View Full Version : Need advice on toenails (dogs-not mine hehehe)
1sweetnopichick
04-05-2005, 01:52 PM
Okay, as many of you know we have a foster (prob soon to be adopted by us :) ) dog named Bentley. I'm happy to report that he is now a whopping 42 lbs!! (Pretty darn good to go from 15 lbs to 42 lbs in 44 days!!) Anyway - back to why I'm here...before he was reascued he was chained to the end of a moblie home on a 4' chain. No room to move. Due to that his nails are severely overgrown. Luckily he lets me clip them easily. Also luckily they're all clear so I can see how far I can cut to. My question is this - because they were so long the blood goes out farther than it would in a normal nail. I clip it as far as I can but they're still awfuly long and still make his toes spread apart. Is there anything I can do to make the shortening process go faster? I'm assuming that the more I clip them - eventually the blood part will shorten back to normal so he can have normal length nails. Also we do exercise him regularly but it's on soft grass, now that it's getting warmer we'll probably take him to the track to walk - which will wear them down naturally, but we can't let him walk too long or his feet/toes gets sore from being all spread apart and twisted. Is the only thing to do be patient and wait for them to heal themselves or is there a "trick" to getting them shorter without hurting his feet?
avenlee
04-05-2005, 02:40 PM
Yes, the more you clip them, bit by bit, the blood will recede. Also you are correct that walking on pavement will wear them down too. Seems you already know your answer! :D Your on the right track. Your a great foster mom! WOW, 15 lbs to 42 lbs in 44 days is a great achievement, Good for you.
give them a filing on a regular basis too this will be equivilent to walking on hard ground .
Mo
avenlee
04-05-2005, 04:25 PM
I file my Cockatoo's nails and started filing my dogs because of it. Takes a little more time but they don't mind it a bit. I bring out the nail clippers and the both run.
EliNHunter
04-05-2005, 06:41 PM
Avenlee... you're doing the EXACT THING you should be! It will just take some time (poor baby). Kudos to you to rescue this poor baby. Just keep clipping back little by little and the "quick" will shorten over time. Any time you see a bit of nail growing again, clip it off. And wearing them down by walking on pavement is a GREAT idea. I've never heard of the filing idea. Sounds like it would sure work! Good luck! Would love to see a pic of your rescue babe??
1sweetnopichick
04-08-2005, 01:28 PM
Your a great foster mom! Good for you.
Thank you :D
And thanks to everyone for all the tips and info
1sweetnopichick
04-08-2005, 01:36 PM
Would love to see a pic of your rescue babe??
if you were talking to me (???) I have it below in my signature, it's Bentley.
Here's a pic of him the day we got him. He's the white one. Unfortunatly the fawn colored one was worse and ended up being euthanized because she was so sick - I hate to say it but she was better off in the end so she didn't have to suffer. She was so sick they couldn't do anything to save her.
http://img197.exs.cx/img197/7165/deafboxerpound3zu.jpg
Here he is outside when we were bringing him home...
http://img197.exs.cx/img197/2529/35nu.jpg
The one in my signature (the black & white one) was of him after we had him for about 2 1/5 weeks - totally different/better. He looks better than that now!! I'm so proud of him!!
Yay! I'm so glad you rescued him! Good for you!
Yes, as you clip his nails, his quick will recede. The quick grows with the nail, because as the nail gets longer, it needs more blood. Anywho, I've also heard of people using a "dremel" to file their dog's nails. It's sort of like a small electric sander I think, and you can get them at Home Depot. I've never used a Dremel myself, I just happen to be lucky, my dogs don't mind the clippers. LOL