LONG nails...how often can I clip

briteday · 02-13-2007, 09:21 PM

I am fostering a couple of small (10 pound) mixed breed dogs for about 6 weeks. They came to me a mess, matted to the skin and nails like Cruella Deville. I shaved them to take care of their coats. And I have been trimming their nails, conservatively so as not to hit a quick, every weekend. The first time a took about 1/8' off, a bit less since then each time. They both have black nails so it is hard to know how far I can go. One of the dogs has nails more than an inch long. The poor things are walking on their heels because of the long nails. And the male has a "clicking" in his joints when he walks. He also will not jump up on furniture although he tries sometimes. I think his hind legs have really taken a beating from the nail situation.

So, since I will only have them for 4 more weeks, any suggestions? I have all the supplies, including the styptic powder. I hate to hurt them though because they are already stressed. As it is I am using a soft muzzle on them to protect myself along with some peanut butter on the roof of their mouths to keep them occupied.

Suggestions?

Alpha · 02-14-2007, 01:04 AM

If you can dremmeling is the best way to get as close to the quick as you can to make it recede. Dremmeling every other day will help make the quick recede even faster, but be careful. Even though a dremel is a rotary tool, you can still "burn" the quick if you hit it.

As I'm sure you know, the longer the nails get, the longer the quick is. If you look underneath the nail you can see the end is kind of hollowed out, that's the part you want to dremel/clip. The part of the nail that is not hollow is where the quick is.

Kudos to you for helping out dogs in need

merrow · 02-18-2007, 07:17 AM

i do teddys front nails about every 2 weeks or so as he dose loads of walking on grass but i liturall take of 1 or 2 mm each time as his nails arnt long but i do keep on top of them as when i got them they were curling round.

i take of a tiny bit at a time and look at the nail they are usaly white and powdery then i do them again and again till i see a tiny black dot apear that is the area close to the uick so i stop its worked for me every time and never cut him doin it this way

xx

RonE · 02-18-2007, 07:52 AM

Alpha, or anyone else who dremels a dog's nails: This is new to me. Tell me more.

I know what a dremel is. I have a couple of cordless and corded ones. I just never thought of using them on my dog's nail. Or is there a special dog dremel that costs 4 times as much as the one from Home Depot?

britishbandit · 02-18-2007, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonE

Alpha, or anyone else who dremels a dog's nails: This is new to me. Tell me more.

I know what a dremel is. I have a couple of cordless and corded ones. I just never thought of using them on my dog's nail. Or is there a special dog dremel that costs 4 times as much as the one from Home Depot?

Here's a pretty good explaination of using a dremmel. Scroll down a bit to get to the "how to".

http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merens...awn/index.html

RonE · 02-18-2007, 10:50 AM

Wow, thanks, britishbandit. That was a very thorough explanation.

I will begin introducing Esther to my dremel later today. She has already made friends with my lawnmower and snowblower (in the sense that she doesn't attack them any more) so I think we can do this.

Routine nail care has been a challenge with Esther. Even the groomer doesn't seem to have great success and this is not a dog that goes to a groomer very often.

I have a particular motivation to keep the nails under control now. We just had a house-full of 100-year-old yellow birch floors refinished. They are drop-dead gorgeous but not as hard as oak or maple. If Esther is going to have the run of the house, her nails need to be short.

briteday · 02-18-2007, 12:58 PM

I am also looking at filing my own dogs' nail with a dremel type tool. However, all that I've seen are in the $30 and way up range. And the replacement sanding drums are $4 for 6 drums, the cheapest I could find. I've been looking for similar tools at hobby shops (my husband has one for model building but the handset is too big and heavy for me to do my little dogs, and I would like one of the battery ones so I'm not tied to a wall outlet) but we have limited retail here.
If anyone has access to something like Hobby Lobby or other retail maybe they could check. I'm also going to pick the brain of my woodworking neighbor for a source for the sanding drums.
If I find something along the dremel line I'll post it.

britishbandit · 02-18-2007, 02:12 PM

I absolutely look the look of dremmeled claws, but I don't have the patience to sit there for that long to do 3 Rottweilers...HAHA. So I just clip as needed.

It's great for people who are unsure of trimming black claws though, as you can see the quick better as you get the nail down. Clipping them you have to be very very careful. One bad experience with a nail cut too short and bleeding, can make clipping a difficult task in the future.

RonE · 02-18-2007, 08:48 PM

This is going to take a while.

Esther had a VERY big day and, so, is feeling pretty mellow this evening. I charged up the Dremel, clipped a box of training treats to my belt and prepared to to battle with The Claws.

To begin with, Esther is very affectionate, but she doesn't like people messing with her ears, her paws or any other body parts. I let her sniff the Dremel and, predictably, she licked it. I took that as a good sign.

Then I turned it on - low speed. The cordless ones are pretty quiet, so that didn't alarm her in the least. Then I gently took her paw in my hand (with the Dremel at a safe distance.)

"What the ****? Why is he doing this? He's never done this before. I think this is BAD!!"

So I expect to spend a week of evenings holding hands with my dog to get her used to that idea. Then we'll get the Dremel out again.

If that doesn't work, I may have to get her drunk.

Alpha · 02-18-2007, 10:47 PM

RonE- Some dogs prefer the nail clippers to the dremel because the sound and feel of the dremmel. While others prefer the dremel because they are so sensitive to the tension build up of the clippers. If that makes ANY sense whatsoever! ROFL

The way I look at it is, make them deal with it BOTH ways. Make BOTH ways fun and make them tolerate it. Then you can clip, and use the dremel for a quick "zzz" just to file out the edges so their not so sharp from the clipping.

The dremel is just really good for making the quick recede, because you can get much closer to the quick with the dremel than with the nail clippers.

jazzy · 02-22-2007, 01:42 AM

quite often it is good to start out with a nail file - emery board type; i really like the ones you use to do acrylic nails best. they are quiet, can get a dog use to a sort of vibrating feeling on their toes and can be used lightly a couple of times a week if you like. but, once per week should suffice to get the quick back a bit. it's good to do after clipping your dogs nails to. (smooths out rough edges so you don't get a scratch from a stray, sharp edge. ouch!)
the dremmel is great though. such a nice clean finish in the end...
great uggestions in this forum! i am really enjoying reading all of them; sounds like we may have a groomer, or 2 here. very cool!

CrzyBritNAmerica · 02-22-2007, 02:05 AM

Hmm I am glad I snuck in on this thread....I think I might try a dremel too. Bridgette has mostly white nails, but the two in the middle on her front feet are black (it's weird, but normal I suppose since she is all black and white) so they are harder to see. She HATES having her nails clipped but I give her treats when she's being good and that helps a lot. She makes me laugh though because she'll yelp before I have even picked up the clippers! The first time she yelped I thought I'd cut off her whole toe or something! "Oh wait, I didn't even clip a nail yet Bridgette!" My roommate got a good laugh out of that one! But she still dislikes it even though I've had her (and been cutting her nails) for over a year now! But she's better...had a bit of a slip yesterday though which upset me as much as her!! She jerked just as I clipped and it got too much by the tiniest bit. She didn't actually yelp as loud as when I hadn't done anything, but it bled a little and I had to soak it and everything. I just thank god it wasn't any worse!! It makes me so nervous to do it, but I've never knicked her before...it would be nice to have a dremel though...seems much easier and "safer"!