Clipping Dogs Claws

[Hawkmaster]

Advice, opinions and tools used?

[OutFlying]

A normal file (rough - *******) will soon take them down or use the dog nail cutters that look like a pair of snips.

[Jiff]

i find the guilotene type best,does your dog have due claws if so these need monitoring closely as they never contact the deck,and can easily grow full circle and in-grow if not cliped,if you'r dog is regularly walked on pavements and such like this generaly keeps the nails satisfactory,if you'r only ever on soft ground then they'll need watching but still cliping shouldnt need doing too regularly,the way i do it is more or less the same as for the birds if the nail is so long it can lift the toe then i clip it back a touch, again as with the birds it's important not to cut too far, with light coloured dogs it's quite easy to see the excess nail and the start of the flesh but the darker the paw the harder to see, a rule of thumb that has worked well for me in the past,is to draw an imaginary line from the bottom of the pad to the nail what ever is below the pad is cliped if the nail don't extend past the bottom of the pad it dont need cliping.

[Jon]

I used to own a dog groomers with mother in law, we used various tools, couple like you can get From any pet shops but also a electric nail file like a dremmal tool (sorry if not right) as we found that some dogs if not most we got hated their feet being touched at all, so the electric nail file was good but i prefer to use a good set of nail clippers. With my own dogs i walk alot on concrete are tarmac which not only keeps nails down but tightens up the pad so the dog does not look flat footed as some dogs do if only ever walked on Grass are soft surfaces, and it show in the ring. But i always check the nail and if needed i will do one are two one day and another one are two the next not only is the stress down to a min but it gets the dog used to have the job done.

[NightOwl]

I'm with Jiff on this one.

[Jon]

With the dark nail you should see a difference in shine on the nail so you can judged were the wick is. If you look at the bottom of the nail were you cut it you can see a small dark dot that is as far as you should go. I have some diagram's from my dog groomers course if anyone is interested??

[Ian Wileman]

The easiest thing to do is to use a guilotine nail cutter. Place the cutter upside down on the dogs pad (i.e so that the bottom of the cutter as you hold it, is sitting on the dogs pad). Any nail that fits into the cutter should be cut off, so that when the pad is on a kitchen tile/paving flag etc, the nail is just to short to touch the floor. I mean JUST to short, take it is easy steps till you get the required length. IF you cut too short and the toe bleeds dip it in a little potassium permangenate crystals. This will stop the bleeding immedietly. EASY DOES IT!! Good luck.

[Hawkmaster]

Cheers guys my dog needs doing as he is now becoming a cat. Unfortunately I have taught him to jump so it does hurt.

[North East Harris Hawker]

[quote="Ian Wileman"]a guilotine nail cutter./quote]

i use one of these (when i can find it) otherwise sharp side cutters
my dog hates having it done, so i take him out for a good beasting beforehand and cut them whilst he kips in front of the fire 8)