I hate trimming claws!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I hate cutting my dogs claws!! I have never had success! Even the tiniest amount causes screams and yelps! I dont know if they are hurting or protesting because I was told that my old dog screams before you even snip because he has learned that I will let go. AND all the nails are black!! I actually last week paid the vets office $20. to cut the nails for me and I think they missed one that is so much longer than the rest. I just stopped doing it with Bailey and only the groomer has been doing it for years now. But I think the whole sensitivity to being clipped came from the groomer doing it. I want to be able to cut Abby's nails without being a nervous wreck that I will hurt her...her nails are all black so I cant see any quick. Any suggestions?

[Nancy & Bisbee]

We use the Pedi Paws.... no clippers here, ouch. Used a dremel with our other dogs, but the noise scared Bisbee when he first came home, so we got a pedi paws... works like a charm and didn't take long at all for him to accept....

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Nail clipping
Look at the nail from the bottom. You will see a wall around what looks like a soft center. Kind of like a rolled cake wi a soft, sweet center. The center is the quick. That’s the part you don’t want to cut. The quick is the part that bleeds and hurts when you cut it. Cut the wall around the quick. Rather than cut across, cut from the bottom, going up the nail, almost parallel to the nail. This is counter intuitive. At first the nail may seem rather long, but over time, if you cut the way I’m describing, you will see that the quick recedes. Ideally you want your dog’s nails quite short. Especially if you are doing agility, canine freestyle or any other sport or have floors you don’t want scratched. The more the quick recedes, the shorter you can get the nails.
Once the quick recedes there is a hollow nail at the end with no quick to nick. You just cut the hollow nail off. Then Do a little around the quick to help it recede a little more. With scaredy dogs just cutting that hollow piece of nail is so easy & painless with no chance of cutting the quick. Doggie starts to see it as easy & painless, especially if each nail is followed wi a treat. You can work on the wall to get recession, a couple of nails a day.
Make a ritual out of it at the same time each day with special treats just for nail clipping. Soon you may find your dog coming to you at that time to remind you it is nail cutting time.
It is especially difficult to miss the quick on black nails. Using this method makes it much easier to do black nails without nicking the quick. Although the black nails are a little more difficult to do, I find that my white poodle bleeds more if I happen to hit the quick. Hitting the quick produces a lot of blood in most dogs. It looks like they are bleeding to death and it makes an awful mess. But they don’t bleed to death and it’s a long way from the heart, so don’t stress over a nicked quick. The dog and even you will survive! A little styptic powder or talcum powder on the end of a Qtip putting pressure on the nail for awhile with some cuddling, some treats and some comforting words is all the healing needed. I prefer talcum to styptic. I find it just as effective and the styptic seems to sting more so I prefer not to use it. My favorite is a sulfer powder I purchase in Mexico.
I use a nail clipper that has an indentation for the nail. I like this method for me. However, A Dremel with sand paper is great. It just takes longer. You would use the same technique with the dremel. Just work on the wall around the quick with the dremel. You will get the same result with recession of the quick. You can keep sanding the wall over time and the nails will be nice and short.
Please give me feedback if you try this. Let me know how it goes
Copyright Joy de la Ren 2/09

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Thanks for the info Joy! And now you all can see why I titled this post so! I heard that clicking means too long. Also vet told me nails should be parrallel to top of pads. (not curl to be be mid-pad height) This is impossible with Bailey (my 12 yr old dog) because his nails were never trained to be that short and the quick is too long. Because of the screaming/bleeding plain horror of the terrible nails, I let them go until the groomer saw him every 2-3 months. I dont want that to happen to Abby and want to get the nails trained to be short at an early age. And yes I aspire to short,smooth nails because Bailey kills my legs when he stands up pawing against my legs. It hurts and he is only 18lbs.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

TG!! Joy, you wrote a wonderful reply here - I was actually able to visualize how I was supposed to hold the cutter and I actually just trimmed the nails of 3 doodles (Mickey is here also) and didn't draw any blood!! I did last week on both my girls.
THANK YOU!!!!!

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Hi Adrianne, YOur welcome, I love it when I get feedback. Especially good feedback. Puppy love from Joy & furry folk

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

GRRRRR!!! I thought I had this nail clipping down pat and then today I cut into the quick and he bled like crazy. I used the quickstop. It stopped eventually, but then started back up tonight when he was wrestling with our other doodle. I wanted to kick myself, because I finally got him to just lay down and let me clip his nails without so much as a flinch. Darn, darn, darn.
Ofcourse, what do you think I JUST got done today? Yup, carpets steam cleaned. And you can guess where he ran all over when he was bleeding again......yup, carpets!!!! At least he didn;t jump up on the freshly cleaned couch!

Thank goodness he doesn't need it often as he is on pavement a lot. Just will have to start over with treats and go slower again.
Bad doodle mommy!!!! :0(

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Hi Sue, Hydrogen Peroxide will remove the blood stains. But check on a non showing corner first. Don't beat urself up. He'll get over it before you do LOL. He'll only be nervous next time if you are. Its a long way from the heart. Puppy love from Joy & furry folk.

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

You are being a bad doodle mom only to the doodle mom. It happens to all of us. Its a long way from the heart. Of course its going to happen after U have ur carpets cleaned. Aren't you sure its going to rain after U have your car washed? So, doodle mom. Quit beating up the doodle mom. U are a great doodle mom. Have U read my article on clipping nails? BTW, depending on the color of the carpet, you can use hydrogen peroxide to remove the blood from the carpet. Check it out in a hidden corner first. Drop it on the blood & watch it foam the blood away. Pls keep us posted, good doodle mom. Puppy love from JOy & furry folk

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Hi Joy, Hard to believe it's already Jan. but I have only trimmed Murphy's nails maybe twice since my poor doodles major hemorrhage. Getting back to that, it restarted to bleed the next day too and we finally used super-glue to seal it as we had a big doodle romp to go to that day. that did the trick.

I have gone really slowly with clipping now and he's a little skittish, but I know it's only when he senses that I'm getting a little nervous. He still walks a lot on pavement, but I would like to get them a little shorter so now my question is how to know just where to cut? I can barely see the quick, and in that case would a dremel be better than cutting? what do you think?

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Hi Sue &all, If U follow my original instructions
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/i-hate-trimming-claws?xg_s...
you will find after 2 or 3 weeks that the quick will recede. Put your dog upside down. Look at the nails from the bottom of the nails. When you look at the upside down nails, you will see that when the quick has receded you will see a hole in the nail. Kind of a hollow tunnel and you can see down to the quick. Cut off the tunnel just down to the quick. A couple of weeks later, there will be a new tunnel. Cut that off. By doing this you will slowly shorten those claw like nails & the quick without actually cutting the quick. If you happen to nip the quick, just remember, it's a long way from the heart. You will be more upset than your dog. My opinion on the dremel or paw something. I think they are great! You use the same basic guidelines as what I wrote. In fact I was trained with a dremel. I don't use a dremel bcs clippers are quicker. Wi 16 paws, a painful body & no time, a clipper is quicker & works for me. Pls let me know if this is helpful. Puppy love from Joy & furry folk

[Lee Seidman]

I did Lexi's nails for the first time last week. I used the pedi paws dremel that we had purchased and never used because we didn't want Lexi to be afraid of it. To my amazement, I watched the video and followed the instructions, introduced her to it slowly. She was afraid at first, but after holding her for the first trimming she laid back as if she was at a spa and allowed me to trim all her nails including her dew claws......it was fantastic....Bed Bath and Beyond sells the Pedi Paws for $9.99 and my wife had a 20% coupon, lol.........I will never again put her thru clipping, pinching and splitting her nails and causing her pain. Pedi Paws, cover on, worked great....the cover also protected her fur from getting caught. One suggestion, hold each toe to prevent it from vibrating,,,,,,,,,She loved it!

[Karen & Lucy]

I am a scaredy cat when it comes to clipping nails. I have tried everything and Lucy hates her nails clipped. SOOOOOO, I too bought the PediPaws. WELL, I did everything the instructions said to get her used to it. It took days, but she finally would go up to it lying on the floor and sniff it and then finally let me rub it all over her , AND THEN I TURNED IT ON. WHOOHOO, forget that. It is noisey and off she went, when I would go near her she would freak. She HATES it. I think it is noisy too. So, now she gets her nails clipped by my now wonderful mobile groomer that comes monthly to bath and/or clip Lucy and does the nails too. WHEW, am I glad I have her.