I have a 14 month old German Shepherd. He’s smart, loyal, loving, but also rowdy, playful, and headstrong. He nips (mainly to play or when he’s LIT) but has only mean bit once or twice when he was much younger. I love him but when he doesn’t want to do something, he’s a massive pain in the butt. He knows plenty of commands, and I train with him daily but he’s such a self-assured butthole that when he decides he doesn’t want to do something he just won’t.
Sometimes when he gets muddy paws, I’ll wipe those off before he comes inside and he mean growls at me. Doesn’t snap but he hates his feet being touched.
When he was little I’d get my wife to hold him and I’d do the trimming. We had a little handheld electric file thing that helped shave them down but it took a long time and he hated it. I also have some clippers but I haven’t used them yet.
I’ve let his nails turn into daggers and even a playful swat (his only siblings are cats and he’s adopted some behaviors lol) can break the skin. They are SHARP.
I’m not too worried about him snapping. He might but he won’t do any real damage to me other than a scratch. I’m kinda worried about clipping too close to the quick because the nails are dark.
So my question is: do you have tips? Other than feeding him and making him used to it via positive reinforcement (have tried for months with holding him and touching his feet, no progress) Anything I can do to practically to help? Especially as one person? I don’t want to take him to a groomer because he’s so rowdy and squirmy I don’t want them to get injured accidentally. And I’m not convinced he wouldn’t snap at someone else if he got fed up. So I need to do it myself. Tips, tricks, advice?
Sometimes when he gets muddy paws, I’ll wipe those off before he comes inside and he mean growls at me. Doesn’t snap but he hates his feet being touched.
When he was little I’d get my wife to hold him and I’d do the trimming. We had a little handheld electric file thing that helped shave them down but it took a long time and he hated it. I also have some clippers but I haven’t used them yet.
I’ve let his nails turn into daggers and even a playful swat (his only siblings are cats and he’s adopted some behaviors lol) can break the skin. They are SHARP.
I’m not too worried about him snapping. He might but he won’t do any real damage to me other than a scratch. I’m kinda worried about clipping too close to the quick because the nails are dark.
So my question is: do you have tips? Other than feeding him and making him used to it via positive reinforcement (have tried for months with holding him and touching his feet, no progress) Anything I can do to practically to help? Especially as one person? I don’t want to take him to a groomer because he’s so rowdy and squirmy I don’t want them to get injured accidentally. And I’m not convinced he wouldn’t snap at someone else if he got fed up. So I need to do it myself. Tips, tricks, advice?