How do I go about cutting my dog's VERY long nails?

Question

It's always been the case that we tried to clip off about 2mm and she'll start squealing and bleeding from her nails.

Answer 1

Because they're so long, I think it'd be best if you took her to your vet and let someone there take care of it. Get someone to show you how to do it, too. When nails are so long, it will take you awhile to get them down to a "normal" length. You can only cut a very small bit at the tip before you get into the quick as you well know.

Answer 2

If Your Having Alot Of Problems Cutting Your Dogs Nails Stop. Your Dog Is Telling You That You Are Hurting Him. Take Him To A Pet Groomer, They Will Get The Job Done, And No Harm Will Come To Your Dog. If You Still Insist On Doing It Your Self Be Very Careful, If You Do Cut Off To Much You Can Serious Hurt Your Dog And Or cause Infection.

Answer 3

My daughter has the same problem cutting her dogs nails. The best thing to do is take your dog to the vet and have them do it. You don't want to risk infection from bleeding. They also know how to make the dog stay still while they clip their nails.

Answer 4

Only trim the very tip ends. Then take a little more. The longer the nail is the long the quick is on it and when you cut the quick that is what makes it bleed. If you have a dremel you can use it to file them down and it will cauterize them if it gets to short. Good luck.

Answer 5

I'm a complete wuss when it comes to clipping my dogs nails, so I usually take them either to the groomers or my vet. But I don't think you should be cutting them back far enough for them to bleed...some dogs just have naturally longer nails than others. I know there was a boxer that I thought needed her nails trimmed and her owner told me she had just trimmed them and they were really just that long.

Answer 6

I've had this problem...If she'll let you, buy a file made specifically for pet nails and file them down. Also, understand that if you keep them short, the blood vessel or whatever won't grow so far into the toenail, so you'll be able to cut them shorter. If it gets too bad, let the vet do it, becasue if she associates you touching her feet with pain, it will get to the point where you can't do anything.

Answer 7

go to wal-mart, k-mart or the vets and buy a nail clipper specifically designed for nails..if the nail is white or clear you can see the pink tissue underneath so dont trim into it. if the nail is black just snip the end off...if you accidentally take to much nail and notice a LOUD yelp and some blood coming from the end of the nail, just wash it with a little soap and kiss your pup and tell him/her you are sorry...it wont cause any harm unless you get really really close..if this makes you uncomfortable...take your pup to the vet...they usually dont charge anything or very little and can show you how to trim the nails..good luck

Answer 8

You can buy nail clippers for dog's that have a gaurd on them. They only allow you to cut off a certain amount. And if your dogs nails are whitish colored do not cut where the pink begins under the dogs nail.

Answer 9

your cutting the quick....you need to go to the grocery store and buy something called allum....its what we use to stop the bleeding....it constricts the blood vessel in her toe nail. try not cutting them back as far ....she may just be one of these dogs that has really long quicks and it will do it every time....if she is then there wont be much you can do other than the allum

Answer 10

Take her to the vet... I gave up long ago trying to cut my animal's nails.