cutting a dogs nails. help?

Question

ok, we got our puppy at 8weeks old. we started cutting her nails shortly after with no problems. then about 3 months ago, we cut them again, and 2 of them bled a little. thankfully she didnt feel it, or at least didnt seem to. we didnt change the guage on the nail clipper, so i dont really know why it bled all of a sudden. we tried doing it again last month and again the first one we did bled so we stopped. she's completely black so its kinda hard to see where the quick is, but we didnt even cut down to the little groove that you can see in the nails, and what we did cut off was hardly 1/8" (the lowest setting on the clippers). her nails are pretty sharp and she's been tearing me open when she scratches, so i know they are longer than they used to be. today we bought new clippers, they have no guage tho so they worry me. we clipped them and only one bled. i feel so bad.

she still never seems to notice when they do bleed, and if it does i just dab with a paper towl and it stops after about one drop of blood. the new clippers came with septic powder (i think thats what it was called at least). but i'd rather know why its doing it all of a sudden as opposed to just fixing it afterwards, ya know? she's a year old now, so i dont know why it would have been fine for like 8 months and only now causing a problem.

i'm clipping them at the lowest level the clippers allow, and only once a month IF that.

i do know that when it has bled it does hurt her. she doesnt even notice that it bled, she just wants to chew on the paper towel that i dab at it with. i'm hopping with the new clippers it will be a little easier since it doesnt have a guide. but yeah, we are hardly taking anything off, and not even every month. we only do it that oftin because she's a dog that uses her paws like hands a LOT so shes always tearing us up.

Answer 1

It depends on how often and how short you cut her nails. One question that I have is what color nails does she have? If the are white, you can see where the quick(nerve in her nail) is. It will be darker, almost a dark purple. If her nails are black, hold her paw and look on the underside of the nail, you can sometimes see a bump or the actual quick with a nail growing over it. Then you can cut her nails according to that. If you begin to cut her nails and her nail doesn't bleed, and you want to cut more off because they are still long, don't, because if you go just 1/16'' farther you can cut the quick. The Styptic Powder is used in case you do cut the quick, the powder stops the bleeding. Here's a hint, if you start on her leg paw and you cut the first nail and it doesn't bleed, cut off the same amount of nail on the other toes on the same foot, the quick will be the same length on each toe on one paw. Same goes for the other paw. Unfortunately there isn't anything that you can do to really prevent yourself from cutting the quick by accident. It will happen, but try my suggestions and see if it helps, once you get on a pattern you can cut her nails every 2-3weeks, but only by cutting alittle at a time.

Oh and it doesnt hurt the dog when you cut the quick a little, just dont cut the nail in half, that would hurt and it wouldnt stop bleeding that easily.

Answer 2

I'm not sure why it would happen all of the sudden like that. It could just be that she's older and bigger so the quick of the nails has gotten larger also and extended further down into the end of the nail. Just a guess though.

You could always have a professional groomer clip them, but they may not have any better luck. Like you said, it's hard to see the quick in black nails. You could try walking her daily on a hard surface like a sidewalk or street. That should help to wear down the sharp tips of her nails so you wont have to clip them as often.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I had this problem myself... and I wasn't cutting them too short, in fact, they barely looked trimmed at all.

best advice...

Go to a local petsmart groomer, or closest groomer and explain the situation.

they can show you what you're doing wrong, and how to do it properly... and if there IS a problem that has nothing to do with the way you're doing it... they'll tell you how to adjust and make it as safe as possible.

They may even recommend capping the nails with a safe and effective nail cap. its not harmful or painful... and they work pretty well to keep those sharp nails, not so painfully knife like.

They are made for both cats and dogs. And since she's a girl... they also come in cute colors like nail polish... only without the harmful chipping paint.

they'll grow naturally with the nail, and when its time for a trim... they're easy to take off and replace.

this way you don't have to cut them back too much if the quick is hard to find... and they won't be razor sharp.

Answer 4

dogs with black nails can be hard to see their quicks. What i was told to do was to shine a light under the nail which should help you to see the quick. Keep a bit of baking soda around to help stop the bleeding.

Another trick on the ones that bleed is to clip a little at a time or even use a file to take them down.

Hope this helps and dont feel bad, it happends not much you can do, heck i cut my 3 cats toe nails all the time, and i use regular human nail clipters much eazier for me to handle to use on their toes i can hid them a bit.

Good luck

Answer 5

It's the exact same thing with hedgehogs. Hedgehogs have to be clipped more reguraly than dogs, but this is what you do; you have to leave a good amount of nail, because if it's too short then it will bleed, and if you don't realize your mistakes and put them right then it could cause the dog serious pain.

Clip them so it doesn't make a noise when she's walking, and so you leave,,,I'd say about 2 inches or so. Go see a vet for a better answer to your problem, as I don't really clip my dog's nails; My parents do.

Answer 6

Cutting your pets nails always makes one uneasy. When the nail is BLACK it is evan more difficult to see where the vein in the nail is. In a white nail you can see through the side where the pink quick is before you cut. You don't want to hurt your pet or make him/her uneasy. If you accidentally cut through the vein it will bleed. Always have styptic powder on hand just incase. Your dog will not bleed to death. Sometimes an accident will happen when they are outside and a toenail will get broke off or even worse ripped out. A TRICK to cutting the nails for a novice is to examine the underside of the nail. You will see the nail is thicker at the base where it comes out of the toe. As you get to the tip on some it narrows to a thin point. You are always safe to cut this off. Make sure to hold the toe and extend the nail outward by mild pressure on the toe itself. Make the cut FAST. A slow cut can split the nail. ( more like crushing it). Then look at the end of the cut. On a BLACK nail it will be white in the center of the cut. If you see a small black dot in the center you are close to the quick (vein). If it is solid white you can make another safe cut. You want your cut to angle back on the nail, not straight down. The quick runs closer to the bottom side of the nail than the top, so by tipping back the top more, a little at a time you will be able to watch for the little black dot to appear. You will learn in time how far you can go. You will be able to just run your finger under the nail and where it curves and cut. You want to get close to the quick as this will help it recede farther back in the nail. Taking your dog for a walk or run on a cement surface will wear off and sharp edges. Alot of dogs don't like files, and it's relaxing for him/her to have fun with a good game catch when it's all over.A good walk on CEMENT often will keep a pets nails in good shape by wearing them down naturally. OUR PROBLEM is most are dogs have the couch potato life with carpeting or grass. Neither will wear down their nails. Now, sometimes the back nails will be shorter than the front nails, this is because they are the driving force for walking. Sometimes the can only be tipped slightly at an angle back on the tops of the tip. If you accidentally cut the quick, just take a little blood stop( styptic ) on your finger and hold it on the nail tip with pressure for a few seconds. If it is still seeping, or bleeding try it again. Hold in on the cut with pressure. If they are a crazy run around nut they sometimes knock out the packing and you may have to do it again. You don't need alot of powder. If they have long hair, make sure it is pushed away from the bleeding nail so you can cover the cut surface. Don' worry, you will all survive. It sounds worse than it is. By keeping you pets nails in shape you are helping him aviod painful foot and leg trouble. Think if you had to walk on your nails ---OUCH! GO FOR IT

Answer 7

yeah sometimes whenmy da cuts my dogs nails they bleed. you just cut them too far back. one thing you could do is get a clipper with a light on it to help see inside the nail! it's really cool! we clip our dogs nails like every 3-5 months you don't have to clip their nails that often!

Answer 8

The problem is that she's growing;-} can't be helped.
It's steptic powder, we used it for shaving knicks.
Our dogs do not like having their nails cut.
The best thing we've found is a Dremel tool.
Battery powered, with a sanding drum bit.
Show her it on your own nails first if nervous.

Answer 9

Well, if you cut the nails too short it will make em bleed because the blood vessels are located there. So try not to cut them too short.

Answer 10

One: No dog needs its nails clipped that often.

Two: You obviously do NOT know what you're doing and you ARE hurting that dog if it is bleeding. STOP it! Have a vet or a groomer show you the proper way to do this or don't do it at all!