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My dog gets aggressive during nail trims. How can I safely cut them?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Pit Bull Terrier | Female | spayed | 60 lbs

how to cut nails on a aggressive dog

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Stephanie Echols, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 23rd, 2017

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! In order to get a pet used to having their nails trimmed you need a lot of time and patience. You need to start very slowly by touching the dogs limbs and giving treats when they don't react. You do this about 50-100 times then you move to the toes. Repeat the above. After she is used to that touch, you touch her toes with nail clippers and treat. Basically you are getting her used to the touch and tools before even getting to the nails. She needs to be relaxed the entire time. If at any time she becomes aggressive, you stop what you are doing and try again with the previous step when she's relaxed. This can take months. In the meantime, I would talk to your vet about sedatives so you can clip Chloes nails in a non-stressful manner. If you try when she's stressed it is going to make training her even more difficult. Always make every training session fun and relaxed. Good luck and kisses to Chloe!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on December 19th, 2016

    Great question! This is definitely something that is worth working on, so that eventually you can trim her nails yourself, or have her be comfortable with someone else doing it without sedation. You will need to go very slowly, starting by just touching her paws and rewarding her with a treat every time. Once she's comfortable with this, you can gradually progress to touching her with the clippers, then clipping a single nail, and eventually to doing an entire nail trim. If she gets scared or uncomfortable, just stop and try again at an easier step. Here is a great video by Dr. Sophia Yin, showing how to do this: https://drsophiayin.com/videos/entry/training_a_dog_to_enjoy_toenail_trims/

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