing new. Again there was lots of praise and little treats. She also has black nails and after cutting her too close a couple of times I pretty much just use the coarse emory board. I still give her treats during the process.
    Many people use a dremel but Harlow does not like weird noises so we're sticking with the emory board.
    Good luck!
  • edited June 2008
    Jazz hates the clippers but is completely fine with the dremel - of course her nails are pretty clear - Patty's suggestion looks really good, especially because of the black nails. Do you hold her paws at any other time?
  • edited November -1
    Bella absolutely hates having her nails trimmed. We finally broke down and bought a dremel tool a couple of weeks ago and are introducing it incredibly slowly to her. She seems to be doing a lot better with that than the trimmers (she would run as soon as she saw them and scream her little Shiba head off). She has gotten to the point where she will stand still and let me dremel one nail for a few seconds for a tasty treat. So hopefully in a couple of weeks, we will be able to fully grind a couple of nails down!
  • edited November -1
    Yeah, I think it would be a good idea for me to use something other than the clippers, like a dremel or emory board. I'll definitely try that. she gets so stressed that she doesn't even take treats. I do try to hold her paws sometimes to get her used to it. thanks for the advice everyone!

    surprisingly, Cobalt is the exact opposite, just a dream when it comes to nail clipping.
  • edited November -1
    We took Ninja and Portia into petsmart today for a nail clipping. Ninja has 4 black nails and the rest are clear. When I clip at home, I usually leave the black ones because im too scared to clip them.

    We walked in and the groomer was standing behind the little swinging door and he immediately started growling. I brought some cooked chicken for treats for them to give to him for when he would act up. I told her he was fearful of strangers, but she still approached him kind of fast. I told her to try giving him a piece of chicken. He took it from her and ate it and was growling while he took it and ate it - kind of funny. Anywho - she kept approaching him and trying to pet him. Surprisingly, he didn't snap at her or show his teeth, just lots of growling - she got to pet him a couple of times, but you could tell he was totally uncomfortable. So I decided that I would carry him and she would clip his nails while he was in my arms. He was fine then, didn't growl or anything while she was clipping and after she was done, she got to pet him more and he was fine.

    Portia on the other hand is a squirmer and absolutely hates it, regardless of any yummy treat we are trying to distract her with.
  • edited November -1
    That's not bad for Ninja! I'm glad you managed to keep him calm and he let himself be pet. Good boy Ninja! :-)
  • edited November -1
    I know! He is kind of freaking me out a little bit!
  • edited November -1
    Yes Akira absolutely hates getting his nails clipped.

    I keep the clippers in the same drawer as all his toys and chewys so he doesn't run right away but soon as i grab him....

    He bites the clippers, never me but he will bite the nail clippers and howl and growl. My wife won't even get involved it is such an ordeal. I usually grab him and sit cross leg with a leg lock on him. Like have him pinned under one leg. He has all black nails except one. I just cut them to the guard. One clip each nail is plenty. LOL

    I have seen an ad for the PETacure or whatever has anyone used it? Does it work well?
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