We adopted a big adult male Belgian Malinois and were fortunate to have info from his previous owner.
The previous owner talked an abusive neighbor into giving up the dog who was already traumatized by bad nail trimming.
In fact, the previous owner could hardly touch Chief's paws and had the vet do the trimming.
The vet had to tranquilize this dog for routine trims, Chief was that nervous and would growl and snap at the vet.
The dog was a basket case when it came to his paws.
Today Chief lets me trim his nails without incident.
Doesn't enjoy it totally, but no more growling or snapping at all and tolerates it very well.
The first thing I did was train Chief to wear a basket muzzle.
With his history of biting I had to stay safe and become the confident one during nail trimming.
I made sure I had the correct size muzzle for Chief and fed him dried liver treats through the opening of the muzzle.
It took a month of almost daily short sessions that gradually lengthened, but soon he saw the muzzle as a treat machine.
Muzzle = liver!
Then I moved on to muzzle = liver = nail trim.
I used a special, high value treat (dried liver bits) following each calm snip. I take only the very tips of the nail, no more than 1/8" to make sure I don't hit the quick.
I use a plier style clipper because it is quick, don't think our nervous dog would tolerate the noise and slower pace of a dremel style trimmer, and I see no advantage to prolonging the process.
And nail trimming always follows an exhausting exercise session. Chief and I retreat to a quiet spot away from visual distractions and other pets.
It took me a full year to reach the point we're at now. For weeks I would stop after just one nail clip, but it really helped build up Chief's confidence (and mine) in the process. Now nail trim = liver = muzzle.
It wasn't always without a growl at first, but we didn't stop on a bad note. I'd tell him No! for growling, then I'd let us both take a breath and do another nail, reward with treat, then we stopped.
I did not let the dog dictate when I stopped the trimming session but I did not push him too far, stopping after one more nail and always ending on a successful note.
Chief is an outdoor dog, kennel area is grass w/ some concrete in front of dog house, kennel gate and corners of the fence (30 x 40').
I trim his nails every 2-3 weeks and trim just the very tips, mostly to keep him comfortable with the procedure. I've found that a good run helps calm him before a trim.
In the end it's all about trust, and it takes a long time to transform a bad experience into one the dog will tolerate reliably. Even now I doubt Chief would stay calm for anyone else to do his nails, but he will with me.
We started with an 18 month old basket case and a breed that is famous for being challenging at times. If we can do it you can too!
