Big Dog and Nail Clipping?

Question

I have a big boy—a year old German Shepherd puppy named Baloo who is just about 115 pounds. Despite his size he is a sweetheart even if he has a ton of energy! We love Baloo but his nails are absolutely huge, and he scratches us and objects accidentally all the time. Besides when he was a little puppy and small enough to restrain, we’ve never been able to clip his nails ourselves—it’s hard when a dog this big wriggles around and does everything in his power to get away, because he HATES it. In order to get it done, we have to take him to the vet(and he had them done when he was drugged) or the groomer’s but we’d rather do it ourselves to save the money. Anyone know any tricks? Currently trying to get him used to us touching his paws!

Answer 1

Your starting in the right place. Get him used to having his paws touched. This means playing with his feet constantly.



You’ll also want to start a “give me your paw” trick. It’s pretty simple to teach just like shake.



And you’ll want to train him to leave his paw in your hand for long periods of time. Basically that involves holding his paws and giving him treats and slowly building up his tolerance of how long you can hold his paw.



A consistent stay, particularly in the stand position wouldn’t hurt anything.



And of course teaching the stand command.



Then get him used to the clippers, put them in his food dish so he has to eat around them and so he connects them with good things. Pet him with them, pet his paws with them. Get him used to the feel of metal against his toenails.



The first couple of times you clip his nails only take the very tip off. You want 10 good experiences in his head before you have any bad ones. If you clip too far you want another 10 good ones again.

Answer 2

● "Big Dog and Nail Clipping"



That was supposed to be your main Question - but it asks us nothing.

Not until your 2nd-to-last sentence do you ask ask a question - but it is incomplete. Your question was probably meant to be:

◊ "How do you clip your big dog's nails?"



I avoid it! Well-bred, well-reared, well-exercised dogs keep their nails short by friction.



● "I have a big boy - a year old German Shepherd puppy named Baloo who is just about 115 pounds."



He IS a big dog, but his weight is NOT within the Standard of the GSD. Unlike many breeds, the real GSD standard sets lots of LIMITS.

Study: http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/166g01-en.pdf

It will tell you that, for a male GSD, the size limits are:

59-66cm (23¼-26") and 30-40 kg (66-88 lbs).

So he is 1⅓ BIG German Shepherd Dogs, or 1¾ small GSDs!



● "... nails are absolutely huge, and he scratches us and objects accidentally all the time."



You are not HOUSING him properly, not EXERCISING him properly (possibly not feeding him properly to provide the essential balance of vitamin D + calcium + phosphorous for building firm bones & ligaments & nails), and haven't TRAINED him properly.

The more intelligent a dog, the more important that it's OWNER is in a competent TRAINING class, getting COACHED for a year or so starting when Pup is 18-22 weeks old.

GSDs are #3 in the list of intelligent dogs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligence_of_Dogs



💥#1: So organising your admission to such a weekly or twice-weekly class is VITAL!



● "In order to get it done, we have to take him to the vet(and he had them done when he was drugged).



That IS the only way it can be done without changing all the wrong things you are used to doing.

Yes, as others have told you, you DO need to get him used to having his paws touched. But that is NOT going to be a "quick fix".

In addition, you DEFINITELY need to address the reason he doesn't keep the nails short in his day to day life-style.



💥#2: MEASURE him properly - "about 115 lbs" is a GUESS, not a measurement.

Click: https://mygermanshepherd.org/how-to-measure-your-dogs-height-and-weight/ if you need a "How to ..."

🐕Stand him against a corner or a door or wall. Mark where the top of his withers (vertically above his elbow when he is standing on all 4 feet) reach to. The withers are NOT the tops of the shoulder-blades - they are the 8 bones between the neck and the back. Measure and record the height, then move the dog away and bring him back. Repeat the measuring at least 3 times and average the heights.

🐕You might need to arrange to stand him on the scales at a farm-supplies store or in the cargo section of an airport. Otherwise, someone standing on your bathroom scales lifts him off the ground - and HOPES that the combined weight (dog+person) is less than the limit for that bathroom scale! When the reading is steady, someone writes it down. The lifter then gets back on the scales and takes his/her own weight measurement and writes it down. "Combined" minus "holder" = WEIGHT of dog.

The closer to 59 cm / 23¼inches he is, the closer to 30 kg / 66 lbs he should be.

The closer to 66 cm / 26 inches he is, the closer to 40kg / 88 lbs he should be.

I'm NOT going to guess what height a FIT GSD might be to justify it weighing "about 115 lbs"!

My expectation is that your dog is obese - but I'm also well aware that many Brits and NAmericans haven't a clue about what GSDs are for, and so victims of the "Texas Syndrome" think that the dog has to be BIGGER in order to be any good. And weight increases faster than height does.

Because Y!A is so stingy about activating web-links, from here on you'll need to copy& past the links into your browser' address line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO4gKn6t9w4

demonstrates what a FIT GSD can do when there are no sheep to keep calmly grazing.



Anyway, back to your query.

There is a sad likelihood that your pet's weight has resulted in his pasterns and toes not being steep enough to keep his nails pointing downwards.

https://www.ukcdogs.com/images/breeds/german-shepherd-dog.jpg

has good toes, but his pasterns are much too low/shallow.



💥#3: So get some weight off him (the simplest is to supply only ¾ of his past amount of food, plus EXERCISE him). You SHOULD be able to easily tell where each of his ribs is. If he has the StockHaar coat (guard-hairs over his shoulders no more than 5cm/2" long) you should SEE each rib outlined by the muscles working over it when he is racing around - but once he has rested you should see no more than maybe the rear edge of his very last rib.



💥#4: Your pet NEEDS to have a concrete-floored pen to walk around, constantly abrading his nail tips just as sandpaper abrades whatever rubs against it. So get that pen built! (It needs a raised sleeping box at the far end.) Next time you have the vet shorten his nails, wait 7-10 days for any cuts into the "quick" to seal, then WALK him on your concrete paths, and the town's concrete sidewalks.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



😛 To discuss GSDs, join some groups such as

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/GSD_Friendly/info

by sending an e-mail about your GSD & yourself to the Subscribe address on that page.

The people in them KNOW about GSDs. Plus you can include several actual photos in your posts.

To find other groups or breeds, type the breed-name into the top field of

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/dir

then choose a couple of groups to Join - use the group's

Message History

on its /info page to make sure that it still has members who are ACTIVE.



😛 Add

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/The_GSD_Source/info

to your browser, so that you can easily look up all sorts of information about dogs, especially GSDs. It is an "encyclopaedia" group (to which members can ask for new sources to be added), not a discussion group.



King Les The Lofty - first pup in 1950; GSD breeder & trainer as of 1968

Answer 3

Obviously you failed in conditioning him to being handled/groomed, which should have begun the moment the dog was acquired, not the dogs fault, but yours. It has nothing to do with his size/strength but lack of training on your part, a properly trained/conditioned dog can be handled by a small child. Drugging is not necessary and is harmful to the dog if done repeatedly. I'd find another vet, that knows how to handle difficult dogs, with competent staff.



There's no shame in seeking professional help for yourself, such as a trainer/behaviorist, if need be.

Answer 4

I have several big boys that would sooner take your hand off then get their nails done, biggest boy is over 200 pounds.



Secret weapons.



1. Training. Shake hands, give paw, right and left paw.

2 train, treat and praise, train , treat, praise

3 repeat steps 1 and 2

4. When done training for the session, food reward of some type goes a long way.



I play with my guts feet, including give right paw, give left paw. I also brush their legs with soft brush down to paw, I touch their nails one by one with brush or clippers every single day. It’s part game part ‘grooming tim’ that theybsit patiently waiting for brushing and loving on, their rewards are me saying ‘all done, good boy’ and they get one milk bone for putting up with 5 minutes of prodding.



It used to be a $50.00vet call with sedation and getting charged extra if they expressed their own anal glands on the staff (that’s how hard they fought when they first came in). Took a couple months before they understood the dremmel was a great treat giving device and if they got their nails done then they got rewarded.

Answer 5

If he does not allow you to do it, he needs to be trained in Obedience. You should be able to do anything to him with out him copping an attitude. As a retired Professional All Breed Dog Groomer I did nails on all sizes & all temperaments. You have to get him to where you can handle his feet. Dog out of control cause of no training or conditioning to get nails done.



Dogs are supposed to be up on their toes as they walk & run, as the nails grow longer it causes pain in the toes cause the nails are way too long, which will make the dog 'pad' or fall back on the big pad. You got this dog from a BYBer or Puppy Mill cause the nails should stay worn down with natural & normal walking & running. The angles in the dogs shoulders are all messes up & cause him to not keep his nails down. Genetics are all messed up cause of his breeding.



I always attack the nails from under the pads (backwards) so I can see where the V is so I won't cut the quick. If you want to be able to do it yourself, you will have to spend some time on training the dog to allow you to work on his feet.



A simple google search brought this up.



https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS758US758&q=how+to+clip+my+dog%27s+nails+at+home&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyrPrxvdvbAhVi4IMKHX-YDQAQBQgkKAA&biw=1229&bih=585



Remember you are top dog in your house hold & the dog has to respect that & obey (with the proper training)

Answer 6

This is sooooo SAD! Had you bought from a reputable breeder, they would have shown & instructed you how to clip or dremel the toe nails WEEKLY before you left with your puppy - just as they had been doing (weekly) before you got your puppy, starting at about 2-3 weeks (so MOM didn't end up with an infection of her breasts) from being scratched/clawed (while they nursed.)



Had you kept this up, as a regular PART of his weekly grooming, then he would never have LEARNED to object. It is just like having him SIT for his food bowl. Dogs who do not have their nails done (on a regular basis) every week or two, end up with flat feet and the nails tend to end up with very grown out "quicks" versus those kept trimmed back. Long nails throw "off" the ability to stand correctly (like a woman standing in HIGH HEELS ALL DAY) but it is 24 HOURS a day (- in your dogs' case). He is never able to stand as he should have, if his nails had been kept trimmed, throwing his entire skeletal structure OFF. And GSD have so many hip, elbow and joint problems already...without adding to them.



Not only do these long nails scratch and damage your floors & clothes, they can EASILY BE RIPPED OUT => BY THE ROOT - if they catch in between wood decking strips. Blood will go EVERYWHERE when/if that happens and it will be hard to stop, short of surgical cauterization at the vet's office, all due to lack of responsible grooming.



You have been given tips by other posters on how to start OVER. There are some excellent sites Esp a Doberman site, on how to Dremel nails = if you look for them - IF you think your dog will tolerate the sound of a dremel and you have to get him used to THAT.... long BEFORE you ever try to use on on his feet.



I like the sanding, because it gives you more control over how much you remove, and variable speeds, and I like Miller's FORGE (orange handle clippers) if you have to keep cutting the nail; NOT the CHEAP RESCO cutters. They put too much pressure ON the nail & SQUEEZE the actual nail.... so of course it frightens or actually HURTS too many dogs.