If you have dogs I have a question

mrsmikey · June 2011

Our new puppy has black nails. We've never had a dog with black nails before. They need to be clipped, but we can't see where the quick is. DH tried the other day and with the first nail cut too far and made her bleed. So we haven't tried again. How can you tell?

They were so short when we got her, so I know they were being clipped before. Now they're long enough to click clack on the floors and it drives me nuts! Our other dog has white/clear nails, and so did our previous dog, so it was easy to see the quick.

FYI - if you do cut too much and make them bleed, a little flour is all it takes to make it stop. we learned this AFTER she bled all over our back porch and sidewalk

MandiNewMommy · June 2011

I have had big problems with my dog and his nails. He does have one blk nail. I have got to the point I just take him to get them done. So really no help!!! lol

ohsaysaysay · June 2011

We have a guard on our clippers that don't let you clip too much. sometimes if you look under the nail, you can see the quick much easier.

stylerenee · June 2011

i have my groomer do them, i think petco does them as a walk in service

spidermonkeymomma · June 2011

Mine has black nails... but I can't cut his nails-- he won't let us. He gets it done at Petsmart .... honestly, for us- it's worth the $ to pay someone else to do it and it lasts longer. Last time we got his quick, he didn't stop bleeding for over 24 hours since he was so upset/ freaked out... I had to give him benedryl to sleep and he still bled until the next day.

Basically, what I've done in the past is a little at a time if you can't tell... and the longer the nail grows, the longer the quick grows so it's easy to nick.

lmjt · June 2011

My very well behaved dog becomes a maniac when she sees nail clippers, so we take her to the vet. She was a city dog for a long time, so walking on pavement constantly kept her nails down for us. Now that we have grass and a yard, she needs them cut, but we just can't do it.

ohsaysaysay · June 2011

Also, walking them frequently on sidewalk and pavement can help prevent them from growing too long, just make sure they are short to start with, otherwise it's uncomfortable for puppy!

LadyBugLove7 · June 2011

I actually asked our vet about this because our dog has both white and black nails. She said on the black ones just take a little at a time. It's a guessing game. DH won't trim her nails because he's so scared of hurting her.

veronicafvr · June 2011

Every time you clip them the quick will recede. Best bet is to take them somewhere or just clip a little bit off once a week until they get to the short length and stay on top of keeping them that way. By taking a little off each week you won't clip the quick and it will keep moving toward the paw and far out of your way.

solsburyhill · June 2011

I have the vet clip her nails.

CheesyPeas · June 2011

I trim our dobie's nails, and they're black. It's a pain in the butt, and DH did make him bleed once, hence the reason I now trim them. The best advice I have is to trim in very small slices. Once you trim the end off, you can start to see how close you're getting to the quick. Trim a few small slices off and stop, particularly if you or the dog starts to get nervous about how close you're getting. If you wait a week, the quick will start to recede and you can trim a little more off. Once you get them to the ideal length, you can do small trimmings every other week without much concern for hitting the quick. It's the initial process of getting them to an ideal length from the "tippy tap on the floor" stage that takes time and several sittings. Hope that helps!

lyse2143 · June 2011

If you look on the underside you might be able to see the quick. If not, just have you or your DH just clip the tiniest bit from the end of the nail, every couple of weeks. It will keep the quick nice and short, as well as her nails. Then she gets used to getting them cut, and you don't have to worry about them bleeding.

linzica · June 2011

ohsaysaysay:
We have a guard on our clippers that don't let you clip too much. sometimes if you look under the nail, you can see the quick much easier.

This, although to be honest I end up clipping too far on my clear nailed dog so i just let the groomer do it. When I absolutely have to, i keep a septic stick nearby.

windsongs · June 2011

I think we may need to see some puppy pictures!!

MsCrispy · June 2011

I never figured it out. We tried and made him bleed a few times until he wouldn't let us try anymore. We now take him to Petsmart to get them done, for us, it's totally worth it.

If I were to try again, I would suggest to take it very slow. Just clip the smallest bit each time so that you don't make her bleed. Good luck, hopefully you are more successful than we were!

KBaker421 · June 2011

We just take our dog to the groomer and let the professionals figure it out.

elynds · June 2011

My pups have tiny black nails and get groomed every 3 months, so I have them do it for me. Otherwise they walk on pavement a lot, which files them down.

Laceface7 · June 2011

Our dog has both black and white nails. We have sidewalks in our neighborhood so DH will just take him out to the front yard and throw a tennis ball down the sidewalk and play fetch with him. This naturally keeps his nails from getting too long. We have never clipped his nails in the year we have had him.

boxtonmom1014 · June 2011

My dogs each have a couple of black nails. Something I read but don't know if it works because I haven't tried it.

Shine a flashlight through the nail. Supposedly, you should be able to see the quick. Mark it with a piece of chalk and you'll know where to cut.

Again, I don't know if this actually works, but it might be worth a try! My dogs won't sit long enough for me to try it.

little nudger · June 2011

We have a charcoal lab puppy, who is 11 months old. Right from the start she hasn't like her paws touched. We tried starting at 8 weeks. Now at 60 lbs her strength is way too crazy!! We take her to petsmart and get them "grinded" (so not proper english, but ground seemed weird too). It's like $13 and they do a GREAT job!!

sassy1 · June 2011

My dog has black nails & I'm so scared of clipping them, I have it done at PetSmart (& if I take her there for a bath, they do the nails automatically, for free).

tblauvelt · June 2011

I file my dogs's nails. Both have black and clear nails. I have an electronic nail filer (you can buy one a petsmart) and I just go real slow on the black nails. When my dog pulls away that's when I know I'm getting too close to the quick.

zdinakwardwedding · June 2011

Both of our dogs have dark nails. I can sometimes see where the quick is underneath otherwise I just take them to pet smart. Or just take the very tip of them off and usually you can see a little better.

Diana029 · June 2011

We just did the same thing the other day!! We have a black lab and FI tried to cut the first nail and started too deep she yelped right away! It is very hard to see, you can kinda see from underneith where the quick is but still we just did the very tips this time and maybe will get braver and braver as we go. Up until the other day we just brought her in, but we'd much rather save time and money by trying to figure it out ourselves.