How to Sedate a Dog for Nail Clipping and Grooming

To trim or cut the nails of a dog is quite a big deal, as we all know! Our little pets may get irritated or frightened with this activity of nail clipping/trimming. Many of the times, they just don’t allow their masters to cut their nails because of the rough sound of the clipper or some unexplained non-familiarity with the machine. Being a friend, you must know how to tranquilize a dog!

In this article, I am going to show you some simple ways to restrain or hold down a dog properly. Many of the dogs don’t like holding their paw or don’t want to sit still. If you grab it, they might go mad at you! They will not go too crazy, but they just do not like it. So, sometimes cutting the nail can be a two-person thing.

People who are working/have worked in some vet hospital will understand the whole situation, as they used to hold down many dogs while cutting the nails because lots of dogs won’t just stand there while you have grabbed their arm and cut the nails. It can be a 5-minute process if the dogs will just sit there. So, if you have to sedate a dog at home and you should take help of somebody for the better process, have the person who is going to cut the nails and not holding the dog. It is suggested to hold a dog by his owner.

How To Sedate A Dog For Nail Clipping?

• Put your dog on his side and grab him around the neck.
• Grab both their legs which are touching the floor. That is the bottom legs – front leg and the back leg.
• Now he is thoroughly restrained. He can’t move, and someone else could be working on his legs and cutting the nails. If you are holding your dog with both of your hands, then you can’t do the clipping by yourself.
• If you want to clip the nails by yourself, you may cut them by taking help of your forearm for the holding purpose. But, it may create uneasiness for you. You can try though – with extra care!
• So, you have got his bottom legs; you are not putting any pressure on the ground.
• Now, you can move his feet freely, and someone else can be cutting his nails. He won’t mind.

Note: Here one thing you must take a note is that if you couldn’t hold him tightly, he will try to get up, which is not good. You should hold his leg around his neck, so he just can’t move. He should know that it is your ‘not-at-all-harmful’ way to sedate dog to cut nails.

How To Cut The Nails?

Cutting the nails is easy after humanly or natural sedatives. Just put one arm on the back of them and hold the bottom leg, one arm on their neck, not pushing too hard. When you will do this activity, you will know that it is effortless for your dog as well as you, as you barely put any pressure. Sometimes, you don’t need to pressure at all when he becomes comfortable!

How To Sedate A Dog At Home For Grooming?

Sedating a dog for grooming is also the same thing like to sedate him for the nail clipping stuff. There are minor changes as here in such cases; you have to groom them using every furry part of their body. I am giving you some quick tips and tricks to sedate a dog at home.

• Do not try to pick up his feet without laying him down on his side. It is dangerous.
• Guard your clipper hand with the comb before starting to clip his body.
• Talk and pamper him continuously. Make him feel comfortable and confident about your next move.
• First of all, clipper the body, and then go for the head, ears, and neck area. For such parts, you must take the dog out of the collar.
• The safest way to clip head is to use a long comb which secures his beard.

The best time for grooming a dog is – when he is calm, not in the mood of playing, and not hungry or sleepy. To groom a dog’s head is a crucial part; always try holding his beard with your hand.

So, that’s it. Just hold the bottom legs of your pets, and they can’t get up! He will be like, ‘Hey, let me up!’ But you are not hurting at all, so don’t worry about your favorite pooch. But let someone else work on their nails with the best dog nail grinders. If anyone of you has a hyper breed of pet that does not allow you hold him, you can follow these steps to stop him moving much.

Just in case you have a dog that bites a lot or tries to scratch your hands which are holding his legs, you could muzzle him too. So you don’t have to worry about getting hurt yourself in any way! I hope I have helped you in some manner to solve your issue. Keep calm and make your dog calm to get best results. Also, don’t forget to give him a treat after each nail clipping activity to motivate him for the next time.