Dogs & Clipping their toe nails...?

Question

My dog is 10 years old. She's an inside dog. Her toe nails are really long. When my husband and I try to cut them she bites us. THEY really need to be trimmed and I cannot afford the $25 the pet groomer wants to do her nails. I have a brand new pair of clippers for her nails. I need some helpful hints on how to cut them, how much to cut off, how to protect myself from her biting me or scratching me while trying to cut them, what if I cut too far and it bleeds???, She's a big dog...about 85 pounds or so. I'm concerned for her because she tries to bite her own nails. I'm sure they hurt her and I feel like a terrible pet owner. PLEASE HELP

Answer 1

$25 seems like an awful lot for just nails, I'd call around and see if you can get a better price

Answer 2

The toenails on a dog grow very quickly. They are designed for digging and need to be cut or worn down. At a later age a dog will really hate the even have thier feet touched and with such long nails will have considerable pain. You can get a tranqilizer from you vet that may help. The other way to go is to get a good muzzle to keep the dog from biting and have someone else hole the dog in a blanket if necessary and the fight will be on. The nails should be cut right up to the quick you see from the bottom of the toenail where the color changes. This area will bleed if you cut into it.

Answer 3

Well first off you need to realize that the longer you wait to cut the nails, the longer the quick grows, which is the artery inside the nail. It is going to be hard if your dog has dark color nails, because then you can't see the artery. So, probably, if you want to get them short, you're going to cut some quick. It hurts for sure!
If you still want to do it anyways, then you need to muzzle the dog. Either buy one or make one out of a leash but you need to know what you are doing. Then one person needs to hold the dog down, best on it's side, even though the dog will squirm alot and cry and thrash around. You can't give up and you can't get nervous because someone's gonna get hurt.
Then, you need to have something on standby to cauterize the nail if it starts bleeding. There are alot of products. There's a powder called Quick Stop that works and there are lots of things in the pet store. But if you cut the artery the dog is gonna get pissed cuz it hurts and try and get away. If it bleeds, quickly put some stuff on it and apply direct pressure for a few seconds.
OK! Sounds like it sucks, right? Yeah it does! That's why you have to keep up with the regular trimming of nails.
I worked for a vet and when we had particularly nasty dogs who didn't like it, their owners turned them in for the day, we knocked em out, cut their nails off til blood squirted across the room, cauterized them with silver nitrate, and off they went.
It was pretty gross.
GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

Start by clipping only a little at a time. If her nails are light color you should be able to see where the dark begins and do not clip into that. If you should make it bleeds have flour handy and pack it in that to stop the bleeding. Use something to cover her mouth with so she cannot bite you. After clipping one nail give her a treat. Give her a treat after clipping each nail. Pretty soon she should look forward to having her nails clipped. Also give her lots of atagirls between each clipping. At first it may take some time to clip them but soon it should become easier. In a few days do it all over again. Do this every few days until they are the length you want.

Answer 5

At this point, it's worth it to spend the groomer's fees to have her nails trimmed.

If you want to do it yourself, it will take two people, probably, and you'll definitely need a muzzle. You'll want to flip her onto her side. Hold her legs that are closest to the floor with your hands, put your elbow on her neck (don't press, just let her know you're there), and gently pull up on her close-to-the-floor legs. This way she can't get up (because you're on top of her) and she can't roll away (because you're pulling on her legs).

When it comes to trimming, go slow - very slowly. As nails grow, a part called the quick grows with them (the quick is the nerve and blood vessel and nutrient core to the nail). So with long nails, she has long quicks.

Cut back to the quick, very gently and just a little bit at a time. Praise the dog the whole way down, and keep her calm. When you start to see the parts of the nails that you pull off have a little bit of a soft spot in the center, or a hollow spot, or if she starts to bleed, you've gone too far. Go on to the next nail.

With longer nails and a cowardly dog, this could be a 15-minute project. You may want to do front nails one day and back nails the next.

ALSO - take your dog out for more walks, especially on concrete. The concrete will help to wear down the nails and rub them back to the appropriate length.

Answer 6

My dog use to bite me and I used a muzzle on him. A muzzle cost about $6 bucks I think. That'll prevent her from biting you. Also, if her nails are translucent pale white, then most of the time you could see the pink part of her nail. That's the line you're suppose to look for. Try to trim her nails a little away from that point. Anywhere to or pass the line will be cutting into her flesh. Hope this helps. After several times of cutting her nail, she might get use to it and she'll stop biting you. That's how my dog was.

Answer 7

How is she in the bath tub? My dog is a pain when you clip her toes but in the tub she is so scared she just stands there while I do them. And I think the soaking in water helps to soften them making it easier.

As to how much are the white nails where u can see the fleshy part? Then cut a safe distance from the fleshy part. If they are black you will have to do your best to guess but remember that the fleshy part grows out with the nail but once you trim then it will withdrawl back some so they next time you will be able to cut a little shorter. So don't assume you are going to be able to do a perfect manicure this time if they are way too long.
If it bleeds u can put some baby powder on the end to stop it.

Answer 8

OK.... you might want to get something to calm her down.... the vet could give you something or you could buy something at the health food store. I'd try "Bach's Rescue Remedy".

Before you try clipping her nails, get her used to you messing with her feet. Rub and massage her paws and speak softly to her. While you're doing this, have your husband reward her by giving her treats. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT IS KEY.

Once she's calmer about this, it's time to move on to the next step.... which is actually clipping her nails. Of course, you want to do this in baby steps.... and you've got to stay calm. I would give her the rescue remedy, give it a half hour or so to take affect.

Then sit down on the floor and begin massaging her paw. Your husband should be ready with treats and you should both talk to her in soothing tones. I'd also have a bath towel on hand in case she gets stressed. If she does get stressed you can wrap it around her head, and at this point, your husband should hold her head while you clip. However, only use the towel as needed.

And, only do one paw at a time. Always give her treats to reward her. And make sure the treats are something really special... different than what you normally give her. If she's food motivated at all, this should really work for you.

Also, only clip a little bit at a time. You don't want to cut her quick and cause her to bleed. Just in case, you may want to have a product called "Kwik Stop" on hand. It's a little jar with powder, and if one her her nails bleeds, stick the nail into the jar, and the powder will congeal and stop the bleeding.

Answer 9

I would say take her to the vet. But, What I used to do with a dog I used to have, is get a adult size pair of human nail clippers. Wrap the dog up so it can't hurt you and clip away. The clippers are big enough to clip the nails, but small enough that it won't dig into the skin under the nails.

Answer 10

Don't do it yourself!!! I "thought" I could do it and knew what I was doing, but on one of my dogs nails, I cut too far..and she bled everywhere! It looked like a murder scene in my house! I could not get it to stop bleeding for over 2 hours (despite calling the emergency room vet several times for advice).. After two hours, we had to take her to the ER to have them stop the bleeding! If you can't afford the groomers...take her to a PetSmart or something...they do "walk-in's" for a simple nail clipping and I think its only 5-10 dollars... That is much cheaper than accidentaly cutting the nail too far and then having to pay a 200 ER bill

Answer 11

Get your husband to help you out by holding her so she can't bite and scratch you.

If she has light coloured nails, you should be able to see where the blood vessel ends and they will be easier to cut. If she has dark nails, it will be a lot harder, cut a little bit passed where the nail starts to curve.

If she does start bleeding. Use a paper towel or kleenex to stop it. Same as you would do if you cut yourself.

If you still have problems, take her to the vet or the groomers to get it done.