It can be one of the most challenging things I’m asked to do as a veterinarian: Could you trim my dog or cat’s toenails?
Frequently, by the time a client is bringing a pet to us for a nail trim, it’s because no one else can do it. The expectation that somehow our staff will magically be able to perform this task after half a dozen or so other people have tried and failed is a tough one to overcome.
What many people don’t realize is can take up to one thousand good experiences to negate a single negative one. And once an animal has experienced being muscled down in order to facilitate a nail trim, the process of retraining your pet to accept this without fear or aggression may well mean that for the time being, your pet won’t be getting the nails trimmed the way you’d like them to be.
Before we discuss the re-training process on a failed nail trimming pet, let’s talk about starting out on the right paw, so to speak.
If you are fortunate enough to have adopted your pet as a young puppy or kitten, you’re in luck. You can start out teaching your young pet to accept nail trimming with lots of treats and gentle handling. I usually recommend using a human toenail trimmer at this stage, as you are both learning this process at the same time, and I find you have better control with a human nail clipper. Your pet’s nails are quite small at this juncture, and it is easier not to take too much off with the human nail clippers. As my pet gets larger (especially big dogs), I tend to switch to a scissors-type clipper. I’m not fond of the clippers that have a blade that slides forward to cut the nail, as many animals seem to act as though this pinches the nail. I prefer continuing to use human nail clippers even on adult cats, though at times cat-specific clippers may be needed, especially for ingrown nails.
Because cat’s nails are retractable, it helps to gently squeeze the paw to make the nails extend, and then you can just tip them with the clippers. Cats need access to scratching poles to shed the nail caps of old growth, and older cats no longer using poles will frequently get painful ingrown nails. Cats with extra toes frequently have similar issues with ingrown nails as they often can’t scratch with the extra toes, and even though declawing in general is not recommended, there are times when your vet may recommend declawing just the extra toes to prevent recurrent issues with growth.
Ideally, during the training process, it is helpful to have some assistance: one person to hold the puppy and give out treats while someone else trims the nails. The most important part about these sessions is that you don’t frighten the pet, or attempt to do too many nails at one time if you are meeting resistance on their part. You don’t want to teach your pet that fighting is the way out of doing something they don’t want to do, but you also don’t want nail trimming (or anything else for that matter) to turn into a major battle. I recommend starting the training within a day or two of adoption, and plan in advance to only clip one or two nails, with lots of praise and treats. Then come back again the next day and attempt a few more. Take your time. Also, choose your time wisely–a good time to attempt nail trimming is after your puppy has been playing hard and is tired.
The nails of young animals frequently have a defined “hook” at the tip that makes it easy to judge how much to take off. Just be sure to trim less than you think you can at first until both you and your pet are comfortable with the process.
I sometimes use a grinder or nail file post clipping, but not at first (one lesson at a time, build up to grinding) and not as the sole means of keeping the nails short. Used incorrectly, a grinder can overheat and burn the nail, and make your pet fearful of not only grinders but motorized clippers/shears too. The length of time it takes to grind down a long nail is longer than you realize. Best to shorten the nail first and take down the sharp edges with a grinder or file.
Just like us, animals have a nail that extends beyond the pink fleshy bit. If you’re lucky and your pet has some white nails, you can use those to judge how much to trim off the others. Cutting the nails too short WILL hurt and can make them bleed as well. This is something you want to avoid during the training and trust period so be very conservative at first. Nails grow at the rate of roughly 1/4 inch per month. You have plenty of time to go slow and teach good experiences from the start.
Short, frequent sessions with lots of praise and high value rewards (usually the kind of treat reserved for this procedure only) is the best, most reliable way to teach a puppy or kitten to have their nails cut. They now make “lick it” type cat treats that work very well for this sort of thing too. Once I teach my pets to have their nails trimmed, I usually don’t need any assistance whatsoever. I still be sure to reward them during the clipping process and again when we’re done.
Many people don’t realize that the pink part visible inside a white nail will bleed if cut, and that the blood supply can extend further than readily visible to the naked eye. We often get requests for nail trims “as short as possible” and then clients are disappointed when we don’t cut the nails back the way they would prefer. ‘Stop Quik‘ and styptic pencils used to stop bleeding if you get the nails too short can sting when applied, and this just compounds the negative experience. When in doubt, take off less.
I also prefer to have someone suspend a small dog or puppy in their arms when I’m trimming nails. This allows me to get beneath the paws and have a clear visual on how much to trim while at the same time preventing the patient from pushing off the table or floor with their feet. Again, someone is giving out treats the entire time–usually something high value like squeeze cheese or peanut butter. We have to be careful using peanut butter in a clinical setting as we must be cognizant of clients with peanut allergies, but this is certainly something you can try at home. I personally think most dogs get tired of peanut butter quickly, and it may be hard to perform a complete nail trim using it. Experiment with treats to find the one your dog really likes for this procedure. It may not be the same thing you’d use in different circumstances.
I’m sure you’ve seen or heard of people putting peanut butter on Saran wrap on their foreheads or on a hat and trimming their dogs nails without assistance while the pet licks their heads. I’m not a huge fan of this myself, as I think there is a risk putting your face that close to an animal who may or may not tolerate nail clipping. This is definitely not something I would try with an adult animal who has issues with nail trimming. I have, however, put peanut butter, squeeze cheese/cream cheese, or canned cat food on the wall at nose level while someone holds the pet in place and I clip nails.
Some people report excellent success using slings to hold their dogs up while trimming nails. This is similar to what I do in a clinical setting with an assistant, and I think it is worth considering.
Why does “slinging” a pet seem to work? Because in order to prevent a dog from wiggling out of your grasp, or pulling its paw away just as you go to snip, or worse, trying to bite you during the process, we typically hold the dog in a precise manner: one arm stabilizing the body, and one arm around the neck to control the head and keep the dog from biting at your hands. This is a common position for many procedures during the course of examining a dog, administering vaccinations, taking temperatures, placing a catheter, drawing blood samples, and yes, clipping nails…
Teaching your young animal to accept being held in this manner by a variety of people, including lots of high value rewards during the process is something I highly recommend. I encourage clients with new pets to practice these techniques regularly with young animals to develop trust even when it comes to performing unpleasant tasks.
But if your pet has a bad experience during nail clipping, in which several people attempt to forcibly hold your pet in place to perform the trimming, this will not only teach your pet to become highly resistant to nail clipping, but to ALL the procedures we need to perform at the vet’s office. Some animals seem more comfortable and less panicky in a sling than being body-hugged by several people. Slinging controls the body while keeping the trimmer’s hands to stay out of reach of the dog’s mouth and allows for excellent visualization of the feet. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to necessary restraint for medical procedures.
Sometimes, less is more when it comes to necessary restraint for medical procedures.
In order to take the “less is more” approach, however, and still ensure the procedure is performed (whatever that may be) as well as maintain the safety of all involved, sometimes this means muzzling your dog (or putting a specially-designed globe on your cat’s head like a spaceman’s helmet) so that only minimal restraint is necessary. Muzzling + high value food reward (such as fresh cooked chicken or tuna) + minimal restraint (someone lightly keeping the animal in one place or using a sling) can be more effective and less traumatic for EVERYONE than calling in three or four people to man-handle the pet into compliance. Most animals will fight even harder if forcibly restrained, to the point of injuring themselves and those holding them, and you’re teaching them that such procedures are bad, scary things. Animals with flat faces (such as Pugs or Persians) who can’t breathe well in the first place, justifiably panic if you attempt to keep their mouth closed during a nail trim.
Because we want to take our time with a fearful, aggressive patient that presents for a nail trim, I usually recommend the client purchase a basket muzzle and teach the dog to accept wearing it at home in a non-scary situation. Basket muzzles are designed to allow your dog to pant, drink water, and accept treats. They can wear these muzzles for a longer period of time than the traditional cloth muzzles, which can cause a dog to overheat quickly and is disastrous for a dog who can’t breathe through its nose. I also advise the client we many only get one or two nails done–our goal is to make the visit as happy as possible. I may recommend anti-anxiety medication or tranquilizers as well. I tell people up front that it is more important that we have a good nail clipping experience than to get all the nails trimmed.
I often see resistance on the part of owners to the idea of using a basket muzzle on their fearful or aggressive dogs for vet visits. I can understand their concern. We aren’t saying your dog is a bad dog, however. We’re recognizing the anxiety your pet experiences coming to the vet for medical procedures and by taking the option of biting out of the picture–as well as lowering the risk to all handlers–we’ve seen HUGE differences in the level of comfort and cooperation many of these dogs exhibit when someone tries to hold them safely. It’s the restraint for the procedure that is often the biggest problem, not the act of drawing blood or administering vaccines. Wearing the muzzle while not being forcibly held in place allows for positive reinforcement and reconditioning of a negative experience.
Unfortunately, by the time I see a pet for a nail trim, it is often because several other people have tried to manhandle the pet into compliance. Now the pet is fearful and aggressive about nail-trimming–and justifiably so. Nail trimming is often the one thing that even when we practice all the fear-reducing and safety protocols recommended, we still might not be able to do the nail trim. Remember, it can take a thousand good experiences to negate a bad one, and re-training a dog to accept nail clipping is a long, painstaking procedure that is not always successful. Some dogs need medication to manage their anxiety during the training process. Some dogs, due to the potential for human injury, can only have their nails done under general sedation, which is not practical on a regular basis.
The key to having a dog or cat that allows you to trim their nails is start early and practice regularly. You can’t wait until a dog is nine months old and then decide to take it someplace to get a supershort nail trim because the dog is scratching you when it jumps on you or damaging your flooring. Teach your dog not to jump or paw people. Teach your puppy to have its nails clipped frequently as a baby and practice on a regular basis as it grows up.
What if you’ve adopted an adult or adolescent animal who has never had its nails done and won’t allow you to do so? My recommendation is start out as though they were puppies: have a person help with holding and giving out treats while someone clips one or two nails and then STOP. Come back and do a few more the next day. Be very conservative with your trimming, especially rear nails, which are often worn shorter or black nails when you can’t judge how much to take off. You must build that level of trust in order to successfully teach nail trimming. And if your new dog gives you indications this is not something they are comfortable having you do–or you yourself are not comfortable attempting a nail trim–seek professional help. But be your dog’s advocate. Tell whoever it may be that your goal is teaching a happy nail trim–NOT forcing your dog into submission to “get the job done”. That may work once… but never again.
I train all my dogs to have their nails done as puppies. I train them to trust that whatever I do, good things will follow–including cleaning ears, opening their mouths, trading one toy for another, standing for examination, etc.
I used to have one of my dogs professionally groomed. Every time I dropped him off at the groomers, I made a point of telling them not to do his nails; I do them myself.
I forgot ONE TIME to mention this at drop off. When I came to pick my dog up, the groomer met me at the door. “We don’t normally do his nails, do we?”
“Oh no,” I said. “I take care of those.”
She made a face. “I didn’t think so. We tried, and he wasn’t very good about it, so we quit.”
I didn’t think much about it at the time. A few weeks later, when I went to trim his nails, he whined and pulled his feet away and was generally uncooperative, but I eventually got them done. I was probably sterner than I should have been, not recognizing his anxiety or why he was behaving like that but it didn’t dawn on me what was going on, in part because no one was holding him for the procedure. I didn’t think too much about it until a month later when he had to be sedated for a biopsy. When the assistant put her arms around him in the typical position to restrain for an injection–similar to the position when someone holds for a nail trim–he screamed like he was being boiled alive in oil. If ever a dog had a PTSD flashback, that was what it would look like. His eyes dilated to black holes and his gums went white. He clearly didn’t recognize me or anyone working with him. We couldn’t calm him down until we let him go. It was a horrible thing to witness. Worse to know that I’d somehow allowed this to happen to him without even realizing it.
It was only then I connected the dots. That “attempt” to clip his nails had to have been a bad one. I had to retrain him from the ground up to accept being held for various procedures and the only reason it worked is because the groundwork for trust had already been laid in the first place. We just had to uncover it again, slowly, with lots of love and patience. As it was, the rest of his life, I had to be present for any sort of procedure that required his being held. He wouldn’t let anyone else do it.
If the trust isn’t there to start, then you may never be able to undo a bad nail trimming experience. For some reason, this seems to apply more to nail trimming than almost any other medical procedure we perform on animals. Perhaps it is because animals are instinctively foot-protective. Perhaps it is because a broken nail is very painful. I think a large part of it is because many people do not lay the proper groundwork for this procedure and then don’t understand what went wrong when your pet won’t allow it. You may not have been the one to violate your pet’s trust in the first place. But trust is the foundation for successful nail clipping.
