Afraid of the nail clipper

[Scarlet13]

Hello,

I need some advice on clipping Minnie's nails. She gets very upset, and pulls away, hides, kicks etc. SHe is never aggressive with me but I can't hold her and cut them safely. They are starting to get very long, and unfortunately she is terrified of men, including my vet. I would normally allow a professional to do it but knowing how upset she gets I don't think its a good idea. She will do anything to get away from the vet, she has even bit (although not a real bite) his assistant during an exam.

I have been cutting one nail a day, but now she won't even let me hold her paws. The last time they were all cut together was at the shelter and she ended up bleeding, I guess she has bad memories.

[pukka]

Bleeding? Geez! It is so clear to which point you can cut,I rather clip the
nails not too short so they won't get any chance to bleed.
Hold her close to your body with a just a little pressure. Try to hold her,take one
paw in your hands in a comfortable postion and clip fast but gentle.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x84/yoniwibilou/SI852016.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x84/yoniwibilou/SI852015.jpg

[Scarlet13]

Bleeding? Geez! It is so clear to which point you can cut,I rather clip the
nails not too short so they won't get any chance to bleed.
Hold her close to your body with a just a little pressure. Try to hold her,take one
paw in your hands in a comfortable postion and clip fast but gentle.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x84/yoniwibilou/SI852016.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x84/yoniwibilou/SI852015.jpg

i didn't make her bleed, Mrs Jung cut them.:(.. I try to hold her like that but she kicks off my lap and wiggles side to side. Maybe it will be easier with a female vet or groomer. Or I can try to file them down.

[Karen]

I clipped one of Sage's nails too short and made her bleed on 2 separate occasions, so I only get it done by the groomer now. With black nails you can't see the quick/line :( Anyway, now she won't let anyone touch her paws, she'll run away. (I'm sorry baby!!)

The groomer here does it for 5$ and she is very no-nonsense (unlike me now, I'm more nervous than Sage).

If you want to try again, here's a link to pictures of exactly where to cut:
http://miniatureschnauzer.ca/grooming.htm#nails

[luvadog]

I'm so lucky, all 4 of my dogs are good about nail clipping. Be sure not to squeeze too tight because when i do that when they wiggle, they pull away more. I let go briefly and go again. I make sure they get lots of praise and petting and cuddling after I'm done too. That way, they'll look forward to all the attention. (Even vets and groomers have made mistakes on this, so they keep that powder on hand to stop the bleeding.) My friend at home is a retired vet (old college boyfriend) and when I sent him a picture of Lassie, his comment was "Her toenails need clipping.":rolleyes: So I guess I'm over cautious too.

[Paul and Amy]

Before I came to Korea... which wasn't too long ago, I saw an infomercial about a nail clipper... well it's more like a filer than a clipper... which I'm seriously contemplating buying because my dog HATES getting his nail clipped. It's called the peticure... I know cute... the website is www.peticure.com
go figure. I don't think they ship international so I'm planning on shipping to my parents and then having them ship it to me. haha

[sarah24]

actualy there is this stuff that stops bleeding its made for dogs especially. its this powdery stuff i keep it handy for puppy cuts haha. well anyways i went to dog grooming hagwon and i still cant cut dogs nails im sooo afraid!!

[Karen]

That peticure device looks awesome, but I'm afraid that the noise it makes would still scare my dog (she has had a phobia of mechanical sounds ever since the groomer nicked her ear on her very first haircut :( Still if you say any Z word she runs off, poor thing. All round a difficult dog to groom).

Anyway, Paul and Amy, if you do buy the peticure I'd like to know how loud it is. It looks like a good solution.

I read also that flour is supposed to work to stop the bleeding like the special powder sarah24 mentioned, but it didn't for me. After 10 minutes we took Sage to the vet looking like she'd been baking a cake. The vet's powder (just looked it up, it's called styptic powder) worked really quickly. I think you can buy it at supply shops but hopefully you'll never need to use as much as is in the bottle!

[Scarlet13]

since i posted i managed to get ONE nail cut :(

[blue]

It is likely that your dog already has associated the nail clipper with bad feelings. So, it is best if you take time to make your dog accept it first. You will need a lot of patience. Even if you don't intend to trim the nails, you could keep carrying it around with you (without looking at it or holding it forward) when the dog is around. You needn't be communicating actively with the dog. Just have it with you all the time. When you are to feed the dog, make sure you have the nail clipper around etc. That way eventually, the dog learns to be neutral to it. Later you should gradually make it get better by trying to hold the dog with the nail clipper in your hands (without actually trimming the nails or trying to hold a paw out). Progressilvely take it further and always praise/reward the dog for being accepting of this.

Since I do not see your dog I can not be sure this is the problem and that this is a good solution for it but you could at least give this thought and see if it helps you out.

[blue]

I also notice that in this page (which was mentioned above): http://miniatureschnauzer.ca/grooming.htm#nails

The line drawing on the right is slightly inaccurate. You should not cut exactly till the quick. You should leave a bit of nail with it. Else, the dog may hurt himself/herself while scratching/digging something.

[Scarlet13]

I started watching the Dog Whisperer and it actually helps a lot, I just changed my energy and I can manage to get her to calm down and cut them all. It is amazing how easy it becomes when I am simply relaxed.

[fadedgirl]

Hey,
My dog is good with clippers also, but I'M the nervous one.
so, I bought a Dremel Nail Grinder. You can get one off of Amazon. 4 AA batteries.

check the website www.doberdawn.com

[Scarlet13]

I ...eerrr I mean Santa got the pedipaws for my pack for Christmas I will let you all know if its worth it.

[luvadog]

I just heard about these clippers on Fox News. They sense live or dead tissue and a light tells you to stop or go. I googled and found this;

Shopping results for quickfinder nail clipperQuickFinder® Pet Nail Clipper (Small) $21.99 - Cabela's
QuickFinder® Safety Nail Clipper for Medium Dogs $18.95 - PetGuys.com
Quick Finder Nail Clipper for Small Dogs $10.99 - Cherrybrook.com

QuickFinder® Clipper - The Ultimate Solution for Pet Nail ClippingThe new QuickFinder® Clipper is a nail clipper for dogs (up to 75 lbs), cats and small animals, and birds, that utilizes QuickSensor Technology that senses ...
www.quickfinderclipper.com/ - 8k - Cached - Similar pages
Where To Buy It
QuickFinder® Clipper
Dogs FAQ
About Us
More results from quickfinderclipper.com »

DoggieNews: QuickFinder Claw Cutter28 Mar 2006 ... The current guillotine-style QuickFinder® nail clipper will not effectively cut extremely ....

[Marsie]

pedipaws has almost not sound to it at all. A slight motor sound I have had good experiences with it.

[Scarlet13]

I had no luck with the pedipaws-the dogs are terrified of it. The only one who will let me near her to use it is panda, and it does nothing but burn her nails-the smell of burnt nails is just awful. I'm thinking its because she has big, black nails-they are just too tough. It might work okay on light coloured nails as they are much softer.

[fadedgirl]

How long do you keep the pedipaws thing on her nail at a time? I don't do it for more than 3 seconds on each nail...and then come back later.

clearly the nail sanding process involves me counting a lot...

It's taken a few months for my dog to get used to it. but sometimes...getting someone else to do it is THAT much better. :)

[luvadog]

Actually, the internet instructions warn you against grinding too much at a time because it does burn them. I used a nail grinding set on my mom's toenails last year for a pedicure and she kept jumping. Every time she jumped it scared me and I thought it was hurting her but she said no it just felt funny. (We used to tickle her feet when we were kids because she jumped so much. haha.)

So after I read about the pedi-paws possibly burning, I realized that it was the heat that cancelled my mom's pedicure. People can tell you. Pets can't. But basically, it didn't hurt her she said, but the sensation is terrible.

Try the 3 second thingy like she said. And maybe have someone give treats as you're buzzing away. :eek:

[Scarlet13]

Not long at all ( I count to 4). I watched the video and followed all of the instructions. The smell is instant. But her nails are really tough, they have broken more than a few clippers-snapped the blades right off.
Panda isn't afraid of it, she doesn't pay much attention to it. Its the other dogs that are terrified. They wont pay any attention to treats when its on. It may be good for smoothing but certainly not for shortening their nails.