Thanks to diligence on my part, Lilly is MUCH better about the toenail thing than Ginko. I take the tiniest bit off of each of her nails once a week, both so that they don’t get too long and so that she never gets out of practice with this grooming task. We jokingly call it Turkey for Toenails, but most times I use cheese instead. One toe, one hunk of cheese. It’s a good trade.
For comparison, I offer this photographic evidence of the difference between weekly nail trims and the more like quarterly pedicure smackdowns I have with Ginko over his toes.
Ginko Lilly
Truth in Adversiting: I am not perfect, however, in my execution of these dog mom duties. This shows Lilly’s foot before her latest trim over the weekend. 
This is immediately afterwards. I cut one too short, and it bled. She is such a good girl for putting up with my mistakes.
Thanks, Susan. After our Dal required full-on anesthesia or 10 people to do toes, I swore I’d do better. Ginko requires a muzzle and other strategies, which isn’t ideal, but at least I can do them once on a while …. so, with Lilly I really buckled down and found a process that works for both of us.
Yes, KB, Lilly often screams when I do her toes, even if I’m nowhere close to hitting the quick. If she seems at all upset, I give her many treats (not just one), which usually changes her mood. :o)
Sam, see … I think you’re brave to do the dremmel. That seems so much scarier to me.
Lilly sounds like a trooper about getting her nails done. Marge, on the other hand, is the biggest baby and will NOT let me get close with the clipper, even if she’s getting handfuls of yummy stuff shoved in her mouth by someone helping me. The dremmel it is.
It’s so tough not to hit the quick… I know from experience. With K, she often shrieks like I cut the quick even when I didn’t… I guess that the memories of those few times have shaped her reaction to every single time that I clip.
Props to you and to Lily. I screwed up with Allie’s toenails once too often and must now entrust them to a grooming pro!