Well my guys nails are huge, and Hottie has issues. To me its just easier to let someone else do it, and he surrenders. I do it, and I am not sure if it is because he got injured as a puppy, and I had to do bandage changes, but he gets worried.
With the others I use nail clippers and a nail file made for dogs to make them rounded, but really someone needs to show you how to do it as you can nick the quick in the nail even with a file.