Hi Judy,
Glad to hear you really stuck with and are now having more success doing his nails. Too many people just give up and expect the vet to take care of it for them.
My adopted my Mia when she was not quite 2 years old, and she was horrible about her nails. She never growled or tried to bite, but she would whine and cry and struggle desperately to get away. It was a very stressful experience for us and her. But we persisted, and we've found a regimen that works for us. All four feet get done weekly, but over two nights. Monday (tonight!
) we do the front feet and Wednesday we do the back feet. We have her lay down, and my husband sits on the floor and holds her by putting an arm around her chest. I then put a bowl of treats about 6 inches out of her reach. Using the dremel, I do two nails and then give her a treat. She is distracted enough by the treats that she never has time to get herself worked up. It's all over in a couple minutes, and nobody gets upset.