Trimming Nails

[Sue & Willy Babe]

My husband tried to clip Willson's nails this morning and got one of his quicks I was just wondering how do you clip your doodles Nails, and do you use the grinder that I have seen advertised on T.V.???

[Adina P]

Sue,

I use a nail dremel on my doodles. Rosco, my youngest, never liked the nail clipper and I too occasionally would cut the quick and then have to chase him around the kitchen and convince him to give me his paw so I could stop the bleeding, in the meantime my kitchen floor was smudged with bloody nail smears.

So I bought a dremel at Wal Mart (the Mini Mite comes recommended for this and it is wireless) and started training him to like the sight of the dremel by showing him the dremel and then giving him a treat...repeatedly until seeing the dremel made him excited. Then little by little I acclimated him to the sound and feel and now he sees me and is happy to sit while I dremel his nails.

Thule who is much more spooky about such things even let me do it to her after a couple weeks of acclimation and watching Rosco survive his dremeling.

If you go to the Forum tab and click there then you can search for past discussions on this topic. Search "nails" and search "dremel" and you'll find some good articles I've linked to.

[Doe Asombrado]

Sue,

Winston's (our labradoodle) grandma, just bought the "peticure" that was advertised on T.v. Haven't tried it yet, but ran it by our trainer who also grooms her own doodle. She has a very similar one and suggests easing into it slowly i.e. holding paw with one hand and holding device on another without touching dog. Then touch dog's nail with grinding guard on for brief moments. Then attempt to touch dog's nail with grinding guard off for a brief moments. She states it vibrates and heats up so the actual grinding of nail is fleeting. It's the vibration and heat that can scare the dog. I'll let you know when we use it. His nails are very short and too close to the quick right now.

[Patty Barnes]

Here is a simple way to cut nails safely. I use a nail clipper that looks like pliers and run it up the back of the nail until it stops at the hook. Once the clipper stops at the hook you can cut the nail without worry. Actually, as you grow more confident using this method you can cut without even looking. The process is easy (on you and on the dog) and very fast.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Hi Sue,
We use the Pedicure also. Started very slowly introducing it to her. Theses are the steps we used and got positive outcome.
A few minutes several times a day:
1. turned it on and had her sit in front of me. Gave her some cookies when she would ignore it.
2. I put her treat on the Pedicure while I held it. It took her a few minutes but she finally took the cookies.
3. held her foot and she had to take the cookies off the Pedicure
4. started "filing" and giving cookies.
Now she sits and waits patiently for each foot to be done because then it is cookie time.
Good luck in whatever method you choose. Adrianne

[Tamara & Giada]

I go to a professional groomer................always have. Thought about a grinder, but I know me and will never use it. We'll stick with a groomer.

[Anthony & Lori Jacobs]

I use the peticure too. I love it it works great and with 8 dogs it's wonderful. My niece who is my groomer told me you can by the dremel at Walmart for about $20.00 and its just as good but I wanted the big heavy duty one with that many dogs and it has the cover that goes over it and I am not sure the dremel does. She says that is what she uses at Pet smart where she works.

[Lynda Kamrath]

We have had a lot of practice with nail trimming after 30 years of poodles before we started with doodles. My husband would always set the dog on a counter and warm up a soldering iron to zap the nail if it clipped to the quick. Vets use silver nitrate, but the soldering iron seemed to work better for us. We got a pedicure also, but found that a multi-speed dremel tool on the low speed works even better and is much cheaper. The dremel tool is electric and the pedicure needs batteries, so that is another negative with the pedicure. We prefer the electric as the dogs and already sitting on a counter. Many dogs are afraid of noises on equipment around them, so give them some time to get used to the sound before you try to use it on them. (Same thing with hair dryers.)

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

If your doodle walks on paved and rough surfaces regularly, he may not need his nails clipped at all. You can also take your doodle out to a tennis court and play ball with him for 1/2 hour; that will grind down the nails; be sure to stop in time! My groomer rarely needs to clip my dogs nails; they stay short because they walk on pavement and gravel a lot.

[2hl9mp3c2fuam]

I have always been too scared to do this myself, I have the groomer or vet do it for me!!

[23ght0c2zk1tt]

Like many others, I find that Chapin's walks usually keep them short enough - we have hardwood floors and once we start hearing the clicking, he goes to PetSmart for a quick clip. I don't trust my eyesight - and Chapin behaves beautifully when they're being done.