My 1 1/2 year old Lab/Golden mix is licking her foot after I trimed
her nails. She was jerking around & I got one too close. Her nursing
her wounds bothers me than the blood on our white carpet.

I know I didn't get a lot more than I should have, but I'm concerned
about my ability to do this properly. I have only trimmed too close
once before, but it is getting harder as she gets older to hold her
still enough for clean cuts. I do use the guillotine type clippers
and jewelers loupe (for better view of what to trim).

Any ideas on keeping nails clipped without the pain & mess? She seems
to need trimming every 10 or 12 days even though we walk her daily on
cement sidewalks.

Thanks!
Don S

Don S wrote:

My 1 1/2 year old Lab/Golden mix is licking her foot after I trimed
her nails. She was jerking around & I got one too close. Her nursing
her wounds bothers me than the blood on our white carpet.

I know I didn't get a lot more than I should have, but I'm concerned
about my ability to do this properly. I have only trimmed too close
once before, but it is getting harder as she gets older to hold her
still enough for clean cuts. I do use the guillotine type clippers
and jewelers loupe (for better view of what to trim).

Any ideas on keeping nails clipped without the pain & mess? She seems
to need trimming every 10 or 12 days even though we walk her daily on
cement sidewalks.

I'm a lot more comfortable doing nails since I learned to use a dremel
tool to grind them down, rather than trying to clip them. You can
shorten the nails bit by bit, and if the dog flinches she'll only pull
her claw away from the grinder, rather than possibly tearing it if you
happen to be in mid-clip with the guillotine type clippers.

Use a fine grit sanding head and start slowly. Let your dog smell the
dremel tool, and turn it on and off several times while she's around to
let her get used to the noise. Make sure you've got good light, and
wear your jewelers loupe or reading glasses if you need them. You'll
need an assistant to hold the dog in the beginning. The unfamiliar
noise and vibration can be upsetting initially. Don't hold the sander
against the nail for longer than a couple of seconds at a time, until
you get a better feel for how quickly the nail is being ground down, and
for how much heat is generated.


Kathleen

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 02:26:07 GMT, Don S wrote:

My 1 1/2 year old Lab/Golden mix is licking her foot after I trimed
her nails. She was jerking around & I got one too close. Her nursing
her wounds bothers me than the blood on our white carpet...

Nail trimming should be getting easier.

If a bad trim of one nail is the worst harm you ever do to your dog, she
will be quite fortunate--and so will you. Point being: it's easy to make
mistakes.

Make sure to handle her paws a lot between trims; so she can get used to
having her paws handled.

Hydrogen peroxide should remove the blood, without harming the carpet.


When I die, I want to go where dogs go!

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
Don S wrote:

snip
Any ideas on keeping nails clipped without the pain & mess? She seems
to need trimming every 10 or 12 days even though we walk her daily on
cement sidewalks.

I'm a lot more comfortable doing nails since I learned to use a dremel
tool to grind them down, rather than trying to clip them.

Before I started dremmeling (mine isn't a true dremmel by name - it's
actually a Black and Decker Wizard, but it works just fine), I had to file
the ends of her nails anyway after clipping. Clipping left the edges rough
and that doesn't work while visiting the nursing homes! Some residents just
insist on asking her to shake paws. I just used a heavy duty nail file on
Atty. I bought the coursest one they had (any store will do - alot of
drugstores have them - I have a metal "dog" one, but don't like it - it
doesn't really file!) and while she was laying on the couch, I'd file the
edges. I hold her nail so it doesn't shift all over when I file. She got
used to the filing action very quickly. I was worried she wouldn't like the
noise of the machine, but she had no problems with it. She just lays there
like a diva! Actually, she completely ignores me and sleeps, usually.

We do pedicures every week or 2 now!

Sue and Atty