black nails

[Maxy24]

My dog has all black nails and i have never cut them bacause i am worried about making him bleed. We have the vet cut them but that is only once a year so his nails are very long and his quicks are also long. Last time we went to the vet they cut his nails in back so we were not in the room and when they brought him out almost all his nails were bleeding. His two back feet nails were all bleeding, then a few on a front foot and it did not look as if they bothered to cut the other one because they would just add some more pain. So i was wondering since the vet can't even do it how am i supposed to do it with out hurting him. He is not really liking his feet being handled anyway so i don't want him to loose anymore trust in me handling his feet. Thanks!

[girlbuffalo1]

Wrigley has all black nails except for 2. I clip his front nails probalby once a week and the back around once a month (as they stay shorter than the front)...I started by just clipping a little tiny bit every single week and I have never had him bleed yet. I clip a very tiny amount--and after a few weeks you will get the feel for it.

[Denaluvscorgis]

That's what I do with Jackson Browne's nails. I clip them more often and just snip off a little. It's hard with black nailed dogs. I usally take Chloe to the vet to have hers done because she won't hold still. They almost always get a few to short!!:(

[Aussie Red]

Whiskey has all black nails and I do mean NAILS !!! I asked about this some time ago and was refered by others here to use of a dremel. I have great luck with it and he actually enjoys having his nails done . I started out taking just a little off at first and worked on thaem a little every 3 to 4 days until they were short again. You do have to be careful not to keep grinding away because it gets hot and burns them . dr 2 little sent me to a link on how to do it and I love it and swear by it. Also the fact that Whiskey actually comes to me now and lays down to have his nails done when I just turn the thing on lol. Now I do it once every two weeks.

[wehkah]

Since he had the episode at the vets office with them clipping them and making them bleed I'm not suprised that he doesnt want his feet touched. OUCH!!! He DOES have a trusting issue with his feet now and it's up to you to resolve it. To put it into our perspective... it's the equivalant to ripping/breaking one of our nails below the skin! Here's my experience...

I've recently adoped Zoe, my blue weimaraner. Every single nail she has is black! UGH! The first time I tried to cut her nails my husband and I both had to pin her down and she still got away... we only got the front ones done at that time. So I started using a few tricks that I leared from Ian Dunbar. Use his favorite treat or kibble. Both will work. Each day and maybe several times in a day, take the treat and get close or touch his feet. Everytime he lets you touch is feet without trouble give him a treat and praise him. Do this till he's comfortable and then add the clippers to this routine. Once he's used to you touching his feet with the clippers in your hand then take one nail and trim just a little bit off. If he does well give him a treat. And so on and so on....

I did this for about a week and a half and I can now cut Zoe's nails by myself with little or no squirming!!! YEAH! As for how much to cut off, just try a little at a time until you can see the kwik on the bottom on the nail. You don't want to cut too much cause then you'll cut the quick and then they bleed. Make sure that you have kwik stop on hand just in case. But for being a beginner at this I would only take an 1/8th at a time until you can recognize the kwik.

Here's a good link as to how cut a dogs nails properly:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/nailtrim.htm

Hope this helps and if you have any questions feel free to PM me if you'd like!

Good luck!
:D

[Novel_Weims]

I think a dremel would be a good idea for you.

The vet is trying to make the best of a very poor situation you are putting them in. The long term damage caused by NOT trimming the nails is far worse than some bleeding nails for a few minutes. The vet understands this and knows they MUST get the nails shorter.

[Aussie Red]

Another thought on this is that you may incorperate a daily foot rub in the animals daily petting sessions. I do this to all mine litterly foot massage and they never pull their feet away because they expect a plesant experience. I also have 2 shih-tzus that need nail clipping as well as grooming on feet.

[Denaluvscorgis]

Where would a person get a Dremel??? That would be a good option for my dogs also.

[Novel_Weims]

You can get a dremel tool at any hardware store. I had to go through the different brands and see which one fit my hand the best.

[Denaluvscorgis]

You can get a dremel tool at any hardware store. I had to go through the different brands and see which one fit my hand the best.

Thanks....I'll look for one. I think it would work out really well, especially for Chloe, my Corgi. She absolutely hates to have her feet touched!!!:eek: I've been trimming her nails since she was a little puppy to, and it just doesn't get easier. Thanks for the info!

[Novel_Weims]

They're great, I love how I can shape the nail more naturally. I give 6 dogs pedicures every week, using the dremel, and it goes almost as fast as the guilotine type.
My husband does not like the dremel because of the smell, it has a bit of a burning hair smell when you use it. It doesn't bother me, but he hates the smell. And, it creates a white dust. I just vacuum it up off the floor, but just a prewarning.

[poodlesmom]

Here's a little helpful hint for those who want to use a dremel who have a long haired dog. Put a knee-hi nylon on the dog's paw, pushing the nails through. The nylon will hold back the fur from the nail. This is important so that long hair does not get caught on the turning dremel.

[Novel_Weims]

Oh, what an excellent idea poodlesmom. I'd never thought about it. Once I got my own hair mixed up in the dremel. That hurt! I keep it tied back now!

[mrsgrubby]

Please, Please, please do not try to dremmel your dogs nails without good instructions. You can burn your dog if you stay on one nail too long. you can only grind each nail about 3 seconds before you move on.

If you are already having problems with your dogs feet, a dremmel is not going to magically fix your problem, and if you hurt them by burning them, it will get worse.

Keep in mind, a dremmel is not quiet, and if your dog is already scared, then this may scare them more.

Doberluv sent me a great site ages ago about how to do it without hurting your dog. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to attach it.

but until you get directions please be sooooo very careful.

When I used to wear acryllic nails the girl burned my nails severa times with the dremmel and it hurt like crazy...You'd hate to do the same to your dogs.

[casablanca1]

Wow. I was inspired by this thread to finally try the nail clippers I bought Hen a few months ago (yes, I was very worried about nicking her) and against all previous evidence, she had no problem with having her nails done. As long as I was paying attention to her, she was happy to sit and have me clip them. This from a dog who has a meltdown if you try to hug her too long was completely unexpected. She used to hate brushing too; now she loves it, acts like it's a massage. I guess it's like a little girl hating her hair brushed growing into a woman who spends every spare dollar at a salon.

[krisykris]

I just take my pups into the groomers every 2-3 weeks. It's 6 bucks per dog and saves me a world of headache.

[Brattina88]

Please, Please, please do not try to dremmel your dogs nails without good instructions. You can burn your dog if you stay on one nail too long. you can only grind each nail about 3 seconds before you move on.

If you are already having problems with your dogs feet, a dremmel is not going to magically fix your problem, and if you hurt them by burning them, it will get worse.

Keep in mind, a dremmel is not quiet, and if your dog is already scared, then this may scare them more.

Doberluv sent me a great site ages ago about how to do it without hurting your dog. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to attach it.

but until you get directions please be sooooo very careful.

When I used to wear acryllic nails the girl burned my nails severa times with the dremmel and it hurt like crazy...You'd hate to do the same to your dogs.

Is this the website your talking about? If not, its a good one - with pics, which helped me a lot because I'm a visual learner sometimes!

http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html