My dog wont let me clip her nails...and im the groomer!?

I groom my dog..and she is pretty easy to groom but when it comes to the nails she's like an angry lion...and she's only a little westie! it takes three people just to get the job done...i use the dog clippers...any suggestions on how i can do it on my own?My dog wont let me clip her nails...and im the groomer!?
As a groomer I have had similar problems, and my husband is able to help me do it by laying the dog down on our carpeted floor and him laying between his legs so he was sort of cradled belly up then on his sides. He held him for me and the dog allowed me then to clip his nails w/o a lot of fuss. Just make sure that you only take the tips at first for a while, so the dog begins to trust you not to cut into the quick. Trusting you for some dogs nails is very scary. If all else fails I have muzzled them and had someone help me by keeping the dog on his feet on my table and we did it as fast as we could.





Then, in extreme cases, (for your own pet!), you can give them a benadryl to calm them down. My 28 pound dog can have a 25 mg caplet.





I'm not a vet or vet tech, this is just my ways of handing my/some dogs,





Good luck!My dog wont let me clip her nails...and im the groomer!?
Get her used to you touching her paws first. Then get her used to the clipper touching her nails. Then clip one claw at a time. Treats help, as does petting and praise. Don't praise her (think of your tone of voice when you're trying to calm her down) when she wiggles - she'll think she's doing the right thing. Firmly say ';you're okay,'; and keep going - if she can get out of getting clipped by being a terror, she'll do it. My dog gets a lot worse when I'm clipping her nails, but she puts up with it. I trim her nails just before a walk, feeding, or playtime so she gets her mind off the ';trauma'; pretty quick.





Good luck!
Try doing something soothing to your dog with the nail cutters present. Brush your dog, pat her belly, things she likes and pick up the cutters and handle them around her but don't cut the nails. Do this for about a week getting her used to the tool being around and not having it associated with three people holding her down.


Then, at the end of the week, take a paw and barely clip the tip off of the nail. Settle her down in btw with petting, stay calm yourself while doing this! Get all her nails clipped very slightly.


Do the same the next week, having the tool around, touching her paws with it in your hand, but not clipping anything until the end of the week.


She'll get over her fear, but two things to avoid: Pinning the dog down or three people holding her down is very scary to her. So she panics.


Second, make sure not to cut back too far because it really hurts them when their vein is accidentally cut.
My amateur method? I have someone hold her in one arm while holding treats in the opposite hand. She's busy sniffing for the treats and doesn't pay attention to what I'm doing with the nail trimmer.
I've heard that they need to get used to having people touch their feet. Touch her feet a lot when you are playing with her so that she gets used to it and doesn't think it's bad.
I use a dremel , with a clippers your more likely to clip to far into the quick. I find this link very helpfull ,on the left is a link on how to dremel nails.


http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/d鈥?/a>





Also another trick a groomer suggested if she nips is to place a nylon over her head, this doesn't restrict breathing and prevents them from nipping.
I don't know how you can do it on your own but, what i do with my grandmas dogs ( they are little nippy dogs when you try!!) is i have her hold them and feed them treats or very small pieces of meat like hot dogs and after a few times of that it was easier. i think if you make it an extra special moment for them and only give them an extra special treat when you cut their nails they seem to associate it with something good they get in return
Our dog used to be the same way with her ears. She had an infection in one of her ears and it took months for my partner to gain her trust when it came to dealing with it (with the q-tips, drops, etc.), taking one of us to hold her down and one to administer the ear solution. Now Saffy will sit contently while her ears get examined and treated, but only with Jose. She still doesn't trust me to do the drops. We have the same issue with the nails, but only with her hind legs. She's getting better and her trust is increasing, but its still a dangerous procedure (she's beagle/Jack Russel, and a wiley one. Much stronger than they look). My advice is to just give it time, try to trim her nails when needed, but more often PRETEND to clip her nails more often so she gets used to the process.
I prefer to use a nail grinder. They don't seem to mind it %26amp; that's what my groomer uses. The only dog of mine it doesn't work on is my chow. Her nails are too thick but it should work well on yours. Otherwise, you may need to get a mild sedative for her until she gets used to it.
I am also a groomer a nd vet nurse, do not force her to have her nails cut, this is only making matters worse, westies are notorious for hating having their paws touched, so as another person answered here, walk her on paths and hard surfaces, or half her walk on hard ground, half on grass, most dogs nails do not have to be trimmed very often, so by walking on hard ground, this naturally files them....no more clipping.....yeaaaaaaa.


If all else fails, try her on a on natural rescue remedy....ANXIETY, is the name, helps with stress. or take her to your vet.
Since the time my dog was a puppy I would always play with his feet and make him lay still. I would make him lay down and pull on his legs and spread his toes apart. Now, he doesn't care what I do at all. I would do this to your dog a few times without clipping them so he gets used to the sensation. Then gradually do one or two nails at a time and then hopefully, he'll be able to go through the whole ordeal without any problems. Give him lots of treats if he's being a good boy so it's more of a pleasent experience for him.
A lot of westies are bad for their nails. I see this often in the shop.





I suggest any or all of the following:





Grooming table with TWO arms and nooses, one for the neck, one for the belly (make sure the belly one is a soft material so as not to irritate the hairless belly). The double noose system is safer and keeps the dog from throwing itself around too much and falling off the table.





A muzzle





An Elizabethan collar (they can try to bite, but they are blocked by the collar).





There is the odd dog that I have had to use both the muzzle and the collar.





Get your cute little dog all trussed up on the table, take a foot....and hang on. She'll probably have a hissy fit, screech and carry on like you're killing her. Ignore it, she's just being a drama queen. SMILE! Don't let go of the foot if you can help it, clip the nails as you are able. If she does happen to settle down, tell her she's a good girl and mean it. Otherwise don't say anything, don't get angry or frustrated, just clip. When you're done, give her a special treat, one she doesn't usually get.





Probably the next several times she'll be just as bad or even worse, but eventually she will realize that a) nail clipping doesn't hurt, b) it's gonna get done no matter what she does, and c) it's just not worth the effort.
In my experience, 25% of dogs don't care about having their nails trimmed, 50% don't like it but will tolerate it, and 25% absoluletly freak out and will fight to the death to avoid having it done. You may be able to do it with 2 people if you have one person hold her up in the air like a football, butt tucked under an arm, and the other arm against her head like a big bear hug, holding her as close to the body as possible. The vet can show you how it's done. I doubt you'll ever be able to do it solo, unless you sedate her. It has nothing to do with how she was raised, she was not ';previously abused';, she just doesn't want her feet touched. It's very common for a dog to act that way. Being a headstrong smart Westie doesn't help either : )
she fears you, she needs tied to a fence , and just playwith her feet , alot dont cut at all, whens she calms down , just clip one foot at a time .





i own a dane with the same problem, he is a bear
A lot of dogs hate their feet being touched, when she is sleeping or sitting with you, feel her paws often so she will get used to you touching them..My sons dogs used to bare her teeth and pretend to bite but he eventually got them cut.You have to be very firm with the dog.. don't let her get the upper hand.. or she will think she has won.persevere with her.
Have someone else do it.
I do as many of my dog's nails when he's asleep as I can. I use a scissors type clipper as I can see more clearly and I only slice (like a cold cut) the tip off each time to be sure I'm not cutting into the quick. I do this frequently and only a nail or two at a time.





I don't touch the foot, I just lightly enclose the tip of the nail with the clippers and clip. If there's no pressure on the foot, he doesn't wake up or if he does he just moves and goes back to sleep. It really helps if he sleeps on his back then all his nails are in the air.





It would be better to teach him better manners but, in the meantime, his nails are kept short.





I also think that clipping after a long walk and a good dinner makes things easier as well.
I agree that you need to touch her feet more in order to get her used to it.





I also use human nail clippers instead of the dog ones. I tend to draw blood with the dog clippers more :(





You can also take your dog to a professional groomer. And ask them to show you what needs to be done.
You wont have to worry about clipping her nails if she runs/walks a lot. I have a black lab and i haven't clipped his feet once. I just play with him or run him for a little everyday or every once in a while and his nails are naturally worn down.