Do you cut your dog's nail yourself?

Ronni

Ronni

The motormouth ;)
Location
Nashville TN
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I have two tiny chihuahuas....3 pounds each. They have tiny little paws, but very hard nails, especially Jazz, the tri color one, who has a variegated nail color including black, and several completely black, and they're even harder.

I used to take them to PetsMart once a month to get the nails clipped because they'd howl like they were being stabbed every time I did it and though I'm not a wuss, I just couldn't deal. :( I did all the rest of their grooming though...ears, bath, teeth brushing etc.

Tango, the white one, developed a joint tissue issue...the connective tissue in his joints is breaking down and so his limbs have become very fragile, resulting in me needing to take over his nails myself because I'm concerned someone may do him damage. I bought a special small grinder (like a dremel) and now I grind their nails. Neither like it, but I can get Jazz's nails done in about 5 minutes.

Tango's on the other hand take me forever. He constantly pulls his little feet away, whines, flinches, wriggles, won't stay still, and because of his joint issue I have to be very careful. I usually devote a morning to the process...doing a couple nails at a time, putting him down for a rest for the both of us while I do other stuff, doing a couple more etc. It's draining and I hate it. But at least I know he's getting gentle care.

What about you? How do you care for your dogs' nails?
 

I used to take them to the groomer, but since I walk them every day now, their nails wear down naturally and I don't have to. My Toby, who has passed on, had black, hard nails, and I had to get his cut. The groomer only charged $5, and so it was totally worth it.
 
Mine wears his down on daily walks too, but I have a Paw Perfect rotating file nail trimmer. .. It works great when needed.
 

I clip the nails on our 5 pound Chihuahua myself with the help of my wife holding her. She hates it and quivers and shakes throughout the whole process but has learned that I will not hurt her, so I can get it done. She also has variegated and wholly black nails, so I'm just really careful not to clip off too much.

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I think she looks really good for being 9 1/2 years old!
 
I used to always groom and trim our dogs claws myself. One year I took too much off my shepherd and it bled for a while and I couldn’t cut any of their nails after that. Daily walks don’t help much since most of the ground they walk on is sandy soil not pavement so now I take them in to get them cut.

Really cute dog pictures. ❤️
 
Always used to cut our labs nail myself. Unfortunately cut the quick a couple of times, and then they would try to pull their paws away, but they still let me do it. There was a powder that the vet gave me for stopping the bleeding.

My daughter lets them do it at the groomers or vets office for her corgi.
 
My wife trims Sparky's nails with one of those grinders. He's a 27 lb Tibetan terrier and he's good about it. He has a lot of fur on his feet, so she has cut squares of cloth with a tiny hole in the center just big enough for his nail. That way she doesn't have to worry about snagging his fur.

Don
 
We clip all the babies nails. We also bought a grooming table so we can cut their hair too. 🙂
Sometimes, while clipping, you misjudge and there is a little bleeding. For that we use Styptic powder. Works wonders and stops the bleeding almost immediately. (y)

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Yep, styptic powder .. good stuff. That's what the vet gave me.
There are styptic pencils for men to use as well, but I would think more men use electric shavers these days.
 
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I trimmed both of my last 2 dogs' nails and my sister's dog's nail, also. Interesting how two of them didn't like it but let me do it & my last dog - a Yellow Lab - actually liked it. He would actually offer each paw to me.
 


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