Let's see pictures of their nails! What's the right length?

ZaneTheBrain

Clipping Zane's nails is getting worse and worse. It used to go ok-he didn't like it but would tolerate it. Over the past month it has become a wrestling match. I am so afraid of him getting hurt and being scared that I'm showing it, and he is fighting worse than ever. The clippers won't even be open or near his paws and he'll start jerking and run. I do plan on getting a dremel but I'm so afraid that I'm going to hurt him. I can't tell if I'm hurting him or not now that he's so jumpy, and I'm not sure how much to take off. I took him to the vet and watched while a tech did it and I felt she did a worse job than me!

So how long/short should they be? Anyone got any pictures? He's a blue weim so his nails are dark and the tech said that makes it harder to see what you're doing. Any guidelines would be much appreciated by me, maybe not so much by Zane!!! Thanks in advance for any advice!

amazonstarlight · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:39 pm Post subject:

What I do with my dogs is I sit Indian style on the floor. Then I call the dog over and have them lay like a baby on their back in the middle of my legs (kind of awkward since they are so big Laughing

). I use my one arm to hold their head in the crook of my elbow so they can't see and hand on the same arm to hold the foot I'm trimming. It works well for me because I can control the dog's movement fairly well. Both of mine jerk a bit until I can calm them down and make them understand I'm not stopping until it's done. As for nails I try to clip as close as I can which is easy on Scoot's nails because they are clearer. But as for Sadie, her's are black and once I trimmed right to the quick. It didn't bleed but you could see it was too close. It does happen and that's why you need a coagulate (Quick Stop powder) to make sure it's not harmful to the dog. Good luck!

youhavenoidea · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:37 am Post subject:

I dremel Slade and Thor, and I can tell you that the risk of hurting them or getting at the quick is substantially less of a concern than with clippers. I will never use clippers again.

I'm on my BlackBerry, so I don't have any pictures (will post later) but in my opinion, there is no such thing as too short. Slade gets dremeled at least once a week - when I hear them clicking on the floor when he walks, they're too long.

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:42 am Post subject:

slade is under the rule of the nail-nazi. no nails for you!
just wish i was that consistent about it. im pretty good, but not a model nail trimmer by any means. which reminds me... its time to do them again. i need to try a dremel...

LunaBrown · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:47 am Post subject:

I am honestly too lazy to Dremel... we can use it on Luna but it is SO much faster to just get the clippers and get it over with. I'm lucky though, Luna's nails are perfectly clear so I can actually see the quick. I clip her nails weekly and try to keep them really short.

yoko · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:17 am Post subject: dremel?

Ok remember I am a naiive first time dog and first time weim owner...
Dremel? So you basically sand them off? Can someone explain?
Also we live in the city so Yoko will walk on a lot of sidewalks...won't he nails just wear down from that?

weimamama · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:27 am Post subject:

Blue's nails are long and clear so Chris can trim easily. PLus he's a mush so he just lays down and allows it. June on the other hand turns into devil-dog if she just see's the clippers! She doesn't even like it when we clip our OWN nails!
She has black nails and the back ones are fine, the front ones get like eagle-talons! It's an ordeal, but we take her to work (PetCO) and Chris hold her back end in the air, and usually another coworkers gets her front end. She gets a muzzle and the clip-girl, Megan (who is AMAZING!!) goes to town. The whole time Junie is struggling to get away , but she looks so cute in her muzzle and once it's done she gets about a bazillion treats and she's good for a while!

They should be quite short... no clicking. good luck.

oh yes, dremel... the sanding tool.... never tried it.

ZaneTheBrain · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:14 am Post subject:

DanniGirl · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:45 am Post subject:

Danni's nails are dark so it's tough to see the quik so I dremel them. As youhavenoidea stated, there's less risk of clipping the quik and less chance of ending up with split nails.
Here's a picture of Danni's nails but they need to be done again.

Yoko, here's a link that shows you how to dremel a dog's nails: http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html

NenaGunther · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:10 pm Post subject:

ZaneTheBrain · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:14 pm Post subject:

Here are a few pictures. They're pretty dark-sorry.

Here's Zane getting special treatment laying on the couch, since his tummy hurts today:

Nails:

Another picture of his nails:

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PamK · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:25 pm Post subject:

go here
http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/index.html

on the left side scroll down until you see the link on how to dremmel. I used this when I first started.

We walk 5-7 miles a day on concrete and Derek's nails still need cutting.

youhavenoidea · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:35 pm Post subject:

ange165 · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject:

Ruby was fine getting her nails did UNTIL Allan cut one too short (because he wanted to give it a go) and it bled. It wasn't a bad bleed and it stopped in less than a minute but I still don't think Ruby has forgiven the clippers since. I try and do them while she is asleep. But she does this little kick thing that makes me frightened of a repeat bleeding nail.
She does a lot of backyard digging (bless her) and this keeps them quite short.

kamfam · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:19 am Post subject:

Darby hates having her paws handled. It takes both Sean and me to do it - he needs to hold her while I clip. They are still too long IMO, but the quick needs to recede some, I can't get them any shorter right now and I don't like the clicking sound Embarassed

!