Nail Trimming- more questions

S

SueEllen

Forums Regular
Okay so I have read some older posts on nail trimming and also watched several videos posted here (spent an hour watching nail trimming videos :-o) but still have questions.

I trim my cats nails about once a month and it is relatively easy since her nails are white and I can see the quick. The problem I have with Bailey is most of his nails are black & I am nervous about hitting the quick. I clipped a few here and there from the time he came home as a puppy over the last fews months & just had them all clipped & grinded on Friday at a groomer.

Question to those on the board:

How many trim their dogs nails themselves vs taking them to a vet or groomer?
If you do how often do you clip & do you clip and then grind or only grind?
I see from the videos how important it is to keep them trim but am nervous about the black nails on Bailey

If you do get them done, is a groomer or vet better in your opinion?

Thanks everyone!
 
I trim Shelby's nails about every other week. Her nails grow like crazy and I never seem to be able to get them short enough. We even walk on cement sidewalk.

She has both black and white nails and yes the black nails are challenging. I noticed that if I lay her on her back I can see the quick on the underside of her nail. That does seem to help a little. I did cut the quick once and it was way more traumatic for me than it was for her. It looked like there was a murder on my back porch as her nail was bleeding she just stood there looking at me like what's the big deal, why can't I go in the house yet?

I do not file them only because I am too chicken to try it. Our vet checks her nails and offers a trimming if needed but every time they say her nails are fine.

I also recently saw a nail trimmer that some how alerts you if you are at the quick. Don't know much about it or if it really works.
 
Don't waste your money on the "alert" nail trimmer! I got one, and it doesn't work. If your dog's nails are even remotely short, the light comes up red. I returned mine very quickly.

Two of my girls grow nails like weeds. I have to trim them every week or they're too long. The other three need a trim about every two to three weeks. I use a dremmel, but Ruffles the puppy doesn't like the dremmel that much and gets twitchy before I can get enough off. Naturally, she and her mother Lacey are the ones whose nails grow like crazy. So what I've started doing with her is to clip the end first, then grind with the dremmel. She's much more tolerant of the clippers, but I've also clipped the quick in the past and I'm afraid of clipping too much. So that's been my solution.

I used to take my dogs to the groomer in town when they needed a trim, but when you have five, that gets pricey. The vet will do them when I'm there, but always says my dogs' nails are short enough. In my experience, some vets don't get that show dogs' nails must be shorter than most. So I do them myself. I admit it's my least favorite part of grooming! :uhoh:
 
I do my dogs' myself. They need it far too often for me to take them to the vet or the groomer to have it done. I try to do it once a week, at least every other week. My dogs have a lot of black nails, and I admit to having quicked then a few times. I just try to trim the black nails as short as the white ones.
 
Cookie's nails on his rear feet never need trimming. The front ones only need it occasionally, say, once a month. His dewclaws however could probably use it about once every two weeks because they never receive any "natural filing."

I just trim them myself. He has both clear and black nails and I trim the clear ones first and then match the black ones to the clear ones. Never fails me.
 
Thanks everyone for your answers to my questions.

I think I will buy a new grinder and some quick stop and give it a try next time they need trimming.
 
I trim my dogs nails once a week. She has half clear/white nails and half black. I start with the clear nails and then gauge how much to trim off the black. Or sometimes do several small trims until I see the quick. You have to have sharp clippers for that. I also use a dremmel.
 
SueEllen said:
Okay so I have read some older posts on nail trimming and also watched several videos posted here (spent an hour watching nail trimming videos :-o) but still have questions.

I trim my cats nails about once a month and it is relatively easy since her nails are white and I can see the quick. The problem I have with Bailey is most of his nails are black & I am nervous about hitting the quick. I clipped a few here and there from the time he came home as a puppy over the last fews months & just had them all clipped & grinded on Friday at a groomer.

Question to those on the board:

How many trim their dogs nails themselves vs taking them to a vet or groomer?
If you do how often do you clip & do you clip and then grind or only grind?
I see from the videos how important it is to keep them trim but am nervous about the black nails on Bailey

If you do get them done, is a groomer or vet better in your opinion?

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

When they're young I do 1-2 weeks at a time and ONLY grind. I clip some of Honey's because they're odd shaped/don't grow properly. Ruutu really only gets the grinder and actually falls asleep while I do his nails. I try for every 2-3 weeks once over a year but sometimes go a month or so. I have only done them myself. I've knicked Ruutu once with clippers when he was 9 weeks old. Honey had been knicked a lot by my mom before coming and living with me and because of that fights when I try to trim her nails. I have never knicked her in the 2 years she had lived with me.
 
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