Trim bloodhound toenails?

My bloodhound hates to have his nails trimed but they are very long. How can I get them trimmed without getting him all upset. The Vet had to sedate him to trim them.

Do you have anybody available who can help you? We have a bloodhound and he HATES it when he see the clippers come out. The other 3 dogs don't care for it, but they will tolerate it.

We do manage to get it done, but he is far from calm during the whole process. It seems as though it's more of a spoiled kid "you-can't-make-me" tantrum than him being actually traumatized by the whole thing though.

First we try to get him in a room where he can't attempt to crawl under anything, then we have to muzzle him ( he's never bitten us, but why chance it...). Then it comes down to me actually laying on him and my husband doing the cutting. If your bloodhound is like ours, it's mainly a battle of wills. Once he realizes that he "lost" the battle, he lays there and let's us do it. When we take the muzzle off, he's all love & kisses.

Bloodhounds are large, very strong-willed & surprisingly powerful dogs, so I totally understand what you're up against. I feel as if I've spent an hour in the gym every time we finish.

If you have cement to walk him on, that's a good way to keep nails trimmed also. When my dogs had regular access to walking on cement, I never had to trim their nails--it was great!

If it is still impossible to get it done, you may have to resort to having him sedated every time it needs to get done, but hopefully not.

Good luck.

Why don't you just take him to a groomer? My dog freaks out when she gets her nails done, so the groomer has to wrap her in a towel to keep her still while getting them cut.

I use a Dremel with a sanding wheel, but my dogs are acclimated to it.

If there are two of you the best way to do it is to just roll them over have one person block the view to the paws (sitting between you and the dog) and then you clip the toenails.
HAve the person blocking the view calming the dog down, and speaking nicely, petting, rubbing.
Give a good treat after every paw is done.

he should have them trimmed weekly BY you starting at 8 weeks of age... ( the breeder would have done it before that)

start by rubbing his paws/holding them each and every day.. once he gets used to that,, snip one! etc. etc..


YOU CERTAINLY can achieve this if you are patient

Well, if you can't get him to calm down enough to do it, you may have to sedate him. When you let them get too long, then quick grows as fast as the nail, so you can cut less of the nail off without them bleeding, meaning you have to do it more often. If they are REALLY long, you may have the vet sedate your dog and clip up past the quick.

If your dog's nails are just long, but not in danger of causing injury to his pads by curling under, you might consider using a dremel tool. This will take some time to get your dog used to, but sometimes a dog that can't handle the clippers will do better with the dremel. (and, don't spend the money on a "doggie nail grinder"- it's the EXACT same thing!)

Anyway, get your dog used to the sound- become a pez dispenser- get lots of treats. Turn on the dremel, and as long as it's on, he gets treats. Don't do anything but let the dremel run. If he's fine with that, then touch the dremel tool (the side of it, not the grinder part) to his leg and become a pez dispenser. As long as the tool is touching him, he gets treats. When it goes away, so do the treats.

From here, try 1 toenail- you can have help- he gets treats while you're grinding the toenail- when you stop, the treats go away.

When using the grinding tool, you are less likely to hit the quick- when you get close, the dog feels it and really pulls back. But, it's a good way to get a little off at a time-

Good luck!