My dog lives at my parents’ house. Whenever I visit there, I trim her nails, but since I’m not there every day, and Bea’s nails grow at a seemingly freakishly fast pace, they’re quite overgrown now. Not to the point where it’s difficult for her to walk or anything, just far longer than they probably should be.
Now, I’d like her nails to be trimmed down to a more manageable length so they don’t start to hurt her or break off when walking or whatever. I don’t really feel comfortable chopping off a large bit of nail and drawing blood. However, from what I understand about how dogs’ nails grow, that’s pretty much the only way to get the quick to retreat back further into the claw. Is there any way to trim her nails back to a more manageable size which doesn’t involve taking her to a vet and giving her a local anasthetic and then lopping them off?
What color are her nails? If they are white you should be able to see the quick and can cut just below it. Otherwise cut where the nail starts to curve. I would not intentionally try to cut them too short so that they bleed. This may be painful for the dog and make her more anxious about subsequent nail trimmings. Be sure to buy a styptic powder at a pet store that you can use in case you do cut it too short, nails can bleed like crazy.
You could also get a nail grinder to try and get the nails a little shorter but the best way for the dog would be more frequent trimmings. If your parents can’t handle the clipping maybe they could manage the grinder so they could keep them from overgrowing after the initial trimming?
I’ve recently seen a nail clipper with some sort of sensor with lights to tell you where not to cut. I’ve not tried it and at least one of the packages appeared to have been returned, which is often not a good sign.
Walking a dog where there is concrete (or something similar) can act as sort of a nail file, slowing, but not outpacing nail growth.
What Wile E said: the only way to get the quicks to retreat is more frequent nail trimmings, but not trimming the quicks themselves.
If your parents can’t handle doing nail trimmings, many professional groomers are willing to do a quick weekly pedicure for very little money, like maybe $10 a visit.
Thanks for the quick answers (AskNott…ha ha). Unfortunately, Bea’s nails are dark (Standard Schnauzer) so I can’t see where the quick is. Also, I’ve already accidentally drawn blood a few times even when cutting far from where the nail begins to curve, which leads me to think that the quick is really long in her nails. Bea, luckily, takes this, as all other things, in stride; when the vet draws blood samples from her, she licks her hand.
She walks on asphalt most of the time, but I don’t think it wears the nails down enough. I have four little brothers who take her for walks at least three or four times a day, but none of them have mastered the nail-trimming. I try to teach them and remind them every time I’m over, but the next time I visit, I find the nails have grown again. I guess I’ll just have to start visiting my parents more often. (Hmm…I wonder if this was their plan all along?)
Have any of the doper vets really seen a problem with overgrown nails in dogs? I mean, yeah, they can conceivably get them caught on stuff or have it grow around into the foot pad. But, in my limited experience, I’ve seen a lot more dogs get along fine than I’ve seen dogs with problems. What’s your $0.02?
Overlong nails often cause dogs to shift their weight back from their toes. This flat-footed walk can cause strain on tendons and ligaments – in large or overweight dogs, serious injury can result.
If the dog is that mellow I think it really is worth looking for a nail grinder or dremel. I think your sibs could handle it because it’s not actually cutting the nail. They could do a little bit every week, until the nails are a more appropriate length and then maybe cut back to every other week.
Not a major health problem, in the grand scheme, but I’ve seen nails overgrown all the way around… Somehow I don’t think it is too comfortable to have the nail rubbing and hurting the footpad.
Some of the cases were lab dogs due for their yearly checkup. I think they were too “healthy” before that nobody took care of some nail trimming.
The other case was an owner that came regularly because his dog (that seemly never left his arms or touched the floor) had long nails. The dog was then unable to walk the slippery tile floor properly.
Good luck with the nail trimming. There are kits that also sell the yellow powder bleeder stopper. And don’t forget to give the doggy a treat!
Unfortunately, Bea’s nails are dark (Standard Schnauzer) so I can’t see where the quick is. Also, I’ve already accidentally drawn blood a few times even when cutting far from where the nail begins to curve, which leads me to think that the quick is really long in her nails. Bea, luckily, takes this, as all other things, in stride; when the vet draws blood samples from her, she licks her hand.
And don’t forget to give the doggy a treat!