Saturday, July 31, 2010

How do i clip my dogs nails?

I have a chihuahua. I have only had her nails clipped once at the vet.. It has been a while and i think she needs it again.. any time you go near her with the clippers she goes into attack mode.. help please :)How do i clip my dogs nails?
There are some potential problems that may occur at vets and groomers. First if you are taking your pet to one of these then you probably aren't doing this on a weekly basis. The lack of routine could keep you dog from adjusting and making her anxious. This often can lead to the next problem, services performing the task of clipping not willing to risk being bit often restrain and force a dog to comply, further increasing anxiety for nail clipping. Often they aren't as careful to avoid cutting the quick (nerves and blood vessels) and simply stop the bleeding with Styptic powder. If her quick was cut then you could understand why she is terrified and defensive. You need to re-associate her with the process as a pleasant one and then regularly do the task once a week. If you think you're up to the responsibility of doing it yourself read below, if you are having someone else do it, insist you watch or help comfort her, reward and praise for when she shows signs of calming, talk softly only when she's being good, you are not comforting her so much as saying you approve of her fuss if you speak softly or higher pitched when she's screaming. Say ';No!'; if she tries to bite, since that is never OK.


Start, petting and playing with her feet get her used to them being handled. Then putting treats near the clippers, get her to not be afraid of them on the ground, then click them and give her a treat and praise, till she's not afraid of that, may take a few days for this. Then comfort her in your lap and clip just a little one nail at a time, treating and praising each time. On a chihuahua, only clip a bit, if her nails are light then you should see the quick inside maybe hold up to a lamp or flashlight, if they are dark only clip 1mm or a 16th of an inch each week. Once the entire clipping is done reward heavily maybe mealtime or something but make a big deal about it to get her to learn that 1. no harm was caused, and 2. that if she does this she will get rewarded and praised.


The quick will retract as the nails are kept shorter and grow if the nail gets longer. I actually use a dremmel to grind my dogs, but he's a lot bigger with black nails so for him its a very gradual process. Oh, I wouldn't use Quik Finder or similar products as an easy way to do a delicate job, I've read countless reviews about them being inaccurate.How do i clip my dogs nails?
If you dont want to take her to the vet, then get a muzzle type thing but it has a cover that goes over her eyes, so that she cant see you. If she cant see you then she doesnt really know what is going on. Then just cut right at the curl, or where the nail starts to curl. If she has the white nails then you can see the quik, and you can cut just after the red (quik) and if by chance that you do cut the quik just stick flour in her nail and it will stop the bleeding. Hope I helped you.
They sell Dog toe nail clippers in every pet store, you just have them lay down and give them a bone or something, then clip them right off the tip, not to far in or you get to the hard part, and it will hurt the dog
I would advise taking her to the vet. Walmart has the clippers but a muzzle is also needed, probably can get at a pet store, but for the hassle I'd just take her to the vet. My vet charges $6.
yea, i'd stick with the vets on this one. my vet charges $10 for a nail trim and I barley ever go there because they wear down on their own with all the walking we do....





if you do it wrong you could really hurt her.
go to a pet shop or consult a vet.
don't clip..... file, here just go to this website peticure.com

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