Advice on how to clip black nails safely please

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Does anyone have any advice please on safely clipping black nails please? I am lucky with Bear, is nails are white/clear and it’s very easy to see the quick, and I’m even luckier that I have never had to clip his nails except for the ‘thumb’ once a year, they just seem to naturally stay VERY short, you could say they are stumps really and right down to the quick. Mooshi on the other hand her nails don’t seem to naturally wear down like Bear’s do, no matter how much street walking we do and at the moment with the dark mornings and early nights it’s a lot of street walking (up to 2hrs a day in total). Her nails are solid black, you can not see the quick at all and I am very hesitant to clip them myself, they are also naturally quite long. I usually let my groomer friend do it but would like to have the confidence to do it from home without causing her pain and worse bleeding. Last night another friend of mine did them for me at ring craft class but only took about 1mm off and I know they need more that that by how much she is clicking on our walks.

 

[Sadies Mom]

I do not feel comfortable doing Sadies nails by my self, I let my vet do it with a dremel. She hates having them done and she needs to be muzzled and have two people holding her down. I used to take her to the groomers, but they would just stop if she was being a little brat, so she would "win" every time. With her nails being black and really thick, I rather have someone else do it for now. I have seen nail clippers with a quick finder, don't know if they work or not. Sorry, no help.

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

We use the dremel on our dogs nails and do it probably once a week just to keep them short. The dogs don't mind and lie on the couch without and issue. This means we rarely have quik issues. We used to clip and Scott always felt bad if he nicked one but I am a mean mommy and with 6 dogs to do I just used a nitrate stick and kept moving

 

[ruthcatrin]

Apollo's nails are half black and half white. The white ones are easy, the black ones? Not so much. I've quicked him a couple times, interestingly enough he just continues to stare at me like I'm breaking his heart and barely flinches.....

Ditto the dremel if Mooshi'll tolerate it, I've had no luck getting Apollo to tolerate one, I'm currently working on trying to get him to accept a heavy duty nail file instead. When I DO clip I do it in little bits. Take off a bit, look at the nail, you can see the quick coming from the freshly cut part if you do it that way, so if I can't see it I'll do another little bit. I try to do it every couple weeks so they don't grow out to long in between so thats usually all I have to take off.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

I use a dremel on Ruger and I do them about once a month. I excersize him like crazy and then throw a big blanket over my bed and let him get cozy. He was a little jumpy the first time or two but he is pretty used to it now. If you just dremel straight down the nail you shouldn't ever hit the quick. I don't have the confidence to clip them.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Rugers - what do you mean just dremel straight down the nail? do you meal with the sanding attachment and start at the tip?

Ruth I know that breaking heart look very well! I think Im going to give the dremel a go and see if she will accept it. Of course I will start slowly and with lots of treats and praise.

Thanks everyone!

---------- Post added at 01:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------

We use the dremel on our dogs nails and do it probably once a week just to keep them short. The dogs don't mind and lie on the couch without and issue. This means we rarely have quik issues. We used to clip and Scott always felt bad if he nicked one but I am a mean mommy and with 6 dogs to do I just used a nitrate stick and kept moving

I highly doubt you are even close to a mean mommy. A mean mommy doesnt clip nails at all and lets their dog become crippled from horrible curled nails.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

We use the dremel on our dogs nails and do it probably once a week just to keep them short. The dogs don't mind and lie on the couch without and issue. This means we rarely have quik issues. We used to clip and Scott always felt bad if he nicked one but I am a mean mommy and with 6 dogs to do I just used a nitrate stick and kept moving

I highly doubt you are even close to a mean mommy. A mean mommy doesnt clip nails at all and lets their dog become crippled from horrible curled nails.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

Holding her nail like you would to clip it, you just start at the very top of the spot you would normally clip (Pretty much where you would rest the the clippers if you had her nail inside and just slowly run the dremel straight down the front of the nail like that again and again. I really like it because when you are done, there are no sharp pieces that snag.

Rugers - what do you mean just dremel straight down the nail? do you meal with the sanding attachment and start at the tip?

Ruth I know that breaking heart look very well! I think Im going to give the dremel a go and see if she will accept it. Of course I will start slowly and with lots of treats and praise.

Thanks everyone!

---------- Post added at 01:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------

I highly doubt you are even close to a mean mommy. A mean mommy doesnt clip nails at all and lets their dog become crippled from horrible curled nails.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

OK I'll give that a try. Thanks Ruger!!

 

[Rugers-Kris]

You are welcome....I was so nervouc with Ruger's nail when I got him and I got them done a couple times professionally but he seemed so uncomfortable with it. There is no pain with them dremel and once you can get them past the noise, it can be quite enjoyable.

 

[Robtouw]

Cruiser fights if I clip and dremel his nails, but if I take him to 5 Points and his little girlfriend, the groomer, does it he stands still and gives her kisses. It drives me mad! If you look at the underside of the nail, you can see a little recessed area that kind of angles up and back with a hollow area. It is difficult to see when they are moving about but it gives you a good stopping point.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

If anyone is clipping or dremeling this weekend and feel like they can be bother to take some pic's I would be most grateful. Im not the brightest spark and its good to see rather than read sometimes. LOL

 

[raechiemay]

I also suggest using the dremmel. It was the only way to get my first EM's nails shorter bc she hated the noise & the pressure the regular nail clippers gave off. She was very good for me when I used the dremmel instead.

I'd start with one foot at a time. If she's toy or bone motivated give her something to chew on to take her mind off what you're doing. Peanut butter usually worked well stuffed into a kong when I would dremmel Jessie's nails. Don't go too crazy. If her nails are long & haven't been trimmed in a long time chances are her quiks are long too. Have some steptic (sp?) powder on hand just incase. I'd maybe start out only sanding like 1/4-1/2 inch & see where that gets you. And definitely praise or reward if she allows you to get one foot done without any fuss. If you want to work the quik back, I'd probably dremmel her nails about every 2 weeks & over some time they will slowly start to grow back. Good luck!

 

[raechiemay]

I use just regular clippers on Duchess bc she doesn't care. She isn't in desperate need of a nail trim but here's one nail that needed it:

See the little "hook" part at the end?


And now clipped:


Didn't cut but maybe a quarter of an inch off. Maybe a hair more. The most important thing to remember when cutting nails is make it comfortable for the dog. My first instinct was always to cut with the dog's foot flipped back but that just makes them fight you more as it's uncomfortable. If possible have Mooshi lay down. If not possible, hold her foot out directly in front of her like she's giving you a shake.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Thanks Raechiemay!!

---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 PM ----------

I use just regular clippers on Duchess bc she doesn't care. She isn't in desperate need of a nail trim but here's one nail that needed it:

See the little "hook" part at the end?
View attachment 14196

And now clipped:
View attachment 14197

Didn't cut but maybe a quarter of an inch off. Maybe a hair more. The most important thing to remember when cutting nails is make it comfortable for the dog. My first instinct was always to cut with the dog's foot flipped back but that just makes them fight you more as it's uncomfortable. If possible have Mooshi lay down. If not possible, hold her foot out directly in front of her like she's giving you a shake.

How did you know where the quick was??

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

I use just regular clippers on Duchess bc she doesn't care. She isn't in desperate need of a nail trim but here's one nail that needed it:

See the little "hook" part at the end?
View attachment 14196

And now clipped:
View attachment 14197

Didn't cut but maybe a quarter of an inch off. Maybe a hair more. The most important thing to remember when cutting nails is make it comfortable for the dog. My first instinct was always to cut with the dog's foot flipped back but that just makes them fight you more as it's uncomfortable. If possible have Mooshi lay down. If not possible, hold her foot out directly in front of her like she's giving you a shake.

How did you know where the quick was??

 

[raechiemay]

I was a professional groomer for 2 years, it's like 2nd nature. But when I didn't know, I'd look for the hollow part of the nail which can sometimes be seen from the underside. If you can't see it, I'd only trim maybe 1/4 inch at a time.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

OK..thats what I wanted to know...how to find the quick. It makes my stomach turn thinking about making her bleed.

 

[raechiemay]

Yeah I understand that! I freaked the first time I cut too much!

 

[bellareea320]

Thanks MM for an awesome thread. I had Lunas cut by the vet not to long ago and now they are long again. Although when she got them done they still looked long to me?? Now im going to brave it myself with the dremmel, dont think i can do the clippers i m to nervous and she'll probally pick up on it and give me a hard time.