Advice on how to clip black nails safely please

[Mooshi's Mummy]

I know what you mean bellareea, Moo's always look long to me. Especially if you move her long fur out of the way and see the whole of the nail!

 

[ruthcatrin]

So do Apollo's lol, but when I asked the vet if they should be shorter she said they looked good to her, so ok. I figure as long as he's not clicking much on the tile floors he can't be that long.....

 

[raechiemay]

What's funny is I have no problem cutting Duchess' nails. Now my Daisy, she's a royal pain in the ass. She's got dewclaws on all 4 feet & no matter how short her nails are, they still look too long. And they're all black. She goes to the groomer every 4-6 weeks so I just let them mess with it. She hates when I cut her nails.

I've actually never used the dremmel on Duchess. But for the sake of learning I will try to do that either this weekend or next & have someone record it for me & I'll post on YouTube. Can't promise she will be much of an angel but we'll see. Lol

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

what would i do without you guys?!

 

[fightnpuma]

anyone use that pedipaws thing that was advertised on TV a while ago. It's supposed to clip the nail perfectly every time? I read some reviews on it, it seems as though people either love it or think it's just ok. Any thoughts?

 

[raechiemay]

anyone use that pedipaws thing that was advertised on TV a while ago. It's supposed to clip the nail perfectly every time? I read some reviews on it, it seems as though people either love it or think it's just ok. Any thoughts?

I don't like it. Only for the reason it does not have enough power to sand down a mastiff's nails. Plus when I consider how many batteries I'm going to be putting in it, I'd rather spend the $60 on a dremmel that has a plug & more power.

 

[fightnpuma]

Thanks for the feedback, I always wondered about that thing. I'll stick to the dremmel. Another question, I have a 9 week old EM, at what point in time do I start to trim his nails? OR should I have the Vet do it for the first time and show me how?

 

[raechiemay]

Thanks for the feedback, I always wondered about that thing. I'll stick to the dremmel. Another question, I have a 9 week old EM, at what point in time do I start to trim his nails? OR should I have the Vet do it for the first time and show me how?

When they're that little their nails are a lot thinner & can easily be cut. You may notice they look more like cat nails at that age. You should be able to easily clip these with either a large pair of people toenail clippers or a smaller sized dog toenail clippers. If they appear to have "hooks" on them like cat nails, only cut the tips. The vet can probably show you how to do this also. I'd recommend as much feet handling daily as this will make nail trimming a lot easier when you've got a 100lb + dog & he is used to having his feet & toes touched. I did this with Duchess from day 1 & can easily handle & squeeze her feet & toes as much as I want while she doesn't even blink an eye. It will require some patience as most dogs' first reaction is to pull away. Definitely give praise or a reward when he allows you to handle his feet with no problems.

As far as trimming goes, I don't think you'll need to trim the nails but once every few weeks.

 

[fightnpuma]

Excellent, thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. Since my wife trims the cats claws I might have her trim the dogs nails as well.

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

Raechiemay, great pics. Both boys have dark nails and I clip them. ( can't afford a dremel right now lol) Usually when I start to see a "bullseye" I ease off and start tipping. Both let me do their nails with no problem although they do try to "fight" me sometimes. Even though they always lose....

 

[raechiemay]

You're certainly welcome! That's what I loved about puppies is how easy their nails are to cut initially. It's when they start getting the thickness to their nails is when I had questions. It definitely helps when someone is there to kind of show you to help you along. I'll post a pic of D's nails when she was about 8 weeks old so you can see the "hooks" that I am talking about. I probably wouldn't cut much further than that tip.

 

[raechiemay]

Ok, here is the pic. I painted a green arrow to show you where I'm talking about with the "hook" or tip of the nail.

I then took red lines where I would clip the other nails so you can see about how much I am cutting off. Not much at all until you get comfortable with cutting the nails.

 

[DMikeM]

I used to use clippers or heavy pro nail scissors but I found out that all the pinch cutters CRUSH the nail before it cuts through causing micro fractures up into the nail. This makes it easy for nail injuries to happen. I started using a dremel a few years ago and never had a problem since. All my dogs have black nails and it is actually pretty easy to figure out where the quick is. First this is use a medium/course drum because the fine drums create heat and can burn your dog's nail bed. Trim off the hook, then look under the nail, you can see it is hollowed out for the root and quick area then becomes rounded where the quick ends. I grind just short of this hollowed out area. Then I round the nail out just a little so there are no sharp edges. The more often you do this the shorter the dogs nails will become, so if you want a dog with some nail give it a couple weeks between trimmings. Otherwise they will become very short.

 

[DennasMom]

I found with our last dog, that it was easier to see the nails to trim them when he was stading up - like shoeing a horse. He'd just stand there... harder to squirm when you're concentrating on balancing on three feet, too.
He did have mostly white toes/clear nails, which was wonderful.

We're back to black nails again... but I just do lots of small cuts... probably 4-5 snips per nail as I get closer to the quick. I look for the quick in the nail to start to show, then I stop.

I aim for trims one a week, which means they actually get one about once every two weeks.
I tried the dremel a few times, but I the clippers seem to be easier for me to use.

This link had some good "quick" pictures.. I stop loooong before I see the oval they point out.
http://www.waterlooiowapetvet.com/how-to-trim-your-dogs-nails-you-can-do-it/

This one has better information - and a mastiff as an example, too!
http://216.122.150.118/blog/index.php/2012/05/24/dog-nail-trimming-101/

 

[fightnpuma]

Thank you all for your help and info, it's really appreciated. I knew I joined this forum for a reason.

 

[Sadies Mom]

I found same dremel they sell at the pet stores for $60.00, at Walmart for $20.00
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Dremel-7300-N-5-4.8V-MiniMite-Cordless-Rotary-Tool/15173820
and to compare
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3312954&lmdn=Grooming&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

I used to use clippers or heavy pro nail scissors but I found out that all the pinch cutters CRUSH the nail before it cuts through causing micro fractures up into the nail. This makes it easy for nail injuries to happen. I started using a dremel a few years ago and never had a problem since. All my dogs have black nails and it is actually pretty easy to figure out where the quick is. First this is use a medium/course drum because the fine drums create heat and can burn your dog's nail bed. Trim off the hook, then look under the nail, you can see it is hollowed out for the root and quick area then becomes rounded where the quick ends. I grind just short of this hollowed out area. Then I round the nail out just a little so there are no sharp edges. The more often you do this the shorter the dogs nails will become, so if you want a dog with some nail give it a couple weeks between trimmings. Otherwise they will become very short.

Another great reply, thank you! If anyone can video a dremel nail treatment with black nails I would br grateful. If you can also show how to locate the quick I will love you forever. LOL

---------- Post added at 11:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 PM ----------

I found with our last dog, that it was easier to see the nails to trim them when he was stading up - like shoeing a horse. He'd just stand there... harder to squirm when you're concentrating on balancing on three feet, too.
He did have mostly white toes/clear nails, which was wonderful.

We're back to black nails again... but I just do lots of small cuts... probably 4-5 snips per nail as I get closer to the quick. I look for the quick in the nail to start to show, then I stop.

I aim for trims one a week, which means they actually get one about once every two weeks.
I tried the dremel a few times, but I the clippers seem to be easier for me to use.

This link had some good "quick" pictures.. I stop loooong before I see the oval they point out.
http://www.waterlooiowapetvet.com/how-to-trim-your-dogs-nails-you-can-do-it/

This one has better information - and a mastiff as an example, too!
http://216.122.150.118/blog/index.php/2012/05/24/dog-nail-trimming-101/

Yay!! Perfect, thank you. Now what if you cant see the quick as in the photos? Is it possible for it to not be obvious?

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

I found with our last dog, that it was easier to see the nails to trim them when he was stading up - like shoeing a horse. He'd just stand there... harder to squirm when you're concentrating on balancing on three feet, too.
He did have mostly white toes/clear nails, which was wonderful.

We're back to black nails again... but I just do lots of small cuts... probably 4-5 snips per nail as I get closer to the quick. I look for the quick in the nail to start to show, then I stop.

I aim for trims one a week, which means they actually get one about once every two weeks.
I tried the dremel a few times, but I the clippers seem to be easier for me to use.

This link had some good "quick" pictures.. I stop loooong before I see the oval they point out.
http://www.waterlooiowapetvet.com/how-to-trim-your-dogs-nails-you-can-do-it/

This one has better information - and a mastiff as an example, too!
http://216.122.150.118/blog/index.php/2012/05/24/dog-nail-trimming-101/

Yay!! Perfect, thank you. Now what if you cant see the quick as in the photos? Is it possible for it to not be obvious?

 

[ruthcatrin]

The only times I quicked Apollo was me not paying attention. Like Dennasmom I stop before that point. If you worry you're getting to close, stop for the day, come back next week and do it again. Just keep a close eye on the nails.

 

[DMikeM]

This looks like a pretty good youtube on this subject. I watched it and she scares me with the clippers but did a pretty good job overall.
[video=youtube_share;YWOkW8wLiSk]http://youtu.be/YWOkW8wLiSk[/video]