Clipping Nails

Once again, this isn’t an illness. I didn’t see a good place to put this, so here is the spot. (Maybe we need a general discussion folder)

My Dogue de Bordeaux has issues. One of them is that I don’t think her nails have ever been trimmed. The people who had her before just had no clue what to do with a dog. I’d tell you the condition she was in when she was surrendered, but I’ll just say that I’m thankful she was surrendered or she probably would be dead.

Anyhow, I had been taking her to the vet to trim her nails because I always worry that I’m hurting her. I’m thinking I may just get a Dremmel to do it myself and save some money. Even with the vet doing it, they are really long.

If I do it regularly, will I be able to get her nails to the length they should be eventually? How often could I trim them safely? I know it has to hurt her feet to walk so I really want to get them short like they should be, but I realize it will take some time to get to that point.

If we could walk her, that would help. She won’t walk outside. Our patio is her “potty” and we just keep it cleaned up. I daily walk would be a huge help in keeping her nails trimmed.

Hi Kathleen,
I try to cut my dogs nails about every 3-4 weeks. One of them loves the whole process- he actually lies on his back and falls asleep. One of the others tolerates it and the Pug hates it! I believe you could trim they about every 2 weeks. They will eventually get to the length they should be.

She is lucky to have found such a loving home

Hi Kathleen

My pet hates nail trims, I have done it in the past with my other pets but once I hit the quik and that was that.

If the nails are really bad and long I’d go to the vet for this trim, just for the sake of no accidents with bleeding, as I mentioned I hit the quik once and there was a lot of blood, I called the vet and she instructed me what to do.

I can do little trims (if my pet lets me lol) but I find for $15.00 at the vet it saves me grief, my pet has black nails also so its hard to see the quik.

I’ve heard from alot of pet owners who use a dremmel attachment that seems to work well.

You would need to trim a bit off every month, if your dog has plenty of running space sometimes nails don’t need trimmed as when I lived in the country this never had to be done with all the digging they did.

Hope this helps some

I agree with Calla about letting your vet handle it if your dog really hates having it done. That way your dog won’t feel like you’re breaking her trust by forcing her to endure something she doesn’t want to have done. I haven’t used a dremmel myself, but my husband used to show Poodles and that’s all he ever used. He really preferred it over clipping. The dogs seemed to tolerate it much better and you don’t wind up with those fresh sharp edges. Maybe it’s worth investing the $20 in a Peticure? It’s just slightly more than the price of a single clipping.

She doesn’t actually mind having her nails trimmed. I’m just sort of a chicken because I’m afraid of hurting her. But her nails are so long, there is no way around it. It has to be done. If we could get her to walk it would help.

Our other dog, Tango, has no need to have his nails trimmed. He walks enough to keep them filed nice and short. He’s funny though because he gets jealous when we do Lila’s nails so then my husband pretends to do his next. I wish I could tape it so you all could see.

I mostly wanted to know how often I can trim her nails safely to start getting them short like they should be. I know it will take a while because she was so neglected. I can’t just cut them short right away or she will bleed as you mentioned Calla. Fortunately, her nails are light colored so I can see the quick fairly easily. (And yes, I’m still a big chicken. I make my husband do it.) So if I trim every two weeks, that should safely get them shorter (eventually)? Or is that too often?

I am still considering getting either a Dremmel or a Peticure Kelly. I actually had a Peticure once but when I put it on the charger I didn’t realize how long I left it on. I’m assuming I left it too long (you’re only supposed to charge it for 20 minutes) because it was totally dead when I went to use it. I think it would be better than a Dremmel for one reason—it has a thing to catch the dust.

I recommend doing a combination of taking her to the Vet for some trims and cutting the nails yourself in between the visits. If the nails are really long, the Vet will know how to safely take off a maximum amount. Ask the Vet to recommend a trimming schedule for your dog’s particular nail issues. I would also find out which clipper the Vet recommends. Some dogs do well with a schedule of every 3 weeks and others 4 - 5 weeks. My Vet has a very strong opinion on clippers and swears by the Miller Forge Big Dog Nail Clipper for dogs of all sizes for a smooth cut without any pulling or jagged edges.

It’s good to know that people find the Dremmel effective. I’ve never used it and our Vet prefers clippers. It does sound like it would be good for dogs who dislike nail clipping.

Adrienne

There are some brands that are quieter than Dremmel (but they cost a little more) for nervous dogs