cutting nails

[murdock maclean]

i read here that you should cut dogs nails once a week?
I tried that but i cut the vein oops. his nails look a little long but I still hit the vein? They dont touch the floor when he walks so is that the main thing? as long as they dont touch the floor?
thanks

[jakesfostermom]

Murdock, we do our dogs nails as needed, but the reference to once per week is likely so that your dog becomes accustomed to this as a routine part of their grooming, as well as encourage the quick of the nail to stay up high in the nail. Are you using actual clippers, or the electric tool (like a dremmel) to do the nails? Be careful with the clippers, because on black nails it is hard to see the quick, which will bleed if the nail is clipped too short.

[Judy Chrusch]

Hi, well many of us do nails weekly for behavior reasons as well. I have a tough boy when it comes to certain things so it's better for me to do them weekly and by doing them often it slowly recedes the quick, not to mention when you do them often you don't have to spend near the amount of time on them. 1,2,3 you're done. I find it to go much smoother the more often you do them. It's when they're left go where you run into a problem and the quick grows out, then it takes longer to recede back. So I suggest do them weekly or at least bi-weekly it's better all around . Oh and I use a dremmel bc IF you do get the quick it rarely bleeds and if it does it's a very small amount, unlike using the clippers . Do a search on how to use one, I think it's MUCH better then the clippers and many dogs do better with the dremmel. Hope this helps.

Judy

[murdock maclean]

Thank you for the info
I cut them today with clippers and one bled now he wont let me near his nails he pulls away and wont stop untill i put the clippers away. so maybe i will try the dremmel. I read you just use sand paper and hold it straight to the nail?

[Brooke&Ryan]

We use clippers but that's just our personal preference. Julius has become accustomed to them & just rolls onto his back with his paw in the air when it's nail cutting time.

You might want to invest in some styptic powder to stop the blood if you happen to hit the quick again.


Brooke

[Miabella]

We also use a Dremel and do nails weekly. This webpage has excellent instructions on the proper way to Dremel.

[RAVENMOM]

I was just about to suggest the same webpage! It was a great help when I started doing them. BTW, I dremel also.

[Squeaky2004]

Originally Posted by RAVENMOM

I was just about to suggest the same webpage! It was a great help when I started doing them. BTW, I dremel also.

For now we have just gotten our vet to do it, because we were not sure, didnt want to hurt our puppy. But i do want to get a dremmel, so that after her vet visits are done for the year we can keep up with them ourselves