Nail trimming

I'll trim the cat's nails, but not the dogs. In part because my dogs nails are black and I can't see the wick, and also because one of the dogs has to muzzled to have her feet messed with.

Hi Grandpa! Our dog's nails seem to grow an inch a week! All I can tell you is to be careful. When our dog was a pup, we attempted to cut his nails and we got to far down and it apparently hurt him pretty bad. At the time he yelped and attempted to bite us. (just his natural defenses kicking in!) Since then, he will bite if anyone touches his paws for any reason! We take him by the vet's office when it needs to be done now. The vet has to muzzle him and clips them within seconds! The vet says that had we not hurt him when we tried cutting them that time, that he probably wouldn't care at all to have them cut! He told us that one shouldn't cut past the deeper colored portion on the nail. (our dog has a deeper color at the tips that gets progressively lighter as it nears the furry part of the foot. We can actually see where the blood vessel ends...and he said to cut no closer than 1/4 inch to that. Our vet mashes the center of the paw...which makes the nails protrude and then he just clips! He doesn't file them...although I guess one could if the dog would allow it...it would keep them from being so rough and scratching things so badly. Good luck!

we have two dogs before and we used to cut their nails on our own. it's really hard because it's different to control a human being over an animal not to move. although i talk to my pets as if they're human but sometimes our dogs are crazy you know. anyway, there were times that i almost cut their nails too short that hurts them and caused them to cry or shout. there was once when i did, i also cried. hehehe.. why not look for nail cutters intended for pets nails only then train yourself to do it. goodluck. ;)

My dog hates getting his nails cut! Put we both survive each and every time. I have cut his nails too far back a time or two. Yes it hurt him, but the bleeding stopped and he was fine. You can buy this powder (cant think of what its called) and put it on the toe if it starts bleeding. That should stop it immediately. Also I hold my dogs paw still, and apply some pressure so his nails stick out farther. You cant look under there nail and see where the quick ends. Sometimes its really far back and sometimes its less than half an inch from the tip. As long as you dont cut into that there should be no pain or bleeding. As soon as you see something other than nail youv'e gone too far. I have a lab, with black nails. So you should be able to see the quick. Good luck!

By the look of the photo, I'd say definately he needs the trimming. Don't even try unless you have a pair of dog toe nail clippers. If you look real close you may be able to see a vein, then again you may not with buster being a much biggar dog than I'm used to. If you cut the vein they will bleed, but it's unlikely you will do any damage. I have nicked my dogs toe before but nothing serious. You could cut a pretty good piece off of each nail by the looks of it. I doubt you'll have much luck with the file unless Buster is different from any dog I have ever seen. They usually hate the feel and sound of the file. Good luck!!!

You're such a good ole "daddy" to Buster! I wish there were more of us to go around. The first time I had to trim my dogs nails I took her to the groomers and had her show me how to do it. Since you can see the pink part, just below that area is where you want to trim. If by chance you make him bleed, use flour to get the bleeding to stop. Use only the clippers that are made for dogs. Walmart carries them as well as any groomer or Petsmart does. Also it only hurts them when you get the nerve which is the pink area so stay away from that. Now is nails shouldn't touch the floor however if they do then you'll not be able to trim them short enough without hurting him. What you do in that case is trim them every 3 weeks or so because the pink area will retreat further back into the claw and that's how you get them off the floor. Then you'll have to figure out how often to trim them so they won't get too long again. Hope this helps!!

I am EXACTLY the same as you, so I can't be of much help. I have a phobia about trimming pert claws & always get my daughter to do it, from the age of 9 years. Our mini fox terrier gets terribly long claws, & so does one of our cats. I bought the claw clippers & all I know is that you need to only cut as far as above the blood line. Do it under a good light. He wont feel anything unless you get to the blood line. If you can Buster to get it professional done at PetSmart that would be good. Over here, no shop or even vet would say anything if a dog wasn't licensed, but I can't answer that for your country. Unfortunately I can't send my daughter over to you!

I wish i could help you but since i don't have a pet and we have different laws as far as pets are concerned, i suggest you don't chance it so my money would be on the clinic for dogs wherein they could groom him. Maybe you could observe them how they do it and get some tips so that next time you could do it yourself.