Reminder to the humans out there; PLEASE remember to trim your dogs nails. “he doesn’t like it” and “he’s aggressive about it” are bad excuses, if you can’t do it yourself take the dog to a groomer. It is bad for the dogs feet to have overgrown nails.
I literally have no idea how to get my dog to let ANYONE trim his nails. We had it done once when he was a puppy and he didn’t like it and ever since he has done everything he can to avoid getting it done. He starts frothing at the mouth, and even with a muzzle and four people holding him down they still couldn’t do it. He’s a corgi too so he’s not a big dog. If you have any suggestions I would be BEYOND grateful.
Ofcourse rowan-ravenwood . It does very little to just restrain the dog, it’s both stressful for you and the dog, thought sometimes it can and may be necessary. But the key is conditioningg (getting the dog used to the nails being trimmed, one step at a time) I recommend reading this post (Answer) i made, please message me if you’re having trouble with something.
jessi from animal wonders made a great video on training your dog to accept nail trimmings: http://youtu.be/wfLaSgQnjDs
She’s great at explanations and generally has a very calming energy.
okay, ftr, just saying ‘it’s bad for your dogs paws’ is not very helpful at all? /how/ is it bad for their paws? my googling shows that if it’s TOO long they can get hangnails and such - but they naturally wear down on their on by walking/running, so that is a very unusual case. if there are any other dangers it’s really better to /mention/ them instead of just saying ‘it’s bad’…
Long nails are harmful due to the way they alter your dogs weight distribution. put your hand on a surface flat, and it feels pretty normal. But if you hook your fingers so you’re touching the surface with your palms and fingernails, it gets uncomfortable. If the nails are long enough that they’re touching the ground when the dog is standing, the weight of the dog is on those nails now. Left long term, this can cause chronic issues with gait and joint pain due to the compensating the dog has to do in order to move. If your dog goes absolutely berserk with nail trimmers/dremels, even at vets, you need to follow the above links and work on conditioning, talk to your vet about a sedative you can give before trims, or in extreme cases the dog can be sedated for a short ‘show cut.’
thank you, that’s actually really useful information and i’m gonna check to see if my dogs’ nails reach the ground now!
It’s also important that if you are not experience in clipping dog nails, take them somewhere to have it done or have someone who has experience do it/show you how to do it. It’s very easy to cut the quick, especially in dark nails where it’s harder to see. If you do cut it, it can bleed a LOT. Enough to often warrant vet attention if it’s not handled quickly. It’ll also be very painful for the dog, as a nerve runs along that spot (giving them a good reason to not want their nails touched after that)
If your dogs nails are very long, the quick will be longer as well. Often you have to get them cut a little at a time, to give the quick time to recede back safely. Do not cut the nail down all in one big go. Dog nails =/= cat nails. Cat nails do have a quick but it’s not the same as a dogs. Far less bleeding and easier to stop (still can be painful for the cat if you hit the quick however) I am fine trimming my cats nails but a groomer does the dogs
hm. idk if we got groomers like that here. i can look into it but from my searching, i think i can be ok if i’ve got the powder to stop the bleeding, and i think i’ll try a dremel ?? i’d only be trimming so that they’re above the pawpad, not super-short…
So long as they’re above the pawpad. You need to take into consideration as well that they put all of their body weight onto their feet. All of that pressure is just going to push back on the nails when they walk or stand, which can be very uncomfortable for some dogs.
EDIT: OH NVM~ Someone mentioned weight~
