Toenail care is a task many don't wish to take on, opting instead, to allow their veterinarian to accomplish the task. By all means, if you do not feel comfortable in cutting your dogs nails, your dog will not feel comfortable and will end up being a drawn out ordeal that your dog may come to hate.
If you choose to accept this mission on your own, we have a few tips that may help you and your dog get through this with minimal discomfort.

We prefer using the Dremel tool, rather than clipping the nails, which we feel is more comfortable for the dog and you can get the nails shorter and smoother. Maintaining nails with a Dremel is preferred over clipping them because it doesn't pinch or hurt the quick.
The quick is sensitive living flesh inside your dog's nail. With our large dogs, in order to cut through the hard shell nail, you must squeeze the nail between the clipper's two surfaces. If you use a guillotine style, then the nail is pushed hard against the immovable blunt metal while the blade cuts in from one side. If you use the scissors-style, then two blades squeeze in from either side of the nail. If you must clip, this may be the better method rather than the guillotine style which cuts from both sides and therefore squeezes a little less. Neither one of those methods is very good because when you squeeze in on the nail, you invariably must pinch down on the quick inside the nail. The harder the nail, the more the pressure you must apply, which can be very uncomfortable for the dog. Also, when clipping on dark nails, you are effectively cutting blind. In order to get the nails back, you keep doing a series of small clips and try not to hit the quick. As a result, you often stop short of where you could go, if you were using a Dremel. With the Dremel, you can also grind off all around the quick so that it recedes faster and you can eventually get even shorter nails. The closer you can get to the quick, the more you can force it to recede and the quicker it will recede. Finally, you can grind off all the corners and rough edges leaving nice soft nails that don't gouge nearly so much when your Danes paw you for affection.

Equipment needed to Dremel or grind the nails:

We recommend the Dremel Multi pro with the sliding variable adjustable speeds from 5,000 rpm to 30,000 rpm for full grown Danes. For puppies, you will find the smaller and more maneuverable cordless, rechargeable Mini-mite Dremel to come in handy.
We don not recommend using the above Dremel above the "2" setting on it. The "1" or between that and the "2" setting is adequate. Using it much faster than that may create to much friction and will get too hot for the dogs nails. Please understand, we are referring to The Dremel no only as a brand name, but a tool as a whole. There are other brands of tools similar to the Dremel and will accomplish the same goal.
We use the 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch sanding bands on the 1/2 inch sanding drum mandrel for adult danes. For puppies, we use the 1/4 inch bands and the smaller mandrel. We use the 120 grit 1/2 inch sanding bands either by Sears Craftsman or Dremel. It's not advisable to use the grinding stones as they get way to hot for the nails. Note: If you have a dog that is particularly sensitive to the noise, you may prefer to use the Mini mite rechargeable-style Dremel which is a little quieter or else use the flexible shaft adapter so that the motor is further away from the dog.

A proper introduction to the Dremel is the most important step to grinding your dog's nails. If the dog's first experience is negative, then you will have a long way to go to in having a dog that will permit you to grind the nails. If performed right, then your dogs may just relax and enjoy the pedicure. Keep in mind, you can introduce a Dremel to a dog at any age.
Introducing the Dremel should be a process over a period of days or even a couple of weeks depending on the dog's sensitivity and temperament. First: Just take the Dremel out and let your dog sniff and explore it. Then, turn it on and off in the room with the dog and give the dog a treat for examining and exploring it (while off) and for not being afraid of it makes noise. Once this is going well, have the dog lay down and just touch the Dremel to one (only) nail and give the dog a treat with lots of praise. Remember, just "touch" the nail with the sanding drum, while not actually grinding the nail. Gradually touch 2 nails and then a whole foot of nails, followed by a treat. Build up with a treat after each nail then wean down to a treat after each paw. Finally, work up to doing all the nails on all the paws and the dog gets a BIG treat and praise when all done. Again, this is just "touching" the nails, no lengthy grinding yet.

A few Guidelines to follow:

• Never apply pressure to the nail with grinding head. Allow the speed of the spinning drum and the friction of the sanding to do the grinding. If you apply pressure, it will press on the quick and will get too hot. Both mean that your dog will be uncomfortable and unhappy.
• Never keep the Dremel in one spot longer than three seconds and never do the same nail for more than three seconds continuously. Alternate around nails and then come back to allow cooling time. Example: do one nail for 3 seconds, the next, the next and the last. Switch paws and repeat on other paw. Return to first paw and repeat whole sequence.
• Always support the toe and nail you are currently working on. There will be some vibration from the grinding and your dog will be more comfortable if you lessen the effect of this by holding the toe in question. Also, this enables you to have better control in case your dog moves the paw so you don't accidentally grind fur, pads, or your hand. Incidentally, if you push slightly on the underside of the pad, it will extend the nail out a bit further for easier grinding.
• Nails are easier to maintain short than they are to restore to short. In some nails, the quick will never recede back to as short as it once was, and you will never get the nails back without "quicking" them (i.e., cutting the quick short). If you have a rescue that has very long nails, you might wish to consider having them cut while the dog is under anesthesia for spaying or neutering. A good guideline timetable is to grind between once a week and once every other week. To force receding and to get the nails shorter, you can do them every 4 days.

Good Luck as you begin this process ! - It all becomes easier with practice.

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