# Nails



## picsbylee (Dec 17, 2011)

Do you trim the pup's nails yourself? If so, when? My Chloe is 14 weeks and her little nails are sharp!


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

It is a good idea to get your puppy used to having their nails trimmed from a young age. From what I can see Chloe is black so this may make it slighlty harder to see the quick inside the nail, if her nails are a pale colur it is easy to see. This is the fleshy part that has a very rich blood supply so you have to be really careful. To be honest at as she is so young you should only need to take the tips off but if you are unsure then pop her along to your vet or grooming salon, they will show you how to do it. There is normally a small charge for nail cutting but worth paying if you aren't entirely sure how and where to cut.
Good luck


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## Sezra (May 20, 2011)

Hi Lee. I also have a black dog and like Karen says you have to be careful. You can buy clippers from Pets at Home that have a guard that slide under the cutting blades and prevents you cutting more than the ends of. As a novice home groomer I always use these but Daisy hates me doing it. The last time I trimmed a claw she walked away to a different room and seemed to have the hiccups! 

My suggestion would be to get one of these and just take a tiny amount of the ends just to get her used to it being done, this is the important thing. Dont worry about doing them all in one go, maybe one claw one day, then another, just don't forget which one you have already done!  You will only need to do this once a month.


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Sorry in a rush .. got a special visitor coming  

But this may help a little ..

http://www.mydogslife.co.uk/2011/07/22/cutting-dogs-claws-safely/

If you dont feel confident doing it yourself get the vet or groomer to do it, however it really is quite easy to do


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## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

I tried to do this on the day long grooming course I attended but managed to make Betty bleed even under the supervision of the instructor. It has put me off trying again although I did buy some traffic light nail clippers that were supposed to give you a green light when it was OK to clip (ie:- not over the quick) but they were pretty useless to be honest. I do clip/trim Betty myself but am going to leave the nail clipping to someone else!!


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Oh yes the traffic light nail clippers ... I remember us all chatting about these ... 

So product review .. they are naff  ... good to know

Honeys are easy to do as she is pale and you can see the quick .. Picnic has black nails but I just snip a little each week or so ... my dosg dont mind me doing it which makes it easier .. however Oakley used to fidget slightly but I still managed to do them, just do a few nails each time ... 

I think the trick is dont let them get too long and only snip a small amount off...


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## Turi (Jun 28, 2011)

We've always trimmed our cat's claws and since they're clear you can see the bit inside the nail that you should avoid - I've attached a picture of a dog's claw to show which bit I mean! 

I figure if you start early and do it regularly dog should be fine - our cats just sit on our knee and purr when we do it now.... and then go to the scratching post to sharpen them back up again...


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## Kirsty (Sep 9, 2011)

Derek's had yeRs of GSDs and trimmed their nails. We Tried this once with Zeus ..... Looked like a blood bath. Lots of walks on concrete an the groomers can do it ifCara needs it. Xx


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## Soo (Dec 16, 2011)

Is there not someone on here that uses a dremmel to grind them down? Ive been meaning to google and find out more.


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## Sezra (May 20, 2011)

Oooh that sounds a bit scary!


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## Soo (Dec 16, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqQuuDO23Mw&feature=related

video of it being used. I may be wrong but it might be Julia that uses one?

Ive heard them recommended before. If you do it regularly the dogs nails stay neat and there is supposed to be less risk of hitting the quick as a little is being taken off at a time.


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## picsbylee (Dec 17, 2011)

This is the best website in the world! Thank you all so much!!!!


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## Dawny (Mar 28, 2010)

i cut wispas myself, it is a 2 man job 1 to hold the dog and 1 to cut the nail, all i do is take the ends off every 4 weeks. ive been to the vet for wispas booster last week and asked her to check them, she said i was doing a good job so ill just keep doing the same thing. i was a bit scary at first but its not to bad now. deep breaths and stay calm and carry on, dont show the dog you're nervous and all show be OK.


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Don't forget the dew claws everyone, your dog may not have them but if they do they never get worn down naturally and will curl round and grow in to the foot, so very important not to forget them


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Good point Karen ... I do the dew claws .. but sometimes hard to find Honeys in all the fluff  ...

Also I have notice the front paw claws sometimes need trimming but the back claws are still quite short .... does anyone else notice this?


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## picsbylee (Dec 17, 2011)

So funny. I'm sitting here Checking out Chloe's claws, and they are different colors! Some dark, some light!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Lady's are different colors too. Some are even half and half


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

Sheilagh, I drimmel. It's great.  This is how I do it (though that's not me) http://homepages.udayton.edu/~jmerenski1/doberdawn/index.html

Lee, watch this for a how to on getting her used to nail trimming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgBvnQ71ss


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## Soo (Dec 16, 2011)

oooh thanks for that Enneirda, its def one of the things I want in my tool kit in the future.


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

Your welcome.


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