QUESTION: When Clipping A Dog's Nails...

[arwalden]

I'm always as careful as possible to avoid clipping into the "quick" and the blood vessel. BUT... on occasion, despite my best efforts, I'll sometimes cause one or two nails to bleed slightly.

It's never more than a drop of blood and it clots within a minute if I apply clotting powder and hold a tissue over the nail tip.

My question is: If I accidentally draw blood, did I cause my dog any pain?

Stupid question? I don't know... because she shows NO reaction at all. (Other than the normal "please-let-go-of-my-paw" reaction whenever I clip ANY other nail WITHOUT drawing blood.)

Getting her nails clipped is not her favorite activity, but she tolerates it if I'm patient and persistent.

-- Allen

[benburch]

1. A little pain.

I mean, have you ever ripped a cuticle? About like that.

I wouldn't worry about it. She loves you, and knows you are grooming her, and will forget the minor pain pretty quickly.

[xultar]

2. If you only get a drop or 2 of blood, it smarts for them a bit

but if you apply the clotting powder or liquid with a pain reliever it stops almost immediately upon applicaiton.

If you seriously hit the quick. IT can hurt them for quite a while.

I know alot of folks are starting to use the dremel tool on their dogs, it files them down and makes them smooth so the nails won't cause scratches on the dogs or you.

Then there is the whole "black nail" thing.
My dog has black nails cuz he's a black dog. A chihuahua...the most beautiful...ok back on subject.
They are very difficult to cut. So I trim them every 2 weeks to keep the quick back. His nails are pretty short but. I don't want to take the chance of the quick growing far out.

Toodles

[arwalden]

4. Black Nails Are The Worst! My dog has one black nail on each...

paw. The rest are clear/pink.

-- Allen

[Bunny]

5. Yeah, my little Pug has black nails,

and she goes absolutely ape-shit when I try to trim them. I gave up, and now I take her to the vet to get trimmed. She goes ape-shit there, too, but that's THEIR problem! :evilgrin:

[afraid_of_the_dark]

3. First of all, that's sweet that she trusts you like that.

When my dad used to trim our dachshund's (dark - so you can't see the blood vessel) toenails, inevitably he would trim several of them too short. Each time, he'd give a yelp - I'm assuming that means that it hurts. But I wouldn't imagine that the pain would be much different than when you trim your toenails or fingernails too short.

Sorry... it's probably not the answer you wanted to hear. But the fact that she doesn't fight you too much when you trim her nails normally is a good sign that any pain caused is not too bad.

[arwalden]

6. Yeah... It took me about a year to catch on.

I used to allow myself to get frustrated with her for not cooperating with me. I would get angry because I had convinced myself that she was being difficult "on purpose".

Only after I read a how-to-care-for-your-puppy book, did I realize that she wasn't trying to be UN-cooperative... she was simply pulling away out of INSTINCT. It's not comfortable to be restrained ONE toe at a time and she really doesn't understand WHAT it is that I'm doing to her or WHY it is that I do it. Therefore I can't "reason" with her to convince her to voluntarily cooperate.

Obviously that bit of insight didn't make the job go any faster (at first) but it made me a little more sympathetic to how she was feeling inside and I've never gotten angry or frustrated with her since then. --- If she pulls away, I just try again, and again, and again until I'm able to clip the nail without her pulling back.

After another year, her panic and anxiety about having her nails clipped subsided and now she just sits there quietly... for the most part... and only OCCASIONALLY will feel the urge to pull her paw away from me. --- I hold on firmly, but not too tight. If she feels the need to pull away, I don't engage in a tug-of-war with her... I just let her paw go, then reach for it again and try to isolate the nail again.

Four nails on each paw plus two dew claws takes about 20 minutes.

So... the lesson... don't get angry with your pet for her uncontrollable and instinctual reaction to pull away when something has her paw uncomfortably "trapped". (Just try to be understanding, and patient, and love them.)

-- Allen

P.S. I also talk to her CONTINUALLY while clipping her nails. In a soft sing-songy happy voice I tell her how pretty she is and what a good-girl she is. I doubt she actually understands me, but the tone is what probably helps her to calm down.

[Richardo]

7. YOU - are a puppy master my friend...

nicely patient. My bride has the same talent. Good for both of you! :thumbsup:

[arwalden]

9. "Puppy-Master" ... That's higher than Jedi-Master, isn't it?

I hope so.

-- Allen

[Richardo]

11. It is at La Casa Richardo, I can tell you...

96 dog toenails here, not counting dew claws. :wow:

[arwalden]

16. Wow! Six!

Just a 12 lb ShiTzu keeps me busy. I've thought it might be fun to have just ONE more... but I can't imagine all the fun I'd be having with SIX!

-- Allen

P.S. I used a calculator. I'm not good at quick mental math.

[Richardo]

19. Confession: I had to use a calculator to come up with the number...

Richardo <-- math-ly challenged Poli Sci major. :-)

[RebelOne]

8. I never can clip my dogs nails without drawing blood.

So, I usually have the vet do it.

[ajacobson]

10. Nails clips are the worst

Only two of my dogs tolerate it. Tatiana runs into her house when I reach for them. Mister Tuktoyaktuk absolutely hates it, I get maybe one nail if I'm lucky. I've been working on positively reinforcing nail clips for YEARS, they won't buy it. Even the puppy (now 3 yrs old) who we've never quicked, doesn't like it. They just don't like it. I'm an obedience instructor parttime and I know the procedures but the dogs just DONT LIKE IT.

[welshTerrier2]

12. Get the right Clippers

my vet told me to stay away from "guillotine" type clippers ... these are the kind where the end of the nail fits thru a hole in the clipper and then a blade slides across the hole when you squeeze the handle ... the problem is that you can put the nail too deep into the hole ...

he recommended a "scissor style" clipper ... make sure you get one that comes with a "safety bar" ... the idea here is that you push the nail between the two parts of the scissor until the tip of the nail hits the safety bar ... than cut the nail like you would use any regular scissors ... the bad news is, you can only cut off a little at a time ... the good news is, no more bleeding ...

i'm not familiar with this particular brand, but here's a link to see what the scissor style with safety bar looks like:

http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=5400

[toddzilla]

13. always feed your dog while you do it too

have a little jar or a pocket full of goodies and just pop them a treat every once in a while, it takes their mind off of it and provides a correlation between eating (good) and trimming (unpleasant)

[arwalden]

18. Good Idea... I've Never Tried That

She does get a treat AFTERWARDS along with lots and lots of praise and an an overflowing abundance of "good girls" and hugs and nuzzling. She craves attention and just loves it someone gets down on the floor at her level. I try to make it as positive experience as possible, and your suggestion will definitely help.

-- Allen

[arwalden]

14. Unfortunately I Have The "Guillotine" Type Of Clippers...

... and I've always thought it would be nice if there was a guard that prevented excessively deep cuts.

I'd definitely be willing to use clippers that only allowed me to shave off a little bit at a time (inspecting the tip after each slice) to prevent bleeding.

She never acts angry with me, but it just breaks my heart to know that I've caused her any pain at all. I think I dread it more than she does.

-- Allen

P.S. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

[welshTerrier2]

15. perhaps i wasn't clear enough ...

just to clarify, you only cut the nail once using these clippers ... you DO NOT MAKE MULTIPLE CUTS ...

your statement inspecting the tip after each slice indicates i may not have been clear enough about this ... one cut per nail per session ... you can probably cut the nail every two or three weeks ... but do not make multiple cuts on the same day ... that would almost certainly cut into the quick and cause bleeding ...

[arwalden]

17. Okay... I've Never Seen Them Up Close...

so I got the impression that they made MINISCULE cuts... like 'shaving' the tip.

Thanks for the follow-up message. I'll definitely check to see if my local pet supply store has them... if not I'll order them online.

-- Allen

[sweetheart]

20. cut them more frequently

The quick grows down the nail further if you cut them less often. If you nip them more often, the quick stays back and you're more likely to get you woofer's nails shorter and still not draw blood.

I'm so glad i don't have to do that anymore. They run wild here and wear them down naturally. I never clip the nails except the dew claw when it gets way long.

More often is the trick.

Puppy licks. :)