My dogs wont let there nails be cut at the vet, can I do it at home?

My chihuahua is aggresive and wont let his nails be cut. His nails are so long now. The vet cant do it anymore? Can I cut his nails at home, and how? What tool and is it safe, what is the best approach?My dogs wont let there nails be cut at the vet, can I do it at home?
He'll probably bite you, too, so get a groomer's muzzle and teach him to wear it first. Feed him wonderful treats through it a couple of times a day, so when he sees the muzzle he thinks ';treat dispenser!';





Then, get a nail clipper, and put it on the floor by his food bowl just before you feed him every day. Pick it up when mealtime is over. He'll soon learn that nail clipper = dinner time! Whee!





Then, get the nail clipper out and touch one foot with it without trying to clip anything, and then give him a wonderful treat. Go really slowly. Don't try to hold him for this yet, just sit on the floor and see if he'll let you just touch his toes with it for a treat.





Okay, you also need to teach him to be restrained. Can you hold him tight so he can't get away without getting bitten? He's going to need to learn that, so go gradually, starting with a teeny little hug. If you already know he isn't going to like that, put his muzzle on and just practice teeny little hugs. Gradually progress to holding him longer and more snug. Have someone else give him treats while you're doing that.





If you haven't already taught him to Shake, do teach that to him. Nearly all dogs are touchy about their teeth to some extent, so teaching Shake can teach him to accept having you handle his feet in other situations besides the Scary Nail Clipping session! When you have him giving you his feet, try then touching his toe with the clipper, again for a treat.





The key to doing this is to go very slowly and not scare or freak him out. If you're doing it right, it's going to be boring--- because the dog will not be freaking out at ALL.





I think you're going to need some professional help, and I'd recommend that you ask your vet for a referral to a trainer, or contact one from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers:





http://www.APDT.com





This process is called desensitization and counter-conditioning, and a trainer can help you with more of that process.





My guess is that your Chihuahua is aggressive in other situations, too, right? You should get a handle on those other situations, too, and a trainer can help you.





A dremel tool is good for dogs that don't mind having their feet handled, but IME, the buzzing, noise and vibrating are difficult for small and sensitive dogs. It is easier on them than using a nail trimmer, but you usually can't convince the little guys of that!





When you do get to the point where you can muzzle him, handle his feet safely, restrain him without him freaking out, then and only then should you try to trim a nail. Again, first you need to be able to touch his feet with the clipper at this point.





Get a wooden match and hold it under his foot, and simulate the nail clipping by just clipping the match.





Okay, if you can do all these things because you've worked up to it by working on it a few times a day when he's nice and relaxed (TV time!), then you're ready to just to ONE nail. Still using the muzzle, just shave off a piece of one nail while someone gives him treats.





If you have made this a nightly TV routine to play with his feet and get him used to it, then he's going to be fine if you've gone really slowly at it.





If, OTOH, he's getting worse instead of better, or you have a whole host of aggression issues with him, do contact a trainer. He can't go his whole life without having his nails done, and it's really stressful for him to be held down by strangers to do it.





In the future, please understand that this is part of puppy socialization, to teach him to accept being handled like this. Please promise me that the next puppy you will take to a puppy socialization class, so you and your other dogs will never be in the situation again. It's preventable if you start with a young puppy, but now this dog has learned to bite to make people stop handling him, and that's really not a good situation.





Good luck.My dogs wont let there nails be cut at the vet, can I do it at home?
It should be safe. You should get the clippers that only let the nail be cut so far and you can change the size setting. I have trouble with my dogs nails also. One of the dogs always bleeds. You should also get some of this stuff (sorry I forgot what its called) that you stick on the nail after you cut it to stop the bleeding just in case it does bleed. I have also heard you can put flour on it to stop the bleeding. Make sure you don't cut the nails too short because their nails are not like ours and have blood vessels inside. Hope this helps.
If he will let you cut them, then get a good brand clipper and make sure you can tell where the line is on the nail. If his nails are black, then I would take him to the vet- they can give you a muzzle and you can muzzle him before you give him to the tech. If you cut into the quick, then he will bleed badly.
I don't think any dog likes his feet to be touched. My dog didn't either, but she was docile. I would sit in good light, with my legs extended, I would lay her down on my legs, with her belly up and her head toward my feet. This would give me good visibility and the right angle to use the nail clipper. I would pet her and wait till she calmed down and got drowsy and then I could continue.





The hard part is the black nails, so I always preferred to be sure and take off just a little at a time to avoid bleeding and a bad experience. Just in case, you can buy styptic powder which stops any bleeding immediately.
of course you can, try the guillotine nail clippers because they can hold the nail still while positioning it to make a cut that won't cut the quick, the dog's nails don't bleed unless you cut the quick. have your vet show you where if the dogs nails are black, if they are white you should see the quick it is a pink/red part starting at the beginning of the toe going down the nail, you want to cut just enough to make sure the claws don't click and far enough away to not cut the quick ok? ^_^
Why cant the vet do it? If that vet cant, find another who can....find a grooming salon willing to help you. If the dog is a little turd about things, volunteer to bring him in muzzled so he wont bite anyone.


There is NO sense in this dog getting away with this behavior....


as I type this, I have scars around my wrists starring up at me, which are from restraining dogs who did not want their nails done.....these scars are years and years old......one particular series of scars came from a rat terror (no, I dont mean terrier....I mean TERROR)named Dirty. An intact male, who never so much as walked past any direction or instruction or discipline from his folks. It was a 15 pound dog and it took 3 of us (me and 2 other technicians) to trim his nails when he came into the clinic. If we could do this dogs nails....your dogs nails can be done.
you can do it at home, but i would advise against it. Dog nails are not like ours are. They have nerves in them and bleed when you cut them. If they bleed too much, they can die. If you want to try it yourself you will need a pair of dog nail clippers and plenty of guaze.
yes u can do it at home if the dog will let u and plus u have to becareful that u don,t cut the quick or he will bleed some , at the pet store they sell toenail clippers for dogs just becareful when u cut them ,don,t cut oast the whtie line in his nail , that the quick cut just above it
yes. go to your local pet store or any place you get your dog supplies and ask them which is best for your little guy. try having someone hold him with possibly a muzzle if he is going to bite. watch carefully at what you are doing because he would probablly get more aggressive if you end up cutting him.
um I only know how to get baby's nails to clip... not so sure about dogs.





I would say use your own nail clippers and clip about a centimeter off when they get too long. That's what I do for my dog, and he likes it just fine. :]
of course you can you just go to pet shop and buy the dog clippers but be for you do ask your vet how so you can learn to not harm the dog nail
you should do it at home and i have heard of this great nail clipper its not really a clipper. just type in google the best way to cut your dogs nails. (you might be hurting him thats why hes aggresive.
haha my pointer won't let me cut her nails period at home and she bit the vet so we had to have her put to sleep so she could get her nails cut. now she knows when we want her nails cut and freak out and bites the **** out of me
It would not be very safe to cut your own dogs nails, you might hurt him, or he might hurt you, seek professional advice, or try a different vet. Your local petshop also may have th answer.
I bet someone ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Maybe the vet,,,, accidentally cut into his blood..................vessles..........鈥? There's a Gizmo on TV they are selling that grinds the nail down like a nail file.......... Looks like it might wk........................
calm your dog down and try to get this nail filling thing called Peticure, it really helps and it doesn't hurt your dog, it even gets your pet's nails shorter than you would with clipping them
yes!


we cut my german chepards nails at home.


they actually have nail clippers for dogs at stores like petsmart or pet supplies.
ya i cut my dogs nails all the time and i also paint my dogs nails it is fun even though he is a boy
buy a dog-nail clipper and a small muzzle for him.


be careful not to hurt him or he may become even more aggressive
Get that one pet nail thing so you won't hurt your dog.
no dont beware wat kind of dogs r they
yeah theres stores that have dog nail cutters
You can try doing it at home, but make sure you purchase both nail clippers and a muzzle (if he's scared he *will* bite you). You'll also want some styptic powder to stop any bleeding if you happen to cut the quick. This will be at least a two person job if he is that aggressive at the vet.





Muzzle him and have someone hold him (either tucked into their body while they stand, or while he's placed on something like a counter). Gently hold his feet and try to see where the quick is, if he has white nails it's easy because you can see the pink part of the nail. If he has black nails it's a bit more difficult but you just have to go slow. Pay attention to the colour of the nail as you clip, when you see a grey/pink part appearing at the upper part of the cut nail then stop trimming.


http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/dog_n鈥?/a>





If he's very stressed by this, very aggressive, or very squirmy you may not be able to do it. Some dogs simply will not tolerate having their nails done. Sometimes it's fear based because someone has cut the quick before (it's really easy to accidentally do) or because they simply don't like having their feet touched.





If you can't do it at home, and the vet can't do it, then you'll need to consider sedation. Honestly, if the vet can't trim his nails anymore then he's got to be quite a difficult case and is likely very upset by the whole procedure. This likely means that they were unable to safely restrain him. Sedation makes it easier on him and the staff at the clinic.