OK, ignorant question, I know..... but do you clip your dog's toenails / claws? And if so is it a vet job or something you do yourself? And if the latter, then can you use ordinary toenail clippers, or do I need to get something special? I feel I should know the answer to this one but I don't.... Rosie
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Yes, I do clip their claws, though find it difficult with senior Lab as he doesn't like it! I bought special dog clippers. You have to be careful not to cut the quick which is more difficult on Black Labs because you can't see it, Yellow Labs should be easier. I started the puppy off by gently touching his nail with the clippers then clicking and reward and gradually worked up to just nicking the end off. If you do a lot of road walking you probably won't need to clip the claws.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Yes I do Rosie,in fact they need doing at the moment....Stacia is right about the quick,if you nick it,it bleeds like crazy so of course ........I'm too scared!One of the vets I see has done it for me on occasion when I've been in for something else or I get them done when he gets groomed.Hes probably only had them done 4 or 5 times in the 17 months we've had him x
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? I don't - only because we do a lot of lead walking on pavement so it's not necessary. I get the vet to check his dew claws when I go in for other things, and they have been trimmed once (he is 17th month now).
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Yes we clip Mira's front ones regularly as they grow like crazy. At least we used to! She has started taking exception to having it done for some reason. She used to lie there and completely ignore me doing it, so its a bit trickier now. We are quite careful as she is black, but you get used to knowing how much you can take off. No accidents so far I think all dogs are different and some never seem to need it done.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? We don't do that much walking on pavement/roads, but our vet doesn't seem to think it is needed.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Obi wears his own claws down except for the dew claws which I clip every couple of months. I just take off a couple of millimetres. And there's a treat after each foot It's best to do it using proper dog nail clippers as they are mch stronger and have more leverage than human nail clippers. I use the kind that have a scissor action. If they get blunt chuck then out and get a new pair as blunt ones will tend to split the end of the claw and don't cut cleanly.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? I clip all three dogs' nails every weekend so I need to take just a tiny bit off each time (I use a scissor-type clipper made for large breeds). Being out in the country, their nails don't get the normal wear of walking on pavement or sidewalks. I started with the puppy when she was just 9 weeks old and she's adapting quite well (she's almost 4 months now). I'm SUPER careful not to cut too close since it both bleeds and hurts. Doing it every week means I can just clip a sliver. I also like the idea that the dogs have learned not to argue about having their feet messed with. I lay each dog on his left side (I'm right-handed) while I sit next to them on their right. This lets me hold the foot in my left hand, while clipping the toenails with the clipper in my right hand. Major praise and treats after each well-behaved trim. Even the puppy is learning to lay quietly (well, mostly!). I arch my left leg over her body to help her remember that "settle" means stay put and don't argue. I started similarly to Stacia, gently rolling the puppy's toes in my hand, gently pulling at the nails, lots of praise and treats for remaining calm. Many years ago, I worked as a veterinary technician and saw many dogs whose nails were let go for far too long, resulting in twisted toes and painful feet. It can take multiple clippings to force the quick and blood vessel back up the nail where it belongs, so do keep an eye on their nails.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Hi Rosie, I wish I could but I am a big chicken and the dogs know this! I also have messed up and hit the quick and the guilt with doing that......I used the styptic power and stopped it bleeding but never let that stuff around a porcelain sink as now I have some serious stains in mine. The vet had been doing a complementary puppy nail trim for Kailey each time we went in but as the need to go in for shots dwindles I tried once on my own with bad results after just one nail. Sooooo since I don't spend my money on overpriced coffees every day I will just pay the vet to do her nails. I am guessing once a month is a good timing but am not sure so if anyone has advice that would be great too. There are some grooming places around her that do it as part of an overall grooming but I am not sure if I will go in for that quite yet. biorus
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? I was wondering about this myself the other day, as I was ruminating about a similar, related question. But first, to answer yours, no I don't clip them. Most of our walks are on pavement (sad but true) so Simba's claws get lots of wear and tear. I did clip my previous dog's nails a time or two, but after awhile I stopped as I didn't see the need for it. I do keep an eye of the dew claws, but so far I haven't seen the need there either. But...I am wondering....wild dogs/wolves obviously aren't wandering around on pavement, right? So what's the deal with that? How do they manage to avoid being crippled from nail issues?? ??? Are they doing more digging, etc with paws, so nails are worn down that way? But what about the back feet? Just a question that came to mind as I was thinking last week about Simba's nails and clipping, etc.....
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? I clip Penny's every fortnight or so and have done since we first brought her home. Her claws were like needles when we picked her up from the breeder! She's well used to it now but she still doesn't enjoy it. I get her to lie on her side on the floor and do it. Then she gets some ham afterwards for being a good girl The reason I do it so often is that then you only need to take a little off each time, rather than doing a lot and risk getting the quick. Also on her front feet her middle two claws touch and cross over if I don't keep them really short. Plus I don't really like the look of long claws. She's been in to the vets under anaesthetic twice since we've had her and I always ask them to check them and clip them then for me too as they can do a better job if the dog is sedated. It's definitely something you have to get them accustomed to.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? [quote author=Lisa link=topic=7180.msg98877#msg98877 date=1406940495] But...I am wondering....wild dogs/wolves obviously aren't wandering around on pavement, right? So what's the deal with that? How do they manage to avoid being crippled from nail issues?? ??? Are they doing more digging, etc with paws, so nails are worn down that way? But what about the back feet? [/quote] They probably do a lot of digging and scratching at the ground, and also they probably walk or run loads of miles each day which is bound to wear them down naturally, even if it's not on hard concrete.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? I read in a puppy book to ask the vet to show me how to clip nails at the 2nd vaccination appointment. The vet refused and said pavements will wear his nails down naturally & I didn't need to clip them. Ash's nails were really sharp at that point and still are bad. I have marks on my arms and legs and some are from weeks ago. I asked again when we went back for the next worming treatment and they were still anti doing it and wouldn't show me how. I felt a bit fobbed off.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? The vets have only done Harley's twice. Once when she was about 10 weeks, then at 5 months. Since then she seems to keep them worn down - we don't do a massive amount of pavement walking, but they seem to not need cutting. Lady rattles - that us very unusual - I see the vetinary nurse rather than the vet
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Every now and then we get them done at a routine vet visit. They seem to wear down naturally though.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? OK....even stupider question now, but I know this forum will put up with it.... er, how do I know when they are too long? They're not causing him any problems as far as I can tell; but I can hear them go click click click on the tiles, so they're obviously touching the ground.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? my vet dose jaspers dew claws,his nails have never needed doing, i would never attempt to clip them myself
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? For us Rosie,when there are scratch marks on us after our play wrestling matches : or his dew claw catches us or when I look at his paws when he's standing and they are touching the ground .
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? No I take meg to vets and they do them there. Tried doing it when she was a puppy but she fought like mad. She'll let anyone else do them but not me. She had a really good bond with late hubby but she still wouldn't let him do them. Our neighbour used to do them for us and she was quite happy with that but now we've moved it's the vets for us.
Re: Do you clip your dog's claws? Rosie, the claws are too long if the toe is being pushed up when the dog stands on a flat, hard surface.
