Dog Nail Trimmers or Techniques

have you tried the pedi paw nail trimmer? It uses an emery board wheel to grind them down. Might not be as traumatic.

We use the Safari Professional Nail Trimmer for Dogs. Works great and isn't overly expensive. But neither of our dogs like the process so we have found that if we put peanut putter on our back glassdoor and let them go at it , we are able to get all their nails cut. Granted it leaves a mess for use to clean up, but it has been the only thing that works.

Thank you for the peanut butter idea Victoria Grinde! We have the wheel trimmer Cindy Sersig , thank you for the reminder. I had kind of forgotten about it. I will see what happens when I combine with peanut butter idea.

We had a dog with sensitive feet. You can probably train the dog out of it. Touch the feet everyday, give peanut butter while touching feet, etc. Vet is another story, unfortunately.

Here's the approach I used to getting my dogs to be okay with me using a Dremel to grind their nails. It takes a while but it's worth it -- the key is only moving forward once they are happy with the current level of exposure.
(1) The sound of the nail grinderFor one week, turn on the nail grinder then give them a treat. I generally do this three or four times a day in different locations so that they associate the sound with the treat.(2) Paw and grinderFor one week, turn on the grinder and then gently hold one paw and give a treat. Make sure to touch different paws each time.(3) Vibration of the grinderFor one week, turn on the grinder, grab a paw, and touch the butt end of the grinder to the paw, then treat (again multiple times a day, rotating paws).(4) Actual nail grindingFor one week, turn on the grinder, grab a paw, gently separate out a toe, and briefly touch the business end of the grinder to the nail, then treat.
After the month is over, the dog should be okay with having the grinder used on their nails.  Initially I give a treat for every nail, then over time I ease back to a treat for each paw. (Treats can be tiny, say a morsel of string cheese, so it's not a problem for calories or digestion.) The key to painless grinding is not to have the grinder in one place too long. If you've had a dremel used on your nails (and I have!) you know that it can heat up an area fast and that stings like the dickens. So when I do the dog's nails, I take a swipe on one side, then the other side, then across the top. I even do two complete rounds of the nails so that I'm not taking off much with each pass. You may also have to experiment with the speed the grinder rotates. Here's the Dremel version I use: smile.amazon.com/gp/product... (note that the picture that shows up is NOT what I'm linking to for some reason)

With two dogs, the cost of food, vets, nail trims and more can get pricey. So we decided to trim the nails at home. I've bought 4 different types. 3 were the manual, with different cutting styles. I tried each once, because I was so afraid of hurting the girls by going to far. The Dremel type seemed the best because it had a tip to protect the dogs nail from going to short. I ordered it from Amazon, (see pic) its quiet enough, the challenge was keeping them still long enough. We have also used Victorias peanut butter option. I still like to take them in for nail trims. I'll keep you posted on how nail trimming goes at home.