I have a small dog who refuses to let me clip his nails, so I’ve been taking him to the vet’s for clipping. First time I took him, they did a wonderful job. Nice, short, non-scatchy nails. Next time, not quite so good, so the third time I told them I wanted them cut short as possible. The tech said “Well, the quick in his nails is really long, and we can’t cut back past that or he’ll bleed.”
Made sense at the time, but I started thinking—the first time, cutting them short wasn’t a problem. So what’s changed?
But my real questions is—is there any way, perhaps with very frequent clippings, to sort of drive the ‘quick’ farther back, so that clipping them short won’t make them bleed?
My dog refused his baths. But, I made it fun for him. Gave him a massage, etc. Now, he looks forward to them. You might try the same with the nail clipping. Give him a treat, a massage, and he will come to like it.
My dog doesn’t have a problem with his nails. We go on frequent walks. I believe the pavement trims them.
Yes, frequent walks on hard surfaces will wear most dogs’ claws short enough to skip trimming. Having the vet or groomer do regular trims could be quite expensive - have you tried desensitization training? Here’s a resource: http://drsophiayin.com/videos/entry/training_a_dog_to_enjoy_toenail_trims
Thanks for the info! I live in BFE, and hard, abrasive surfaces, like pavement, are few and far between. My dogs spend about half their time outdoors, but on grass. The big dog’s nails haven’t been a problem, but the little guy…maybe he’s just so light routine dirt-digging and squirrel-chasing isn’t wearing his nails down enough. We’ll try the every-seven-days clipping to see if that works for us.
A significant part of the problem lies in the fact that he’s a lap dog, while the big girl isn’t. The nails aren’t a problem for HIM, but for my tender, old-lady skin.
You might also be interested in investing in a nail grinder, or using a dremel tool if you have one. Again, the desensitization techniques demonstrated above will likely be necessary to get your pet used to the sound and feel, but it often results in smoother and less scratchy claws.
I’m a fan of dremelling dog’s nails, but I have big kids with rock hard claws. Not sure if it’s practical for the little toy breeds (lapdogs).
Also want to echo the suggestion for desensitization training. The problem I see with having such things done at a groomer or vet is that while they might be very nice people, their primary concern is to get the job done regardless of whether the pet is happy or not. If the animal struggles, they’ll just restrain him, making each successive visit more of a struggle as he learns that bad things happen there.
When training a puppy, I like to trim the nails on one foot every day. On the fifth day I begin again. I also do warm water baths (with or without shampoo, as indicated) every few days.
With adult dogs I tie behavior work to meals. Our dogs have to sit before I give them their food. If nails are an issue, I clip one nail before feeding. If an ear needs medicated, that is done during “sit” before feeding. I occasionally stop a meal, pick up the dish, and start over. I also stick my hand in each dish, sometimes adding a bit of a treat.
There really shouldn’t be anything your dog “refuses”.
That’s a good strategy, Kayaker. If you make things fun or rewarding for the dog, he will tolerate it quite well. We brush our dogs teeth every night after dinner. They’re not especially fond of it, but they come running at toothbrushing time and plop themselves down on the floor to wait for me to be ready (if I’m not there first). That’s because we reward them for it. I give them a treat or three after brushing because I want them to do the task first BEFORE being rewarded. Hubby treats them first because he doesn’t want their teeth to “get dirty” by eating something after he brushes them. But since we alternate nights, the dogs know they get treated either way. (And actually, sometimes I DON’T treat them, so they never know for sure and come running just in case. heh)
We also stick to a fairly rigid routine, so they expect tooth brushing simply because it’s “what we do” between dinner and tv watching.