If your dog is anything like Byron, claw trims are not his favorite and he'll deploy any number of games to get out of clipping time. For the first few months, I struggled to clip his claws at all, but figured his regular walks would keep them trimmed enough not to worry about it too much.

To a point, that's true, but that point came and went when he was running and jumping along a stream and landed on a manhole cover. One of his 'thumb' claws, which he hadn't let me trim, must have landed awkwardly on the solid surface and broken. He didn't make a sound or start limping, so I didn't notice anything at first, but when he came over for a quick rub, I spotted blood on his paw. The claw was broken very high up, just under the flesh, and I couldn't see any safe way to remove the damaged part.

Claw broken inside the paw.

The vet didn't seem at all worried, and to my surprise, just snipped the entire claw off at the root, nerve and all. I felt sure this was a horrific solution and Byron shrieked and jumped down from the vet's examination table to cower in the corner. But as soon as we left the vet's office, he began walking as normal and even tried digging a few times, which I had to put an end to. The wound healed pretty cleanly, although the claw is now permanently off to one side and a bit curlier than on the opposite paw.

Now, I'm definitely not suggesting you should randomly lop off any broken claws (or other wounded body parts) - that's definitely a job (and a decision) for the vet. My point here is that claw clipping is a necessary part of having a dog in your life, and whether or not you clip claws should not be decided by your dog.

Getting Past The Struggle

Although I'd fostered dogs in the past, Byron is the first dog I've lived with for more than a month or two, and I was not as equipped in the training department as I had thought. He trained me as much as I did him, especially on what I should and should not allow him to get away with.

After watching videos and reading articles and talking to other dog people, I found a few suggestions that seemed promising...

1. Over the course of several days, or even weeks (depending on the fear level), place the nail clippers near your dog and reward him every time he doesn't react. It works, but you need to be consistent and very patient. Plus you need to have millions of treats on standby.

2. Use a nail file to gently file the claws instead of clipping them. Some dogs, Byron included, actually seem to like this. But, if you haven't kept the claws short, this will take a pretty long time and it's unlikely your pooch is going to sit through it for long periods.

3. Have your dog sit, give him a treat, have him give you his paw, give him a treat, show him the clippers, treat, clip one claw, treat. If you can do one paw a day, you'll easily stay on top of it, plus it can create a more trusting relationship around nail clippers and even lead to nail clipping becoming a source of fun.

Some advice from "Healthcare For Pets"

Well clipped claws are important because long claws can break, as we've seen, possibly leading to infection that can be serious. But that's not all; when claws get too long, they can cause discomfort and even pain during walking, and can, in extreme examples, lead to permanent foot deformity.

If you let your dog's claws get too long, the nerve inside will also grow longer, preventing you from being able to safely clip them back to their previous length. Through careful clipping, over a period of time, the nerve can eventually be persuaded to retract, but this is much harder than keeping the claws short in the first place.

Different Clippers

This simple type works best for most dogs.

This complicated type can be difficult, and that can lead to injury or avoidance issues.

As always, a vet is your best bet for advice, if your dog is making it difficult to clip claws. They often have good experiences with certain methods that they will be happy to tell you about and may be willing to demonstrate.