Are my ddog's nails too long? (Pics)

[Isobela]

She's a 10 year old lab, I take her on 2 walks everyday but it's mostly grass walks so I'm worried her nails aren't being worn down enough.

Do these look too long? If so - should I take her to a vet or dog groomer to clip them?

They do look a bit long although it's not the easiest angle to judge them from.

They should at least be short enough so that when she's standing square on a hard surface they don't touch the ground. Ideally you want them short enough so you can't hear them touching the ground when she walks on a hard surface.

There's an excellent group on FB called Nail Maintenance for Dogs which has tons of really great advice on the subject. If you're not on FB just let me know and I can post some other links up for you.

My personal preference is using a Dremel to do nails and they get done once a week, on Sundays in fact so I'll be doing them shortly. It sounds a bit horrifying that I use a power tool on them but it's actually so much easier (and more comfortable for the dogs) than using clippers.

Thanks for the info. I can hear her nails tapping on the hard floors so I'll take that as they are too long.

I actually do have a dremel but I'm worried that I'll hurt her or file them too far?

I'm not on Facebook actually so any links would be most welcome :)

We have black lab and the nurse at vets does her dew claws at vets

The thing with black labs is that the nerve/blood supply is very hard to see inside nail so you could hurt or damage it

I would take her to vets for nurse to do them cos it will be very uncomfortable as they are walking on the floor IMHO

Them walk her on footpaths for one walk a day so the concrete keeps them under control

They won't charge very much money for vets nurse to do a pedicure

I actually do have a dremel but I'm worried that I'll hurt her or file them too far?

It's actually much easier not to take too much off with a Dremel than it is with clippers. When you use a Dremel you're literally doing the tiniest of touches at a time and as long as you do that you can see when the texture of the nail changes (which means you're getting close to the blood supply) and stop before you hit it. With clippers, even super sharp ones, there's a limit to how small an amount you can take off in one go so, especially if you're trying to get the quick to recede, it's very easy to take a little too much off and end up going too far.

It can be very challenging to get nails to the ideal of not being able to hear them tapping on the floor, it's quite dependent on the shape of the dog's foot how easily it can be managed. I aim for that short but as long as the nails are well clear of the ground when they're standing square on a flat, hard surface I'm happy.

Just to give you an idea with one of my dogs, these photos are from this afternoon and show how DWhippet3's foot looks when the nails have just been done. In the standing photo you can there's definite clearance between the nails and the surface which allows his toes to be in the correct position. However these do still tap when he moves on hard surfaces so ideally they'd be a bit shorter.

This blog post (and the video included in it) is an excellent starting point for getting nails sorted.

This is a guide to cutting black nails with clippers and this one covers Dremelling black nails.

This YouTube playlist has loads of really helpful videos on nail trimming covering everything from technique to desensitising your dog to the tools you want to use to options like scratch boards to allow dogs to self trim. The latter can be really helpful to use whilst you're getting your dog used to the Dremel, it's surprising how much of a difference a quick go with a scratch board can make.

We use and recommend the dremel too. It was surprisingly easy to get our nervous ddog used to it and after a couple of weeks I stopped worrying about it. Just take a little bit off each week or two.

We got the one with the long flexible shaft so the noisy motor part was further away and he doesn't mind it at all. Much cheaper than £7.50 every time the vet nurse cut them.