Does anyone clip dog nails themselves?

[CollyWombles]

My old boy is 14 and detests the vet. His nails have got really long, it's been about a year since they were clipped and the vet had to muzzle him to do it. Over this year, old boy has really slowed down and will only go for small walks in the big park near my house which is all soft ground.

I want to clip his nails myself. He will let me, just not anyone else. But I have never done it before, I'm scared I will hurt him. Could I file his nails instead? I don't want to put him through the stress of the vet again.

I don't clip them but I use a grinder instead.

You can only do a bit at a time but my dog tolerates it whereas he wouldn't cope with me holding his paw still enough to clip them and I don't want a blood bath on my hands

I clip his nails myself. I do a better job then the vet nurse. I’ve seen people use a grinder but never tried that method. I doubt a file would work.

Does your dog have light or dark nails (it makes a difference to how I’d advise you to approach the first few clips)

I use a Wahl grinder. It's a two person job, one to constantly feed little treats and the other to use the grinder but it works well. Both dogs have black nails and grinding them regularly means no risk of cutting the quick and the nails are smooth.

I do my dogs’ nails once a week with a Dremel. Both me and the dogs much prefer it to traditional clippers.

Check out the FB group ‘Nail Maintenance for Dogs’, it’s packed with information on how to trim nails, how to get dogs happy with being trimmed and also alternative methods of trimming like filing or using scratch boards.

I cut nails of my three, including one with black nails.

Top tips to avoid the quick is cut at an angle ( high at back, low at front) and before committing to a cut squeeze the nail with the clippers - if they pull away it likely hurts and you are probably at the quick.

Yes, I do both of mine. DDog1 hates it intensely, and despite huge efforts to desensitise him over the years, he still is very unhappy about it. So we muzzle him and just get on with it quickly - a small amount off all nails every 2 weeks and he is over it by the time his muzzle comes off.

If your dogs nails are overgrown, then take a small amount off every week and the quick will die back by the next time

Had a lot of success with grinding nails instead. They key was to build up to it VERY slowly, i.e. lots of practice just bringing the switched-off grinder near the paw then treat. Then just tapping the paw with it, treat. Then switching it on, treat. You get the idea. Took a few weeks but now 2 old JRTs happily offer a paw for grinding.

Thanks all, his claws are black. I'm just terrified I will hurt him, but i also hate how stressed he gets at the vet. Last year the wind blew the backdoor shut on the tip of his tail and the vet was certain it would need amputated because old boy would not let the vet near it. I took him home and cleaned it, used normal plasters as they were the only things that would stay on, cutting them off every day and replacing it and within two weeks old boy was all healed up. He trusts me but that's it. If I hurt him he might not even trust me anymore. I will look into grinders.

I will add the I got my JRT at 10 years old and although with training he has improved on certain things, the vet just sends him into a frenzy.

I also use the dremel with the flexible shaft extension on our black lab. He got used to it very quickly.

BiteyDogs claws are thick and black and I just don't have the confidence to clip them in a dog that doesn't like being handled anyway. That's why the grinder/dremel works for us because I don't have to hold him as much, it doesn't matter if he moves a bit and because you can only do a bit at a time I don't worry about getting the quick. The downside is I do have to keep on top of them so it's yet another job I have to do frequently.

You could ask at a dog groomers. They are usually nice and be might be happier there, they'd do nails!

Our dog groomers do our dogs nails. Plus if he needs a snip between cuts she does his nails for free. If I hold him for her it’s done in less than a minute. Do you think if you tried that he wouldn’t associate it with the vets? The environment is very different to a vet and if you call and explain his fears I am sure they will shower him in treats too.

Yep always do my own

There is a good group on facebook which will give you guidance on showing you how to do it and also how to condition your dogs to love it.

Mine lie on their backs and fall asleep when their nails are being trimmed - they love it

nail maintenance for dogs

I do all of mine.. I even used to take the tips off the cats claws when he was an over excited kitten. One of my dogs just lays there like she’s at the salon for anyone, one fake bites at anything touching his nails... I mean anything we tried desensitising him with a cloth/toy/treat just like I’ll hold you and play with this on your foot but no the best way for him is to be wrapped up so he can’t see you and then he strangely just lays back. And the other is a normal dog she’ll tolerate it as long as you aren’t close to the quick and you’ve got a treat at the ready.

There’s some groomers that come to you? That’s how I learned the burrito wrap, he’s 3.5lbs so they literally don’t make muzzles small enough apparently . They might be less traumatic than the vet and able to show you what to do, and always have corn flour or quick stop powder on hand if they’ve got black nails.