Problem with Squid Nails!

Well.. I've been having problems getting my little Squiddies nails cut for some time now.. Since I've had him I've been playing with his feet/toes/nails and clipping them with no problem at all..
Over the past couple weeks he will not allow me to cut them without a huge struggle... for the most part I get one or two done and can't do anymore. I've been trying giving him treats and praising him like crazy when he lets me touch his feet with my hands.. touch his nails with my hands, touch his feet and nails with the clipper.. and he's, well, not spectacular with that but he seems to be fairly ok with it.. but as soon as I take one paw in my hand and he sees the clippers with the other he completly freaks! He makes these groans that I swear are saying.. "NOOOooooOOOooo.." and he snarls.. and bites me! I mean.. it's not really hard and not full force.. but it seems so very mean!
I'm worried this might be a sign of aggression that I need to take action now to end.. or is it just a normal puppy reaction to something they hate?
And when he acts like that should I scold him or sooth him and let him know it'll be alright?
It's really odd cause he doesn't mind the sound.. sometimes I'm able to get a couple clips in when hes licking himself or something and that elicits no reaction at all..
Please help!! Any ideas??

What I do with my puppy, is have him lay down and have my sister/friend/Mom sitting in front of him with a big soft treat (a chunk of Redbarn soft food roll) praising him for calmness. If you just take them one at a time, and don't make a big deal out of nail clipping, the pup should learn that nail clipping requires calmness. If Fozzie starts struggling or getting up, no treats or praise. I usually just do one foot at a time because they ARE pups with little or no attention span!

Biting really shouldn't be tolerated, though. Try not to let it escalate to the point where he's really freaking out and biting. When he starts struggling, no treats or attention.

Make sure you handle the toes a lot without clipping. No nippy or growling should be tolerated .......

Handle the paw a lot without trimming, let the pup smell the trimmer, give lots of treats etc...

About the growling, in my experience reacting to it makes things much worse, so I would just try to solve the problem by getting rid of the cause of the growling - ie, that the pup is uncomfortable with the trimmer.

Hmm..

Our routine: (Hades doesn't really care about nails, Roxy hates it but doesn't growl/snarl or bite, just dislikes it clearly LOL)

1. I call them into the kitchen. Whoever shows up first, get's it first.
2. I get them to lie down and roll them onto their side. I sit on the ground with them.
3. I place my thigh over their body, just to keep them very still so i don't get a quick.
4. Trim the nails!

If they start to struggle or get annoyed very firmly I say, "Your fine Hades. Stop it. We're almost done"

It's important that you don't talk to them like a baby, or sound stressed, it only worries them more. They think, "If she's freaked out there must be a reason! Ahhh!". If your calm and confident, they'll calm down. It doesn't neccesarily mean they'll like it, but they'll put up with it.

As soon as I'm done, it doesn't take more than 2 minutes. I put the clippers down and they get a little belly rub for a minute. Then they get a treat and then the next victim! LOL

I think it's important to make it an activity. Not a fun activity but an activity. I don't cut my dogs nails wherever. They get called into the kitchen and it's time to calm down and stay still while I do what I have to do.

I don't sneak up on them when their sleeping or when their comfy on the couch. I call them, they come lie down and we get down. LOL

Maybe the reason he's started acting this way is you've cut him too short recently?

IMO cutting nails shouldn't be "fun". If it can be that's great!(Hades loves to get his belly rub, his tail wags the whole time) But if they don't like it too bad, as I said Roxy hates it, but she puts up with it without a fight a growl/snarl anything. There are some things I'm a hard a$$ about and nail cutting is one of them. I don't care if you like it, but it has to be done.

Edit: Seeing as this is in the puppy forum I assume Squid is a puppy? How old?

I revise a bit of that! LOL, he's young so it should be easy to get him to like it. Ex) Squid's in the living room. Fun and happy, "Squid! Come on let's get your nailies trimmed! Yeah Squid! Woo Hoo!", start by cutting one foot, keep him on the floor belly rub and treat. Do not let him get up though. If he tries stay happy and rub his belly more. Than say, "Ok, Squid time to settle down." Cut your next set of nails, stop, belly rub treat. Eventually you should be able to do them all without stopping.

Best command ever - "play dead". I pretend to shoot Dakota right before I clip his nails. He will flip on his back and freeze for up to 5 minutes and allows me to do ANYTHING to him. I clip/dremel the nails and he doesn't even flinch or look up. After I release him, he gets jackpotted for doing the command. He doesn't even remember the nail clip.

We're still working on this with Ripley. He does the growly/bitey/whiney thing when he gets his trimmed.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!
I have been playing with his feet all the time and praising him while I do so.. that's why I find ot really odd that he seems to freak out when I try to clip them. He loves having his feet rubbed.. when he's sleepy I play with his toes and even his nails.. I rub between each of his toes and he stretches them all out making sure I rub them all over.. it's so cute!
And he never seems to mind the clipper at all either.. he just licks it..
The only time he gets weirded out is when I have to actually HOLD his paw in order to clip the nails.. I hold his paws otherwise and he doesn't mind..
That's why I find it so frustrating.. cause all these things seperate he doesn't mind.. and the biting and moaning/whining/growling stuff he does worries me..
I guess I'll just keep praising him for letting me touch his feets and when he sees the clipper..and when the clipper's next to him.. hopefully he'll come around.. his nails are just getting so long and sharp!

It sounds like he might have had a trim a little to closely and doesn't want his feet messed with anymore. JMO
Tira doesn't mind anything we do to her. She lays still for treatments of minor boo boos and nail clippings. Gunner will lay still for a little while so we have to be quick. If he gets antsy we stop for a second, tell him it's ok and almost done, then start again. As long as you can keep him/her on their back it's pretty easy (at least for our 2).

I totally agree that's how he's been acting.. I remember cutting one of Tiki's too short once and she was real nervous the next time getting it done and needed extra reassurance..
But I'm positive I never cut and of his too short.. at least he never reacted to it.. and when he was younger I'd only cut the very tips off.. just enough to get him used to the idea..
I don't know if something happened to his feet or foot that I don't know about.. I'm baffled!
I just hope he can get used to the nail clipping..