# Nail clipping



## Mojomax

Hi,

The biggest problem we had with our Lab Max was trimming his nails. He was out for two long walks a day, the first on the beach, the latter on hard ground, but he still needed his claws trimmed. It was ok at first, but then I caught the wick once ( it hurt me as much as it hurt him!) after that it was a nightmare trying to trim them. I tired all sorts, treats, sneaking up on him when he was asleep, playing games, even cutting his time on the beach to walk on hard ground,but he just didn't let me. I even arranged to take him to a dog parlour, but as soon as we got to the door, it's as if he knew, also he must of sensed how anxious I was!! and pulled away ( he was one strong dog!) I just couldn't get him through the door! Usually he was very obedient, but it ended up with us both being stressed.

Now, with our plans to get a smaller dog next year, I want to be sure I get it right this time. The only thing I'm worried about is sometimes you can't see the wick on nails especially black ones, so I feel there is more chance to catch them? Any ideas?, I'm hoping there isn't any need to trim nails, and shouldn't really be worrying about it yet!! But just want to know how people cope with it?

Mo


----------



## Marzi

When you bring your baby puppy home get into the habit of just trimming the very tips of the pup's nails when it is snoozy and sleepy on your knee - puppy nails are very sharp and it is good practice to just take the tips off.
With nail clipping little and often is the best - you don't have to do them all in one go if your dog is stressed. Mine tend to keep their's short through exercise, but the dew claws do need clipping.
Handling your dog's feet on a daily basis is good to do anyway - to check for grass seeds, thorns, cracks or cuts. Always praise and treat...


----------



## fairlie

I feel your pain. I don't know who loathes having his nails done more, me or Rufus. His are black so I can't see the quick at all. The vet says he has long poodle nails and when she does them she just does a tiny bit but it definitely takes two of us to hold him. We rarely walk on pavement so they don't wear down naturally at all.


----------



## Lindor

I've been doing Maggie's nails every week since I brought her home. She's not too fond of it but she does get a lot of treats to distract her. I just take off the tips. I did the same with my previous dog but he was easy to do. He was so laid back I could do anything with him.


----------



## DB1

Little and often is definitely the best way, Dudley has always hated having them done and even now when I do them I put his food bowl on the grooming table then he hardly notices, if he is not eating you would think I was trying to kill him! a tip I learnt just recently is to cut them so the pressure is on the front and back of the nail as the blades cut in, if you do it on the sides it squeezes the nail and they can feel the pressure before you actually cut, I've learnt to hold my nail clippers at a slightly different angle to do this.
as an adult most cockapoo's go to a groomers quite regularly and they should do it as part of a groom. 
also a good reason to do little and often when they are young is that the quick grows with the nail so by cutting little bits often the quick does not grow but if a dogs nails are left to get longer it means you can't cut the nail back short without cutting the quick.


----------



## RuthMill

Nina's quick is long I've been told by the vet. I've clipped her nails regularly, just taking the tip off and I've been lucky enough but the vet said to be careful as her quicks are long


----------



## Mojomax

Yes, I know what you all mean, I did start off snipping little bits off from when he was a puppy, but it just took once to go too far, but I'll be more careful in future!!

Thank you for all you replies.

Mo


----------



## Hollysefton

I never even clip Murphy's bad mummy! He walks on pavements and as he gets groomed every 8-10 weeks the groomer does them for me! That and she plucks his ears for me 2. Well done all of you for being brave and doing it yourself!


----------



## Lynn<3

Aimee Jane's nails are all black. I just trim the tips every week.
Miles has only four white nails (one on each paw). I have cut the quick on Miles (the first day I had him) and it bothered me that he didn't flinch or make a noise, he just looked up at me. So with him, I only do the tips, too.


----------

