crap! i hurt my dog!

[codykrr]

no..i didn't beat her or anything!

tonight i went to the store, I picked up a few things for Chloe. well i decided i was going to man up and trim her nails myself.

so i bought some nail trimmers, got home and started to do the front paws. she got scared so i stopped and ended up doing a good job.

well by the time it came around to the rear paws she seemed terrified. so i played with her for a minute, and then proceeded trimming the rear paws. she jerked at the worst moment and bam...i hit the quick. so i got the styptic powder and press it on her nail. i then finished up that paw and by now she was super scared...whining and making me feel terrible. so i started on the other paw and did it again. this time it was my fault. i didnt even trim much off. so i finally finished her up. and pressed more styptic powder on the other nail.

i gave her a treat and some love but she took off into her pin(she sleeps in it while we are asleep) and leaving me feeling terrible. she is acting like she just got beat.

im a hard ass to people but i cant be mean animals...any tips for me the next time around? i dont want her mad at me every time i do this!

 

[Edd Eskimo]

Just wondering what color are her nails? Even with black nails you should slightly see where the blood vessels start but with white nails it is way easier...I usually take my dogs out on jogs and that helps a lot on there nails.

 

[codykrr]

her nails are black. jet black. i even held a flashlight to her nails and cold see the blood vessel. and she does play outside...and go for walks..but we havent been able to walk her much because of all the nasty weather.

 

[cacoseraph]

get a grinder. WAY easier to use


just grind each nail for like 5 seconds every few days and as long as your dog isn't a carpet only dog the quick will retreat and let you safely grind a smidge more next session

i am a pretty good dog person and i just plain don't like using the slicers

 

[Edd Eskimo]

Nasty weather...It was Hailing yesterday in GEORGIA;P! And I was like WTF...lol...

Yeah dogs with black nails are pretty hard...Just get her calmed down don't rush it and be extra careful!

 

[Shell]

It happens Cody, even to me who was a tech for years. Just continue to take it slow and really use positive reinforcement. Everyone has to learn somewhere, you will get it. Between nail trimmings sit and pet and handle her feet, handle them alot without clipping, praise her for not squirming alot and keep the clippers close by even though you aren't using them at the time.

Kudos to you for making the attempt to trim them yourself, alot of owners never get up the nerve! With some practice it will be super easy

 

[ZergFront]

I get a drummel from Home Depo (works just fine for dog nails as well if you use the finer sanded part). I just go slow and only take off a little bit. If it's a very nervous dog, you could have someone else she's comfortable with to distract her (not hold her still, just sooth with ear scratches or whatever she likes). I sometimes help the groomer at work with this with our few nervous dogs.

Make sure she gets plenty of praise, maybe a treat or toy after the job is done so she associates nail trims with something good afterwards.

I really hope this helps.

 

[whitewolf]

It happens Cody, even to me who was a tech for years. Just continue to take it slow and really use positive reinforcement. Everyone has to learn somewhere, you will get it. Between nail trimmings sit and pet and handle her feet, praise her for not squirming alot and keep the clippers close by even though you aren't using them at the time.

Right the best of us get one every now and then. It happens just keep working on it. Your being a good dad already by keeping them cleaned up rather than letting them grow in.

 

[codykrr]

i tried the dremel thing when we first got her. well lets say i still have the scars from that one. even the vet said some dogs will never like them.

im just glad i got them done. i will try and keep working with her more. i just want to make sure her nails are never ungodly long.

so i should just mess with her feet more and keep the trimmers around so she gets used to it?

and yes, i did give her a treat and lots of love, untill she retreated into her sleeping pin.

its been a while now and she seems fine. ill just have to be more carefull next time.

 

[cacoseraph]

yeah, you are essentially desensitizing her to the stuff that makes her nervous


also... if you take your dog for walks on blacktop or concrete it will wear the nails down "naturally"

you have to get a bead on how much walking you need to do, to NEVER have to cut their nails though... and i sort of recall it is not exactly a trivial amount for some dogs


oh and p.s. i believe i quicked our dogs at least once when i was learning how to do their nails, before i made my parents get a grinder. thick black nails, yo

 

[snappleWhiteTea]

I have problems with big nails on my our pitbulls, the quik goes down to he tip of the tail it seems.
it helps to get them to runs a little on the side walk. if that doesn't help nail clippers for people work better then the nutcrackers made for dogs. no matter how much you spend on the stupid things they crush the nails.the pedi paws thing works alright, i would recommend it to some one with one dog, because the power runs out if you constantly use it.

 

[Laceface]

I know how you feel, Cody. When I was in michigan, I trimmed Quinn's nails, and hit a quick for the very first time, and on one of her WHITE nails. They were growing towards the end of the nail... The bled for two days everytime I took her outside, even with flour, cornstarch and every other fix we'd heard of..ended up having to get liquid skin and it stopped.

When they are out for spaying and such, my vet will cut them really short, and cauterize them so the quick is back far, and you can clip em shorter (if the dog is old enough), They did this on my girl yesterday, and it is wonderful.

Also, since you have a tiny dog, a pedipaw might be less traumatizing (I bet it's quieter!) And even with the dremel.. just sit with it, off, and praise her for coming near you.. when shes ok, turn it on, and again praise for coming near you, play with it on her paws off, and eventually she will be okay with it. My girl was terrified of our pedipaws when we first got it, but now I can trim her nails on my own, and that thing makes them smooth as well as short- and just trimmed nails tend to be sharper then when you started anyway!

 

[Teal]

It happens! Atleast you had the styptic powder to stop them. For the most part, you don't want to cut past the curve in the nail if you're just learning how to do nails.. that's where the quick ends.

I recommend keeping up on nails every other day or so, instead of waiting until they get long and trying to trim them back because the quick will grow more and more and even though you're trimming some of the nail off, the nails will still get longer and longer each time. You can "scare" the quick, making it recede by cutting as close to it as possible every few days.

My dogs haven't had their nails done in a few weeks because I lost my clippers and keep forgetting to get more lol

Laceface has a really good point about having the vet take the nails off and cauterize them while the dog is already under anesthesia... if your dog will be going under anytime soon (unfortunately, mine won't lol)

 

[codykrr]

yeah...but i didnt cut very far back. the quick was just long on that nail.

and we have a friend that lent us her "pedi paw" and it scared her too. she wasnt afrain of the noise. just it coming into contact with her nails.

it will take us some time. i say us because she needs to get used to the trimming itself, and i need to get better at the trimming.

im sure ill eventually get the hang of it.

thanks for the added confidence guys..and gals. i really appreciate all the feedback. makes me feel better knowing im not the only one who hit the quick.

 

[Teal]

I am lucky to have dogs that don't mind having their nails done... but I've met a few dogs who would rather die, it seemed!

A lot of dogs don't like the vibration from dremels/pedi paws, while others don't seem to notice.

Whichever way you decide to go, just do it often! I would recommend giving a small treat with each nail that you trim, since she's already had a bad experience with it.

 

[Ms.X]

I've had my female TFT since she was 10 weeks old (she's now 2.5 years). I have always handled her feet and did all of the conditioning to accept the nail clippers and not be nervous. However, every time without fail, she ends up getting very scared. She screeches (I don't even have to touch her), jerks around, and this is the one and only situation in which she has ever put her teeth on me. I have now resorted to using a muzzle, leash, and a towel when I do her nails. I have tried the peticure nonsense (that thing is such a piece of garbage, my dremel is much more effective), and she is still terrified even after desensitization. My vet usually perfoms her trims if she is sedated for another procedure. Recently, her vet changed practices. The most recent vet visit took place at the new practice, which was an unfamiliar environment to my dog. The staff was all different as well as the setting. I asked one of the techs to please trim her nails while I was there and handed over the muzzle (I explained why she should use it). Wouldn't you know, my dog was in a state of mild shock from the new environment, so the tech was able to trim all of her nails in less than 30 seconds with no muzzle and my dog did not even flinch or notice! I am exasperated, but perhaps she has learned that I am a bit more sensitive to her reactions and my anticipation causes her to become anxious. My rescue TFT/RT mix is a bit antsy, but quite cooperative in comparison to my little girl.