Nail trimming help needed!

My GSD, Sadie/2 yrs old, is very submissive and freaks out easily. I've had many dogs over the years who I needed to train to accept pedicures. Sadie is a hard case for me, though.

I normally just show them the clippers, rub them with the clippers, touch their feet/nails, etc. and work my way patiently up to clipping, sometimes spacing it over days or even weeks. Sadie started by having total spaz fit. Then she 'progressed' to urinating in fear. I backed off to showing the clippers, setting them down in front of her so she knows I wasn't using them and petting her feet. She would still pee! I've been working at petting/rubbing/squeezing her nails now for two weeks. I want her to ACCEPT the clipping and not have to be forced down/held by my husband while I traumatize her.

She's finally okay with me doing this. I'm afraid to get the clippers out to try again. I prefer dremel, btw. but that seems even more traumatic for her at this point.

Would love feedback from those who have experienced this before and found what works. Groomers? I've considered a sedative. I know asprin can work as a mild sedative for dogs but it also increases blood flow and with her nerves, I don't need a bloody mess.

Help!

 

I was afraid of trimming Capone's nails when he was little, so I took him to the groomer and he came home with fleas. That was a nightmare! I now cut his nails myself, but he seemed to keep them down very well by running on the concrete driveway everyday. The only two nails I needed to trim are the inside, on the top ones.

I have my son holds Capone with a treat to distract him and quickly snip them short.

 

Poor guy. I know trimming hurts. Regardless on if you hit the quick or not, it pinches painfully like a nerve of a tooth. That's why I prefer to use a dremel. I just can't get Sadie to hold still for it. When I raised and showed dairy goats, having an A frame to play on with roof shingles worked as a magical self sanding station of playtime. Sadie is super high energy. I've been trying to think of something similar but with dogs' sensitive paws. Darn. She let me get two nails yesterday. I'm trying so hard to avoid making it more traumatic but I may be left with no choice. I can't just let them keep growing. But if I grab her and just do it, all my work to get her to this point (can 'brush' her feet and body with the nail trimmers) will be for naught.

My mom took her Chihuahua in to the groomers once because she was so freaked and they were long. Yeah. She man handled the dog, trimmed them super short and she bled like a stuck pig for a couple hours. Not all groomers are any good. Sorry you had to deal with the fleas. I'm lucky that my vet has a wonderful groomer. She's done a rescue cat that was full of matts once. GREAT job on hair and nails. Vet put him semi-under so he wasn't too stressed for bath and grooming. Only cost $80 even with the meds. But would be a mighty costly nail trim, I would think.

 

The money they charge for nail trimming and bathing around here are outrageous. I can't afford neither so I have to learn to do them myself. Lucky for me, Capone is not a fighter, and behaves very well when he must have a bath. The nail trimming thing, I still have to work on since without my son holding him, he won't let me touch his nails

 

http://www.thestar.com/life/2014/08/09/learn_to_clip_your_dogs_nails_and_not_its_trust.html
That article might help. I have been looking at my girls nails and they really don't look good at all. I tried once and never went back at the them. I was quite an ordeal.

 

Only Barbie the pekingese is easy for us to cut nails because she seems to enjoy. But the 2 male dogs, Tisoy and Pipoy are wary of the nail cutter. The moment they see it, they become berserk. We have a hard time cutting the nails of those 2 male dogs. But in the salon, the groomer has no problem with the nails of Tisoy and Pipoy. Maybe we are not doing it right or perhaps our dogs have been spoiled by us.