Get my boy to jump up on a rock--actually the rock in pic is one of the rocks.  His feet are splayed while he balances so I can clearly see the nails that need to be clipped.  I take a piece of food hold it in one hand in front of him & while he is eating the food, clip his nails with the other.  He doesn't even notice the clippers--even when I trim a little too close.  Before nail trimming would devolve into a wrestling match with him laying on his back batting my hands & me laughing hysterically.  (this pic was taken at the park & then photoshopped into this background-)

Funny cute Basset Hound gets his nails clipped

To be honest i find shepherd to be some of the biggets sissy for nail trims. Only huskies are worse, about the screaming and twisting. I would say your the boss and no matter what you get his nails trimmed, don't coddle. After 10 years in grooming i came to just one conclusion. No dog likes a nail trim, but some are much easier than others. My own current dog an AB squeals when i lift her foot. but she gets them trimmed regardless. And yes having the dog eleveated on a grooming table of even the bed of my pick truck make nail clipping a lot easier. I also nwt wash my own dogs on my truck, no bending over.

Dremmels are great and if used correcly make for a beautiful nail, but they cna also get hot if left in one spot for more then a few seconds, the dog jerking around cna get your hand sanded down badly. And some dogs will try and but at the dremel, which could endup a bloddy mess.

If your not comfortable with a dremel i also suggest an acrylic nail file, usually a buck from the drug store and they start up every time, no batteries or cords.

Also one last thought, don't hold the foot in front of the dog's face, instead turn it over while he's standing like a ferrier would a horse hoof. Work from behind the dog not in front and you will get a lot less greif.

Fry

All of mine were trimmed since they were babies with out problems, but 1 day Ansgar just stopped letting me. She's a very happy girl, but she got this totally stressed look & at the last second pulled her paw away. No matter what position we tried, she would look at me & let me get her paw, choose a nail, position the clipper, & just as I would squeeze, withdraw her foot. No vocalizations, the stupidest "I'm sorry" guilty look on her face...this happened after a vet visit too. I finally retrained her with hotdogs pieces to hold still. But what a PIA! A dog that was totally OK with nails suddenly decides no more. Just sayin'! 

jackie harris

The solution to this on future visits.  I never let them take my dogs out of my sight.  And I like my vet a lot.  But just like when my sons were little,  If your going to do something it shouldn't bother you if I watch.  If it bothers you then I need to reevaluate where they get treatment.  I mean the only reason it would bother them is if they are going to act in a way that they figure I won't like.  Shoot we all know there are circumstances you need to restrain the dog but how you do it makes a lot of difference.

Reggie

Ah, reg, but I've been on both sides of that fence, though--when I was still teching in a practice, we had clients whose dogs would scream, snap, empty their anal glands and generally pitch a full-on demonstration of "dog enduring amputation of feet sans anesthesia"  if we attempted to trim their dog's nails while the owner was in the room, because they knew how to play their owners like violin virtuosos.

Yet when we had the owner step out of the room, where they could still see the dog but they were out of the dog's sight, these same Sarah Bernhardts and William Shatners would stand, sit or lie politely on the exam or grooming table as we breezed through their nail trims in mere minutes, with nary a sigh or a whimper uttered.  

We ID'd these dogs on their charts [this was back when such things were still largely hard-copy only] with a stamp of the theater masks that the boss had picked up somewhere along his travels--quite fitting, really.   

Reggie, I always wondered what happened, but my girl had major surgery, they didn't touch her toenails...I wondered if starting IVs may have triggered her aversion...?

but there's no way I could stay to watch, & I couldn't find it in me to criticize the folks that saved my girlies life....toenail troubles were a small price to pay.,,.

jackie harris