Tim'sMum Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 My Vet does it for $15...cheap! :D One dog is fine, the other has become a nightmare, even with the Vet and two nurses holding her. Next time she will need to be sedated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 My (related) question to those knowledgeable about such things- is there a way to shorten the quick again? My dog's nails are longer than I would like (& hence the quick is too), & I want to fix them Try running them on coarse sand for a while just before trimming. I've been told it makes the cuticle retract, although I have no idea of how this works or whether it works on all dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Trim often, even if it is just a slither off the nail to get the quick to go back. She may have one very long mail if she has sprained the toe and it does quite sit as tight as it did before. IT won't wear the same so it grows longer and the quick grows longer. If nail trimmers are squishing a bit then I would think you need new ones as they should slice straight throught the nail, they don't like it if it squishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 From what I understand, the longer the nail gets the longer the quick grows. Trim more frequently. The quick will shrink back away from the end after the nail is trimmed. I trimmed every 4-5 days in order to get Willow's back to a more manageable length. I just took a little tiny tip off each, but they gradually receded. Thanks so much. I did not know this. I have been naughty and let her nails get too long, so I will have to slowly work at getting back to a better length. Yes, the quick grows with the nail. To avoid cutting it look at the shape of the end of the nail as you trim each little bit and you will work out when you are getting close to it. If the dog has white nails then you can see the quick but with black nails you need to look at the nail shape right on the tip. Very frequent trimming will eventually get the quick to recede but if the nails are really long and the dog will not tolerate a lot of trimming, the only solution is to put them under a general and have the vet cut and cauterisr the nails. This makes the quick recede a long way and you can start again, keeping them shorter. With the quick so short it is less painful for the dog in future. They would need to be really bad to knock a dog out just for nails but if they need to be out for any other procedure, get the nails done at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 From what I understand, the longer the nail gets the longer the quick grows. Trim more frequently. The quick will shrink back away from the end after the nail is trimmed. I trimmed every 4-5 days in order to get Willow's back to a more manageable length. I just took a little tiny tip off each, but they gradually receded. Thanks so much. I did not know this. I have been naughty and let her nails get too long, so I will have to slowly work at getting back to a better length. Yes, the quick grows with the nail. To avoid cutting it look at the shape of the end of the nail as you trim each little bit and you will work out when you are getting close to it. If the dog has white nails then you can see the quick but with black nails you need to look at the nail shape right on the tip. Very frequent trimming will eventually get the quick to recede but if the nails are really long and the dog will not tolerate a lot of trimming, the only solution is to put them under a general and have the vet cut and cauterisr the nails. This makes the quick recede a long way and you can start again, keeping them shorter. With the quick so short it is less painful for the dog in future. They would need to be really bad to knock a dog out just for nails but if they need to be out for any other procedure, get the nails done at the same time. Thanks. Her nails are dark - so it is hard to see. I really cannot tell at all if I am getting close to the Quick. I am lucky as my dogs let me do anything to them, so regular trimming to get the quick to recede is not a problem. A few of her nails are very long (go figure why just some!!!). How frequent should I trim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 My kelpie hates the nail clippers, I now use the same as I use on myself, takes longer but at least there is no drama in doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 You can use a strong torch to illuminate a dark nail from behind and sometimes you can see the quick. I have heard some vets refuse to do the cauterising because the recovery is so painful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee lee Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Thanks for the tips. Greytmate, I've tried various surfaces including coarse sand, hoping it would help, but even though she runs a fair bit on the footpath, nothing seems to make much of an impact on her front nails (back are fine). They were a little on the long side when we adopted her and she is such a fusspot over clipping I admit I probably haven't tackled it as often as I should have. From now on, I will apply some tough love clipping frequently for a while. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy21 Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Willow's are the same Deelee. Her front ones were just too long. I enlist one of the kids to shove treats down her gob the whole time I am clipping - that normally makes it a fairly quick and painless exercise. Although she is quite the expert at letting me get it all lined up and then yanking her foot away at the last second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jade~Harley~Bella Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 My dogs hate getting their nails done, it is simply impossible for me to do. I prefer just to take them to the vets. We discovered with one of our dogs that when we went to lie her down to do it she would struggle like crazy (the vet couldn't even control her and she is only 19kg) but once I left the room he had her laying down calm, not stressed at all and had it done within 2 minutes. Apparently she didn't like being down while I was around because she couldn't do her job of protecting me (she is a staffy). Professionals are the best option for my dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I've found that for those dogs that have the very thick long nails, with the quicks very close to the ends, if you take a little off the top of the nail on an angle, then the quick recedes. I've done this with a few dogs, one that was very overgrown and it's worked well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy21 Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I'll give that a go. Thanks Pav Lova!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_meg Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 another vote for a dremel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 You can use a strong torch to illuminate a dark nail from behind and sometimes you can see the quick. I have heard some vets refuse to do the cauterising because the recovery is so painful. Whether they would cauterise depends how bad the nails are and how much pain they are causing the dog. I had an older girl with very arthritic feet done when she was knocked out for something else. Her feet were a bit touchy for a day or so but no worse than the pain from the nails contacting the ground before they were done. After that she walked much better and was easy to trim nails on again because it wasn't causing the pain it did before with the quicks long. A bit of an extreme measure and I'm glad I have never had to have any other dogs done since but it is an option if all else fails to get the nails back to a managable length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 (edited) My (related) question to those knowledgeable about such things- is there a way to shorten the quick again? My dog's nails are longer than I would like (& hence the quick is too), & I want to fix them Try running them on coarse sand for a while just before trimming. I've been told it makes the cuticle retract, although I have no idea of how this works or whether it works on all dogs. I could imagine the sand causing the cuticle retract .... perhaps a bit like the pushing back that manicurists do to our nails (back in the bad ol' days when I had a desk job and not a dog training job, lol). But I can't imagine the sand causing the quick to retract so quickly. Did you mean to say cuticle or quick, Greytmate? And do dogs need the cuticle pushed back, anyway? ETA: I read somewhere that if left too long for too long, in some dogs, the quick will not shrink back and hence all one can do is trim the nail length as close to the quick as practicable (and unpainful) for the dog, but more frequently than would normally be required. Save for those extreme cases as mentioned by Dancinbcs, where sometimes they may be required to be done under a GA. Edited September 20, 2011 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 You can use a strong torch to illuminate a dark nail from behind and sometimes you can see the quick. I have heard some vets refuse to do the cauterising because the recovery is so painful. Whether they would cauterise depends how bad the nails are and how much pain they are causing the dog. I had an older girl with very arthritic feet done when she was knocked out for something else. Her feet were a bit touchy for a day or so but no worse than the pain from the nails contacting the ground before they were done. After that she walked much better and was easy to trim nails on again because it wasn't causing the pain it did before with the quicks long. A bit of an extreme measure and I'm glad I have never had to have any other dogs done since but it is an option if all else fails to get the nails back to a managable length. Yes, I would argue that in some dogs the risk of injury from the long nails is great enough to go ahead with the operation. When I was instructing agility I saw a few dogs hampered by their long nails on some equipment and I was worried about injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntia Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 Well I bit the bullet today and made a makeshift muzzle out of a elastic bandage, and tried to trim my RR's nails....he still wiggled and whined and tried to mouth...i was firm and reprimanded him about mouthing, but that didn't stop the wiggling.....so i used the rest of the bandage as a blindfold.... and he was much less stressed about the whole situation. I talked to him the whole time and for most of it he lay on his side with only a small amount of complaining.... at least compared to the norm for nail trimming!! I still want to try and desensitise him to the process and now that they are trimmed I will spend the next few weeks trying to do just that. Thanks again to everyone who has shared their experiences and advice, it has been greatly appreciated :D ps i think i will invest in a dremmel Does anyone know anything about this product "AEOLUS Pet Nail Grinder with Shaft Dremel" from Oz grooming world? Is it any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Can you do them while he is standing up? My two are much more comfortable having it done standing up. They freak out if I lie them down. I've been doing more work with my boy and can clip 4 nails for one treat now. Yay!!! The quick is very long in his nails so trying to clip a tiny bit frequently to get them to retract. Really hoping it will work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee lee Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I did a wee trim on my dog this morning & after looking at the links & doing some googling, I decided to try sitting down & pinning her head down with my knee (not really pinning, more like blocking her from lifting her head) . It worked a treat! Usually she gets all silly and wriggly & tries to mouth me, but after a couple of feeble attempts she just relaxed & laid back!! I'm still a bit nervy about getting the quick, but at least now I can trim with little resistance. Happy days! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntia Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 I did a wee trim on my dog this morning & after looking at the links & doing some googling, I decided to try sitting down & pinning her head down with my knee (not really pinning, more like blocking her from lifting her head) . It worked a treat! Usually she gets all silly and wriggly & tries to mouth me, but after a couple of feeble attempts she just relaxed & laid back!! I'm still a bit nervy about getting the quick, but at least now I can trim with little resistance. Happy days! :D :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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