Cutting claws...... SUCH a trauma.....

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OMG the trauma tonight.....I am always reminded why I am a Very Bad Owner and don't do it often enough when I try cutting the greyhound's claws....

Hoover has fabulous feet and claws which never need cutting, I trimmed his dew claws tonight and he waved his front paws in my face to try and stop me but otherwise didn't move :)

Flick has horrible long feet and naturally long claws which are all black so are a nightmare.... only made one bleed tonight thank goodness, and she helpfully pulled out one dew claw last year so only one of those to cope with now....luckily she is very good and lets me get on with it

Islay has broken her toes/feet so often now that her claws are really mis-shapen and are of different thicknesses, all black again, but she is a wise old soul by now and again lies still and lets me get on

Amy has absolute hysterics every time you try to even think about cutting her claws, and goes the full way wriggling/trying to escape/trying to bite.... after explaining to my other half that you have to be firm, and being nice doesn't work, I just about got her dew claws done then gave up! Luckily her feet are reasonable most of the time, she is now staring at me reproachfully because clearly I have tried to kill her....
 

Peter7917

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My whippet is the same. She screams when I clip her toes and threatens to bite me. I just tell her to get a grip and cracked on.
 

twiggy2

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My current dog is fine and I hold and the nurses at work do her claws- there is a new guard dog on the farmyard I am living at and they play on the concrete yard so she is currently keeping hers really short anyway.
I have had dogs in the past who's nails I had to file a couple of tines a week, at one point I bought a dremmel with files and used that
 

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I usually quote my old lurcher Talisker who was so terrified of having his feet touched when we re-homed him that he had to have a general anaesthetic to have his claws cut - after a few years he was so trusting that I could cut his claws without any restraint at all. For some reason Amy doesn't seem to buy in to that idea :D

Interestingly she is a whippet x greyhound of some kind, so maybe it is the whippet in her :)
 

PucciNPoni

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think it's a greyhound thing - most of the ones I've ever groomed have been pretty sensitive about their feet. But we had one in at the vets to be operated on and it had a complete come apart getting tape on it's leg....just tape!
 

galaxy

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Harley has always been a nightmare. Totally hated it. Typical GSP with very thick tough black nails too. He's split and cracked them before too to the point of having a toe amputated as nail bed became infected so constant worry and stress.

Then I saw on fb a group called dog nail maintenance (think thats what its called) and read posts about dremelling rather than cutting the nails, the technique and an alternate cut line to encourage the quick to recede. It has been a TOTAL revelation!

Harley now sits happily while i dremel his nails. Within the few months I have been doing them I have got them so much shorter by getting the quick to recede back (the group has guidance on how to tell when you're getting near the quick on black nails). Now they no way near touch the floor and you can only very slightly hear him when he walks over wooden floors.

It was a great investment.
 

CrazyMare

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Lucky hates it, I hate it. I make dinner for a vet friend or pay the vet nurses at the local practice!!!!

She has thick, long black claws, she's ripped dew claws twice and broke a toe!!! No screaming like a greyhound with a broken toe!!!!
 

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That is really interesting Galaxy - I might invest in a dremel, I have heard about them being used and they seem very good but it is great to get a recommendation from someone I know
 

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Lucky hates it, I hate it. I make dinner for a vet friend or pay the vet nurses at the local practice!!!!

She has thick, long black claws, she's ripped dew claws twice and broke a toe!!! No screaming like a greyhound with a broken toe!!!!

Islay broke her toe chasing a hare in Scotland - over 3 fields, a stone wall and through a hawthorn hedge with an electric fence under it - and I have to say, she didn't say a word. It was like a cartoon though, the foot swelled up in front of our eyes and you could almost see it throbbing! She broke another toe being a little horror and playing up with another dog in the woods and again she didn't make a sound..... and when my TB trod on her foot (which makes ME cringe to this day) she let out a little yelp and that was it. She is a tough nut though, I guess that is why she has made it to 13 1/2 with no real issues other than lacking any teeth now!
 

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After cutting my dogs' nails with moderate success over many years I misjudged the length of one of Dylan's nails very badly last November and lost all confidence in my ability to do the job (developing cataracts does not seem to help much either). I have now bought a Dremel and am slowly getting the dogs used to it. If you want to get one make sure it is powerful enough with variable speed unless it is for a very small dog. I got a Dremel multi tool 3000 and am very pleased with it. It is taking me longer than cutting did right now but I am not a nervous wreck any more! I watched a few Youtube videos to find out about the machines available and how to use them correctly. Getting the dogs used to the machine is a bit like getting horses used to the clippers and can be easy with some and very slow with others.
 

Leo Walker

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I use a Dremel as well. My big whippet has numerous bent and busted toes and long black toe nails and clipping them is a nightmare! He will tolerate the Dremel though so long as theres a decent supply of treats to distract him!
 

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my bedlington I have had since he was 8 weeks old and hes brilliant, will happily let me cut his nails, or dremel them, or even sit on my lap when Ive got my own nail file out and have his nails done. My whippet however is a totally different matter, you would think I was killing her, and shes got great white nails, so Ive never ever cut the quick. I got her at 7 months old so someone must have hurt her badly. I used to wrap her completely in a duvet with her legs sticking out and just crack on. that worked, and slowly I have moved on to doing on or two toes a night when she relaxed. And thats ok, but any more than 2 and shes screaming at me.
 

galaxy

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Lévrier;13456533 said:
That is really interesting Galaxy - I might invest in a dremel, I have heard about them being used and they seem very good but it is great to get a recommendation from someone I know

I'll send you a vid over fb next time I'm doing one of the boys

To keep them short I am finding I have to do it every 4/5 days though otherwise get long again!
 

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I worry about the black claws, but a groomer friend told me to put pressure on and if there's no reaction, then it's usually fine. Brig panics, so it's a two man job, but the youngsters are ok, we made sure they were fine with paws, ears, mouth, everything when they were babies. I use the guillotine clippers.
 

paisley

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It must be a pointy nosed dog thing-my whippet only really likes nail clipping if he's lying on the sofa, looking suitably tragic, holding out each limb in horror to the evil witch pretending to be his personal nail technician
 

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It must be a pointy nosed dog thing-my whippet only really likes nail clipping if he's lying on the sofa, looking suitably tragic, holding out each limb in horror to the evil witch pretending to be his personal nail technician

That is a fabulous description :D :D
 

paisley

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Lévrier;13457880 said:
That is a fabulous description :D :D

Could you tell him that please ?! And we don't talk of the days where he needs a light rinse and shampoo, to scrape down the first couple of mud layers, with the frightful warm water and fluffy towels. Because five minutes ago he wasn't bombing through hedges and cow poo and drinking muddy puddle water when he thought I wasn't looking
 

Moobli

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My dogs all hate their claws being clipped too - and all have thick, tough black nails. I do keep considering buying a dremel, but for now get hubby to hold the dogs while I clip the nails. Feels very mean, but it is over quickly that way.
 

ihatework

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Harley has always been a nightmare. Totally hated it. Typical GSP with very thick tough black nails too. He's split and cracked them before too to the point of having a toe amputated as nail bed became infected so constant worry and stress.

Then I saw on fb a group called dog nail maintenance (think thats what its called) and read posts about dremelling rather than cutting the nails, the technique and an alternate cut line to encourage the quick to recede. It has been a TOTAL revelation!

Harley now sits happily while i dremel his nails. Within the few months I have been doing them I have got them so much shorter by getting the quick to recede back (the group has guidance on how to tell when you're getting near the quick on black nails). Now they no way near touch the floor and you can only very slightly hear him when he walks over wooden floors.

It was a great investment.

THANK YOU!!

I rehomed a Manchester Terrier in the summer and haven't been able to clip her claws, you would honestly think I was murdering her.

On the back of your post I bought a doggy nail dremel and have just completed the task with her on my lap in front of TV and not a single squeak or wriggle
 

ihatework

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surely you want them to just touch the floor so they can use them for grip and turning? if you dremel them too short you risk other problems

Who said anything about dremeling them too short?!

Crazy mare I just searched on Amazon, there are a few different brands. I bought very cheap ones called Pedi Paws, how long they last is anyone's guess but I'd happily invest in more expensive ones after
 

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Another vote for a dremel, my first grey had white fine nails so clipping was easy but Ezra has very thick strong black nails, he's not keen but will lay on the sofa while I do it, doesn't need two people. I don't do a lot on one nail at a time in case it gets warm. I think I paid about £25 soon got my money back in saved vet visits.
 

NiceNeverNaughty

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Who said anything about dremeling them too short?!

Crazy mare I just searched on Amazon, there are a few different brands. I bought very cheap ones called Pedi Paws, how long they last is anyone's guess but I'd happily invest in more expensive ones after

Galaxy said her dogs no where near touch the floor. if you look on the fb group that was recommend (& elsewhere) , all the photos I have seen of dremmelled nails look too short to me.
 

PucciNPoni

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surely you want them to just touch the floor so they can use them for grip and turning? if you dremel them too short you risk other problems


I do agility with my dog, hers are dremelled as short as I can without cutting to the quick. They are done every single week, sometimes twice a week to work the quicks back shorter. She has absolutely no problem gripping and turning.
 

NiceNeverNaughty

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I do agility with my dog, hers are dremelled as short as I can without cutting to the quick. They are done every single week, sometimes twice a week to work the quicks back shorter. She has absolutely no problem gripping and turning.

Ive also done agility for 20 odd years and I have 4 BC's but the dremmelling so short is just not something I can see the logic in - yes they can grip & turn with no nails but anatomically they have evolved to have nails to help this process. Just MHO !
 

galaxy

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No their nails don't touch the floor but they can still use them! They aren't excessively short but when they are stood there is clear air between their nails and the floor.

Having had a lot of nail problems with them (cracks and splits which with my eldest lead to a nail bed infection that wouldn't clear up which resulted the end of the toe having to be amputated), since dremeling them and having them clearly off the floor neither have had any nail problems (massive touch wood)

Both mine also compete in agility and believe me have no problems gripping and turning!

There is medical recommendations for having nails off the floor in a stood position as actually they are not designed to have nails in the floor and it leads to posture and toe problems. The ultimate goal for most people (which I haven't achieved and I'm not so worried about taking it that far) is to not hear your dogs nails clicking as they walk across the floor as again it's sending pressure up the dogs toes. My dogs nails click still.
 
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