Dog Community

cutting toenails

jaye

Posted : 4/19/2006 1:09:34 PM

how do you know how long a dogs nails should be, when to cut them, and how far back to cut them? her nails are really dark so i cant tell where the quick starts. another thing, she scratches us all the time by accident cause her nails are still big, long and sharp even when they re trimmed. would using a nail file help? or any other suggestions? thanks.

fizzlbriches

Posted : 4/19/2006 1:19:37 PM

My dog gets his nails trimmed at the groomers......then I have to file them when he gets home cuz it leaves very sharp edges (that cause scratches to bleed). I would love to find a place that uses a dremel but so far no luck.

loveukaykay

Posted : 4/19/2006 1:37:45 PM

Since my dogs have never liked for me to do it, I dont. I dont like getting those scared looks from them... and I dont want to make a mistake and hurt them. I just leave it to the vet. I am also considering getting some of these things... I dont know if you saw my other post about them, but they are safe (non-toxic should the dog swallow them, and last for about 4-6weeks....). I think they would be good for my leather car seats and the wood floors... not sure about them yet though.

http://www.softpaws.net/

Kara

Posted : 4/19/2006 1:46:17 PM

Most Veterinarians will show you how to clip your dog's/puppy's nails. Ask your Vet to show you how to do it.

It's good to trim the nails like once a week to keep them short and also keep your pets in the practice of having it done. Gracie and my 2 cats get their nails clipped once a week and they have all learned to sit still for it because after they get lots of loving and treats. [

]

jaye

Posted : 4/19/2006 2:30:56 PM

wow those softpaws things are really cool ive never seen those before but wouldnt you still hafta trim their nails cause dont they just keep growing longer and longer? i dunno. i looked on ebay and you can get them for $3.00 cheaper with shipping and everything. so if $3 matters to you then look there. im going to get the clear ones. i think it would help with her hurting us with her claws !! if she doesnt just chew them off

if anyone else has used them, feedback would be appreciated

mudpuppy

Posted : 4/19/2006 2:31:34 PM

let me highly recommend a dremel. Grinds the toes down, no need to worry about hitting the quick, and no sharp edges left afterwards. Dogs really don't seem to mind it either.

loveukaykay

Posted : 4/19/2006 3:58:23 PM

Jaye I would think you just need to get them trimmed each time the nail cover falls off... are you def getting them?

griffinej5

Posted : 4/19/2006 5:20:04 PM

I second the recommendation for the dremel. I love my dremel. Millie finally let me use it on her the other day, and her nails are now all perpendicular to the floor, so no clicking at all. Max's back nails are at a good length right now, but I don't have his front as short as I would like yet. It's still a two person job with him, because he just wants to gnaw on the dremel, even though I did attempt to condition it for a while. If someone gives him treats while I dremel he doesn't mind it. I try to do Max's once a week, and Millie's I just did once time a few days ago, as it was the first that she would allow me to. Before that I tried to clip them once in a while, but she hated that too. The vet clipped them a few weeks ago, and I clipped them a little shorter about a week ago, and now i've got them dremeled about as short as I can possibly go.

Kate

Posted : 4/19/2006 5:55:08 PM

Recommending the Dremel as well. I don't like clipping Lana's nails since some are dark so the groomer usually does that but having a Dremel, I can Dremel her nails every week to keep them fairly short and I don't need to fear cutting the quick.

jaye

Posted : 4/19/2006 6:01:11 PM

kaykay i dont know yet for sure but definately thinking about it.

loveukaykay

Posted : 4/19/2006 7:17:03 PM

Ok, Im thinking about it too.

I cant imagine doing that as often as once a week... I dont know if I got lucky or if its a breed thing, but not once in Kaylas life did her nails get cut. And they never touched anything, even in the car her nails wouldnt touch the seats, not even close.

I let the vet do Lucy which is not very often either, only when were in for a checkup... and the vet did Bailey on that first visit, but they look fine to me.

Kate

Posted : 4/19/2006 7:25:55 PM

Maybe it depends on the dog (?) Lana's nails got clipped and not even a week later i can hear them clicking on our wood floors.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 4/19/2006 7:37:37 PM

I do my dogs' nails twice a week. I like them very short. It's a pet peeve.

griffinej5

Posted : 4/19/2006 8:16:00 PM

ORIGINAL: lana_banana

Maybe it depends on the dog (?) Lana's nails got clipped and not even a week later i can hear them clicking on our wood floors.

I think it depends just as much, if not more, on the angle that they're cut at, or in some cases dremeled. I'm not sure I would want to mess with cutting the nails with a clipper the way I did Millie's. They're perpendicular to the floor. They can't touch the floor because of the angle they're at. There's some good pictures and a description of it here [linkhttp://homepages.udayton.edu/%7Emerensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html]http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html[/link]
Hopefully now that i've got them that short, she'll let me do it again so I can keep them that short.

Kara

Posted : 4/19/2006 8:26:03 PM

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

let me highly recommend a dremel. Grinds the toes down, no need to worry about hitting the quick, and no sharp edges left afterwards. Dogs really don't seem to mind it either.

Yes you can grind down to the quick on a dog's nails with a Dremel and make them bleed. It's always a good idea to keep some sort of styptic power around just in case.

Gracie still freaks out with the Dremel, I'm working on her with getting used to it. In the mean time she has no issues with a clipper. Thank god!