[worldofwarcraft]

Sorry this is about my dobie and not my pit. Hope y'all don't mind.
I had my dobermans nails done today for the first time. They were super long, as he freaks every time you try to cut them. the last time I took him to a groomer he snapped at her, so she muzzled him, and then he was like a bucking bronco. He was just so scared. I made her stop. I asked the vet what to do with a dog like this. Cesar Millan isn't available, so she says we can give him a shot to put him under, dremel his nails, then give him another shot to reverse the anesthesia. I went to get him this afternoon and I was shocked! His nails look great, but that was all! He was still under the effects of the drug, terrified of everything. He lost control of his bladder and bowels when they brought him to me. He is now in my bathroom and after an hour of being home he finally layed down on his blanket. Now they tell me the drug might not wear off until later tonight!!!

I feel terrible for my poor dog! The vet made this sound like such not a bid deal. If I have to muzzle him and have him held down by 5 people next time that is what I will do.

Does anyone have a dog that freaks when it's time to get his nails cut? What do you do? I've tried doing it myself at home, making it nice, giving him treats and relaxing him. As soon as the clippers came close he growled. I've never been nervous of a dog of my own, but he's huge and i admit that did not make me eager to try again.

[paratayoma]

Hi. My dogs hate getting their nails done. My husband has to hold Jackson (my non-pit) in his lap with Jacks legs in the air for me to trim them. Brutis (my pit) used to like it, but now I think he seen that Jackson does not like so now he does not. He will let me get one leg done but that is it. I am going to buy the pet trimmer from walmart that I have seen on TV. I am hoping to buy it this weekend. I will post how it does. If anyone has one would you let me know how it is.

Niki

[worldofwarcraft]

Jack weighs 104 lbs., btw. I don't think holding him in my lap will work for us!

[shihoodiacarf]

Have you tried walking him on a rough surface, like a sidewalk or a paved road? Both will wear the the nails down naturally.

[boleroman]

I'm sorry that he's not feeling well, I hope he gets back into the swing of things. Apollo freaks out, so they don't get done. we cannot physically hold him down, and I am afraid I will rip a toe off when he jerks around. I haven't tried dremmeling yet, but I know him well enough to know its going to be just the same. I just hope they wear enough on the concrete, which usually they don't, especially in winter.

[worldofwarcraft]

Have you tried walking him on a rough surface, like a sidewalk or a paved road? Both will wear the the nails down naturally.

Yep, it works beautifully on his back feet , but not on all of his front toe nails. He has his dew claws, too (he was a shelter dog, so they weren't cut off). Thanks for trying!

[NickGrass]

Have you tried walking him on a rough surface, like a sidewalk or a paved road? Both will wear the the nails down naturally.

that's my suggestion, and precisely why I don't trim lol...could also be the big ass holes that my dog digs that wear the nails down naturally as well!

[Franchise]

Have you tried walking him on a rough surface, like a sidewalk or a paved road? Both will wear the the nails down naturally.

Agreeed.. Walking your dog/jogging with your dog in the road pavement should trim the nails if its long.. I havent cut rex's nails since he was a puppy and his nails are pretty trimed from the pavement..

[repldoinfo]

will he just not let you near his feet?

There are ways to work with dogs who are skittish with there feet but it takes a lot of time! basically its desensitizing them.

Otherwise Id suggest using maybe sandpaper and wiggle it on his nails here and there doesn't need to be a big ordeal at one time. Or wait til hes snoozing and just do a quick clip of a nail here and there.

[marcusdexz]

will he just not let you near his feet?

There are ways to work with dogs who are skittish with there feet but it takes a lot of time! basically its desensitizing them.

Otherwise Id suggest using maybe sandpaper and wiggle it on his nails here and there doesn't need to be a big ordeal at one time. Or wait til hes snoozing and just do a quick clip of a nail here and there.

The GSD i have now had such a problem with his nails. His nails were too long for his Therapy test so we had to have them cut past the quick when he was under for his hip x rays. I think that was the stupidest thing ive ever done to him. Ofcourse he didnt feel it being done and we put on steptic powder to stop the blood.

But the next time i had to trim them he wouldnt let me near his feet. He pulled, growled, yipped, bit, and whined. I tried to do it with a muzzel on and that wasnt working either. He was too stressed and i didnt want to put him through that.

He is a working dog and has good prey drive so here is what i did to fix what i had created:

First i put him on a 6 foot line and attatched it to a tieout in the field. I had his reward tug and started playing.

I took the tug back and trimmed one toenail. then gave him his tug as fast as i could and praised him up.

I continued each nail like this. if he wouldnt let me near id walk him in a circle, just like you would a horse, to calm him.

I kept up with this and noww we have no problems.

[freeringsf]

I have heard that you can take them to an enclosed tennis court and play fetch with them for about 30 mins and that wears their nails down wonderfully. Something about the surface of the tennis court. I don't know about the dew claws though. Look in health and nutrition, we have another member that has a lot of trouble with his dog at nail cutting time, his screen name is Proud Marine Dad. He can give you some tips, or at least, you two can get together and compare everything that doesn't work. Good luck!!

[tigoCeree]

Hershey has been under anesthetic only when we have done x-rays on his broken leg and then we clip his nails after those are taken, but normally I just put Hershey in a down position and then put up with his little hissy fit before I proceed to dremmel his toenails, sometimes I put his muzzle on if he's really acting up, but normally he settles down after a few minutes of me holding one of his feet and then he seems to put himself in some sort of trance (maybe his way of dealing with the stress). It did take a while to desensitize him to the dremmel and the noise it makes, but it was worth the time now that his fussing is limited to only a few minutes or so.
It sounds like your dog was given too much anesthetic, or that they didn't give him enough of the counter agent to wake him up, he was lethargic for too long a period of time. Hershey is normally back to his normal spastic self after an hour or so, but he gets the counter agent before we go home and he can walk out of the vets office, but I do have to lift him into my Yukon. My suggestion is to slowly desensitize your dog to the tools and then work on his downs and stays so that he will stay where you put him, it's going to be work, but will be well worth it. Good luck.

[mQb0aVZe]

Mine don't have to be sedated, but I had my share of challenges with some of the younger ones.
At work, we have the occasional dog that the owners can't trim and the staff can't get close enough to trim. Honestly, the experience doesn't get better with each trim for the dog when you have 5 people sit on him while he spews urine, poop and anal juices all over them. They would probably charge you at least double, and I would suggest you don't complain if you insist on having it done that way. Given that Dobes suffer from heartconditions quite frequently, I'd be worried about the dog dying under such undue stress.

Now, at the same time, I don't see why they would dremmel long nails.. It tends to heat up the nail tissue if you dremmel them too long and can actually cause the nail to slough off. Trimming would be smarter.

On to sedation.. very few drugs let the dog walk out of the building without some lasting effects. The only truely reversable drug is "Domitor".. but even with that protocol, you may see SOME sedation after reversal. Usually, it is mixed with Butorphanol (a Morphine derivative) to decrease the amount of Domitor being used. Domitor in patients with heart disease is contra-indicated. So.. almost everything else can stick around for at least 4 hours and up to 12. The opiods can cause dysphoria (where they howl and see white mice) and it can be stressy to observe. Let the docs know that his recovery wasn't quite what you had in mind.. if he ever needs actual anesthesia, this bit of info might be useful for future anesthetic protocols for your dog.

All the other options of going about desensitizing your dog would be best.. it's just the most work for you.

[Chiquita]

Nibs was terrified of having her nails cut.i just blindfolded her with my housecoat or a dish cloth so she couldnt see the clippers comming.Also i spent a ton of time handling her feet withput the clippers, Her nails were very,very long and no doubt caused her a lot of pain. Do you have sand near you?Digging in sand is great for filing down toenails

[worldofwarcraft]

Thanks for your advice, everyone. I do think that walking him a lot now will help to keep his nails short. I have only recently been able to walk the dogs as I had broken my leg badly a few years ago and it was hard to go any distance with the dogs. My husband just won't walk them. I do everything for the dogs. I just surgery two weeks ago to have the hardware taken out of my leg, so I'll be out of the dog walking business again for a few more weeks.

I know I'll do anything to avoid drugging him again. I do think that they o.d.'ed him or that he had a bad reaction. He was even acting like he was scared of me. I was expecting to see them bring this big, happy dog out to me, but they brought out a dog 1/2 his normal size because he was all shrunken down.

I'm taking my cat there today for shots, so you better believe I'll talk to them about it.

[tigoCeree]

Mine don't have to be sedated, but I had my share of challenges with some of the younger ones.
At work, we have the occasional dog that the owners can't trim and the staff can't get close enough to trim. Honestly, the experience doesn't get better with each trim for the dog when you have 5 people sit on him while he spews urine, poop and anal juices all over them. They would probably charge you at least double, and I would suggest you don't complain if you insist on having it done that way. Given that Dobes suffer from heartconditions quite frequently, I'd be worried about the dog dying under such undue stress.

Now, at the same time, I don't see why they would dremmel long nails.. It tends to heat up the nail tissue if you dremmel them too long and can actually cause the nail to slough off. Trimming would be smarter.

On to sedation.. very few drugs let the dog walk out of the building without some lasting effects. The only truely reversable drug is "Domitor".. but even with that protocol, you may see SOME sedation after reversal. Usually, it is mixed with Butorphanol (a Morphine derivative) to decrease the amount of Domitor being used. Domitor in patients with heart disease is contra-indicated. So.. almost everything else can stick around for at least 4 hours and up to 12. The opiods can cause dysphoria (where they howl and see white mice) and it can be stressy to observe. Let the docs know that his recovery wasn't quite what you had in mind.. if he ever needs actual anesthesia, this bit of info might be useful for future anesthetic protocols for your dog.

All the other options of going about desensitizing your dog would be best.. it's just the most work for you.

I dremmel Hershey's nails because they grow weird on his broken leg and we can't trim enough with the clippers, but I clip the others on his other 3 legs. The dremmel also allows for smoothing the rough edges, unlike the clipper, but you have to be careful not to work on the same nail too long as it can get hot.