Dog nail clipping thread

[Lakeside]

Okay hive, I need help looking for an old thread here about trimming a dog’s nails. Someone had posted a link for a really detailed explanation of how to cut a dog’s nails. I think the website was by a veterinarian and she may have been  Canadian. (Maybe specializing geriatric dogs?)

I’ve used the search feature here and done a google search of the site and I can’t find it.

Does this ring a bell for anyone?

[MercyA]

Yes, I remember it. I'll try to find it, too!

[MercyA]

I can't find the thread, but was this the link?

https://susangarrettdogagility.com/2013/08/cutting-your-dogs-nails-how-important-is-it-really/

[Lakeside]

20 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I can't find the thread, but was this the link?

https://susangarrettdogagility.com/2013/08/cutting-your-dogs-nails-how-important-is-it-really/

Yes! That’s it. Thank you so much!

Edited January 8, 2020 by Lakeside

[Pen]

I like that article- thanks for asking about it since I missed original thread!

 

Adding- fwiw, most of our dogs have preferred grinding nails with a rotary grinder (dremel or similar) to having them clipped.    With maybe one or two dog exceptions in my life,  cheese, liver, peanut butter  or similar has been needed .  

[Lakeside]

50 minutes ago, Pen said:

I like that article- thanks for asking about it since I missed original thread!

 

Adding- fwiw, most of our dogs have preferred grinding nails with a rotary grinder (dremel or similar) to having them clipped.    With maybe one or two dog exceptions in my life,  cheese, liver, peanut butter  or similar has been needed .  

 

You’re welcome! 

 

Did you start usng the dremel when when they were puppies? 

[Pawz4me]

I prefer grinding with a Dremel. Any puppy that comes into our house gets started on that as the primary nail tool, but I also familiarize them with clippers. With adult dogs I've had mixed luck acclimating them to nail grinding. Some who don't like the Dremel are pretty much okay with a regular nail clipper and others don't like having their nails messed with at all, so it's a matter of figuring out whether the clipper or the grinder is the least objectionable. Long way of saying--I prefer grinding but I work with what an individual dog is most comfortable with.

[Pen]

1 hour ago, Lakeside said:

 

You’re welcome! 

 

Did you start usng the dremel when when they were puppies? 

 

Only for one.  The others eitherI got the dog past puppy stage or else hadn’t yet known about Dremel.

Hence cheese, liver etc.  😄.   Used gradual approach, like getting dog used to and treated for allowing it to touch claws without being on, separate from accepting it on and making noise without touching...

 

(I tend to have big dogs with thick nails.  I think that makes clippers a worse experience than for small dogs with more delicate nails. So might make my experience with adults opposite of @Pawz4me. )

Edited January 8, 2020 by Pen

[Spy Car]

Add me to the pro-Dremel camp.

Best to start as pups, but (almost) any dog can be "conditioned" to accept grinding.

And it is much less scary for owners than using clippers. Dogs nails should be kept quite short. Much shorter than most people realize.

Long nails throw off the muscular-skeletal alignment which can led to serious joint issues.

There are many good "conditioning" videos on YouTube.

Be aware not to grind too long in one spot (as you want to avoid friction-heat). Otherwise it is almost fool-proof one a dog is conditioned to accept it.

Bill

[Spy Car]

Also, when you are grinding a dog's nails that have overgrown realize that shortening them needs to be a "process."

It can take many sessions to do it gradually.

Bill

 

[Lakeside]

5 hours ago, Pen said:

 

Only for one.  The others eitherI got the dog past puppy stage or else hadn’t yet known about Dremel.

Hence cheese, liver etc.  😄.   Used gradual approach, like getting dog used to and treated for allowing it to touch claws without being on, separate from accepting it on and making noise without touching...

 

(I tend to have big dogs with thick nails.  I think that makes clippers a worse experience than for small dogs with more delicate nails. So might make my experience with adults opposite of @Pawz4me. )

That’s an interesting observation about the clippers being a worse experience with bigger dogs. Our lab hates them. Even with treats it is an unpleasant experience for everyone. Our cat, with obviously smaller nails, is much more compliant.

 

The new puppy is going to be a big boy, so we may have to look into the dremel. Perhaps the lab could be acclimated to it too.