Hector
Well-Known Member
The purpose of this thread is to provide some visuals, articles, and videos for those who might be struggling with black nails. Before you start with clippers or use a dremel, you need to make sure your dog is comfortable with their paws being handled/held and nails being pinched/held and then tapped with a foreign object like clippers or a dremel. I'm not going to go into the desensitization/counter conditioning process here.
Susan Garrett's article/video to start:
Cutting Your Dog's Nails . . . How Important Is it Really? | Susan Garretts Dog Training Blog
Here's an article explaining how long nails affects the joints: IGs and Toe Nail Length | Midwest Italian Greyhound Rescue
Key points from: http://www.dogtalk.com/Broch-nail%20Clipping.pdf
THREE KEY POINTS FOR
TRIMMING YOUR DOG’S NAILS
1. Breathe! Cut nails when you have the
time, not when you are stressed out.
2. Desensitize! Dogs generally do not
like to have their paws handled. If they
have not been introduced at an early
age to touching, they may resist nail
trimming. If they have a “bad†(in their
perception) experience, they may resist
it altogether.
3. When trimming a young dog's nails,
use patience to gain the dog's confidence.
You may need to increase your
own confidence in cutting nails too!
This extra time will prevent a negative
association making this a tolerable
procedure in the future.
4. Begin by taking a deep breath, then
hold the paw and lightly do some filing.
If this is too much too soon, touch and
back off. Go slowly, be positive and
give a treat when the dog let’s you hold
the paw longer. Eventually touch it
with the clipping device of choice.
5. Move on to the clipper, trimming only a
small amount at a time. Praise and be
encouraging.
6. As a nail grows in length, so does its
blood supply. A long nail cannot be
trimmed to its normal length (at one
time) without causing bleeding from the
blood vessels. If you trim an abnormally
long set of nails, trim only the
safe amount, without causing bleeding.
Repeat trimming at 7 to 10 day
intervals. During this period the blood
supply will recede so the nail may be
gradually reduced to a more comfortable
and safer length.
Clipping black nails (what to look for): videos
(dremel part is included) [video=youtube;YWOkW8wLiSk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWOkW8wLiSk[/video]
[video=youtube;673eBl5nd2g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=673eBl5nd2g[/video]
What to look for: (Ginger's nails)
Before and after
Note: I didn't achieve this length after one cutting session. Her nails were very long and so were the quicks, so it took awhile to get to this point. Not to mention she was very nasty when it came to getting her nails cut: growling, biting, snapping, running away, fighting. We did a lot of counter conditioning and experimented with different approaches and positions. We no longer use a muzzle and she tolerates it as long as there is real meaty food treats. I've even quicked her more times than I liked to, but as you can see it's not the end of the world. You might have to back up with the desensitization work rather than progress.
Susan Garrett's article/video to start:
Cutting Your Dog's Nails . . . How Important Is it Really? | Susan Garretts Dog Training Blog
Here's an article explaining how long nails affects the joints: IGs and Toe Nail Length | Midwest Italian Greyhound Rescue
Key points from: http://www.dogtalk.com/Broch-nail%20Clipping.pdf
THREE KEY POINTS FOR
TRIMMING YOUR DOG’S NAILS
1. Breathe! Cut nails when you have the
time, not when you are stressed out.
2. Desensitize! Dogs generally do not
like to have their paws handled. If they
have not been introduced at an early
age to touching, they may resist nail
trimming. If they have a “bad†(in their
perception) experience, they may resist
it altogether.
3. When trimming a young dog's nails,
use patience to gain the dog's confidence.
You may need to increase your
own confidence in cutting nails too!
This extra time will prevent a negative
association making this a tolerable
procedure in the future.
4. Begin by taking a deep breath, then
hold the paw and lightly do some filing.
If this is too much too soon, touch and
back off. Go slowly, be positive and
give a treat when the dog let’s you hold
the paw longer. Eventually touch it
with the clipping device of choice.
5. Move on to the clipper, trimming only a
small amount at a time. Praise and be
encouraging.
6. As a nail grows in length, so does its
blood supply. A long nail cannot be
trimmed to its normal length (at one
time) without causing bleeding from the
blood vessels. If you trim an abnormally
long set of nails, trim only the
safe amount, without causing bleeding.
Repeat trimming at 7 to 10 day
intervals. During this period the blood
supply will recede so the nail may be
gradually reduced to a more comfortable
and safer length.
Clipping black nails (what to look for): videos
(dremel part is included) [video=youtube;YWOkW8wLiSk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWOkW8wLiSk[/video]
[video=youtube;673eBl5nd2g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=673eBl5nd2g[/video]
What to look for: (Ginger's nails)
Before and after
Note: I didn't achieve this length after one cutting session. Her nails were very long and so were the quicks, so it took awhile to get to this point. Not to mention she was very nasty when it came to getting her nails cut: growling, biting, snapping, running away, fighting. We did a lot of counter conditioning and experimented with different approaches and positions. We no longer use a muzzle and she tolerates it as long as there is real meaty food treats. I've even quicked her more times than I liked to, but as you can see it's not the end of the world. You might have to back up with the desensitization work rather than progress.
. Thanks Hector!
