Sammy will not allow us to clip his nails

[Chris Paris]

I have had LOTS of dogs. I have always clipped their nails myself, and like to keep them maintained. Our newest family member, a Westie named Sammy that we rescued, just refuses to have his nails clipped. We believe he is about 2 to 3 years old, so he must have had some very bad experiences with this in the past.

He lets you do anything else you want to him. We can bathe him, take him in the car (he loves rides), brush him, brush his teeth... you name it. But just don't touch the nails! In fact, he starts to freak out if you just begin handling his paws. It is the only time he will bite.

Obviously his previous owner did something wrong.

I suppose I will have to bring him to the vet's for clipping, although I imagine they will have as much trouble as I do with it unless we knock him out (not an option!)

Anyone have any tips for a dog that just won't let you get near his nails?

[Dax]

I would simply get the clippers and sit on the floor with him. Some nice grooming, cuddling so he is at ease and happy.

Then I would touch the clippers to his feet without clipping. Reward for calmness. Continue to work with desensitization over several weeks. Let him sniff the clippers, let him move away if he wants to. Do everything to reassure him that he is not going to be forced.

[eXile]

Its obvious hes had some bad experiences with his paws, not neccessarily with the clippers. Dax gave you main just of it. Its going to be something your going to have to slowly ease into. Takes sometime but he will eventually begin to trust you.

[Autumnattic]

Our great dane was afraid to get his nails clipped. The vet did it for us.. They taught us how to help him.. instead of making him sit down, let him stand up, and bend his leg upward, kind of like picking a horses hoof. He does fine with it that way

[goldensammy]

i usually just sit down on the floor with my dog, and someone else just holds a treat that he'll nibble on while i cut his nails. He usually just starts to relax and mostly pays attention to just eating the treat.

[Dobified]

My last dog was like that, and it was from clipping them too short at one point. He would growl at me and literaly not alow me to do it. He would let the vet, so it cost me everytime it needed to be done. Needless to say it wasn't as often as it should have been. My dogs now allow me to, no problem.