How should you clip a dog's nails?

Question

Should two people do it? And how often? I have a Pom, G.Shepherd,Rott, and Shep/Rott mix. 10Pt's for best answer!

Answer 1

petipaws

Answer 2

I think you should take your pooch to the vet and ask them to show you how to cut his nails.  They taught me at puppy school (which was held by the vet) how to trim my staffy's nails.

It may be a small cost initially, but at least that way you will be taught the right way the first time.

Happy snipping!  

Answer 3

It depends on the dog.  My previous dog would lay on her back, stick her feet in the air and let me cut her nails.  My current dog is a $&*^% when it comes to nails.  I fight him every step of the way and it takes us about 15 minutes.

How often is up to you, don't let them start to spread the toes apart or curl under. I try to do his nails once a week, he is still a puppy and growing fast.  Plus we have hard wood floors and I hate to hear the clicks when his nails get long.

The black nails are the hardest to do since you can't see the quick (the vein in the nail). Take a little off at a time, if it is dry and flaky looking, keep going, when it starts to look wet, stop.

If you do cut too short and don't have styptic powder handy, cornstarch will work to stop the bleeding.  Don't let it bleed thinking it will stop eventually, most likely it won't.

Answer 4

My vet recommended that we use something called a Dremel, which is a high speed rotary tool (used on the low speed setting with the sandpaper attachment).  We found it at Home Depot.  It generally takes two people: one to hold and one to sand.  With my boston puppy, she suggested that we run the Dremel and play with his feet so he would get used to the sound.

Answer 5

You can do it yourself, if the dogs are calm enough about having their feet handled. If they flinch, you might knick their quick (the blood vessel in the nail). In that case, you definitely want two people. Dogs  should have their nails done every 4-8 weeks, depending on how fast their nails grow back. That will be a function of their actual foot structure (do they walk more on their toes or more rolled back on their pads?) and how often they walk on hard surfaces that help file them down. Good luck!

Answer 6

I do my dogs nails at least once a week - helps keep them nice and short.  I take of a very small amount each week.  If they are really long, I do them twice a week.

I've got four rotties - two HATE having their nails done, the other two fall asleep.  To get them used to tolerating having their nails done I started by doing only one nail at a time - clip the nail, give a cookie and that's it for that day - next day, same thing, until all nails are done.  I then started doing two per day, then three, then one paw, etc., until I was able to do all four feet in one session.

They don't love it, but they no longer struggle.  it used to take two of us to do my dogs nails at home, now I can do them myself.  I've discovered, at least with my own dogs, that 'less is more' in terms of restraint - the tighter/firmer your hold, the more they struggle!!

I work for a vet and any time a dog comes in for a nail trim, I am almost always the one to do them - sometimes it takes two to do the nails, sometimes I can do it myself.  Any dog/cat getting sedated for surgery or xrays gets their nails done as well...

Answer 7

I teach my dog to lie on her back and she lays between my legs.  I get her front feet done, and then she gets a good tummy scratch while we switch positions so I can trim her hind feet.  From this angle you can see the quick easily and they learn quickly to relax.

If you have problems with one you may need another person to help by rubbing the tummy while you trim.  Be quick at first, then they will learn to relax and you can take your time.  I do two dogs (60 and 96 lbs.) in about 3 minutes.  Then when they are done they get brushed, and they actually fight over who gets to go first because they know they'll get brushed.  They both try to lay down in my lap.

Answer 8

you should deffinetly take it to a vet to have them clipped because it is SUPER easy to clip the quick, and when you do that the dogs nail will bleed and bleed and bleed. there are some products that ive seen on tv that look like they would work good. but its super hard to do. i suggest taking them to a vet OR getting someone who knows what there doing to cut it. (:

Answer 9

I use the Dremel Minimite cordless grinder. The cordless part is really nice because I can grind anywhere, and my dogs do not get tempted to bite on the wire. I make my dogs lie on their side, then I do a bit of grinding, then they get mackerel and repeat. Start with just doing one nail at each session and you can slowly increase the length of the sessions as your dog gets more comfortable with it.

I really like grinding because you take the nail down slowly, and there is little danger of hitting the quick, unlike nail clipping. You can also shape the nail better with a grinder.

On the down side, it will take you longer to get your dog's nails done. You also have to make sure you don't work for too long on one nail because too much heat may get generated and it can get uncomfortable for your dog.

Overall though, the grinder is the best. The two times I clipped my dog's nails, I got his quick and made him very sensitive towards handling. After much counter conditioning, he is much better now, thanks to the grinder. I got mine from Amazon.