Oh no! A Peckinpaw!

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So, last time I cut Sugar's nails I gave her a Peckinpaw. It wasn't a bad one. Didn't have to used Kwik-stop or anything, but she was a little unhappy about it. Tonight it was nail-trimming time, and she was a big baby about it. She was trembling while I clipped this time. So we're on the one nail a day and lots of cookies routine for awhile. Only about half her nails are white, so it's hard to tell what you're doing...

The cat is easier - all his are clear. He hates it anyway - finds it insulting. But my furniture is happy.

Anybody else have a clipper-coward?

[alligande]

My late GSDx mix hated her feet touched, and really hated the nail clipper. To make it worse all but one claw was black. Once she was very old and no longer wore her claws down I started using a dremel, she still hated it but she would flinch when I got close to the vein. Once I started using the dremel there was no more blood which made us both happy.

[ejano]

I invested in a very good pair of nail clippers (and you do have to keep replacing them as they dull). With past dogs, I've also discovered that the harder you hold onto the paw, the more they fight, because they don't like the pressure on the paws so I try to just cradle their paws very gently.

 

All of Ladybug's claws are black so I follow my vet's advice and just clip off the tip...the pointy part at the very end of the nail. I also clip frequently - about every two weeks. The pups each only have one black nail and I honestly think those nails are more sensitive because no one has ever clipped their nails but me so I know they haven't been harmed and they do wince if I take more than the tiniest bit off at a time from the black nail.

 

You can also study the other dogs nails to see how long the root is on them and it will be comparably long on the black nails. Brodie has a very long nail root. I can get his nails just short enough so that he doesn't tick on the floor, but just barely.

 

I fool with my dogs nails constantly...at least once a day I pick up their feet and look at their nails, spreading the toe pads, touch the end of the nail, all the things you'd do if you were going to clip a nail.. They readily give me their front paws for clipping. I sit in a chair, back them up to me and have them sit up on their haunches and hand me their paws -- with each nail clipped, they get a good belly rub. I also give a bit of cat food. when I finish each foot. They don't get this at any other time, so its a really special treat.

 

As for the back paws, I let them sit on the floor, leaving their foot on the floor and just clip around them. I learned that with my dear Scotty who was absolutely terrified of having his nails clipped...He had one nail on his front paw that was especially long and sensitive and for the longest time, I'd say "Paw" and he'd grrr and look away, but he'd hand me his paw. I'd just pet and treat him and finally it was okay to clip that nail. he'd hold his back feet down down like a horse does a hoof when it doesn't want to be picked up, or he'd just plain lie down, so instead of fighting two battles, I just clipped around his foot with him holding it down. He didn't know what to do because his natural reaction was to lie down, and that clearly wasn't working and it was counterintuitive for him to get up. This maneuver is easier if you can get them up on the table, but it works with them on the floor as well. Just don't sit with them on the floor...stay above them.

 

I do the same thing with the cat -- she sits on my desk eating treats while I work my way around her feet. I've been working with her since she's a tiny kitten and I've figured out it isnt' the nail clipping that bothers her so much, its the pressure to spread her toes and push out the nail. So I play with her feet every day too.

 

Liz

[urge to herd]

I LOVE the Dremel. Nobody at my house liked the clippers, no matter how carefully or quickly I used them, no matter the amount of fooling with their feet, no matter the quality of the treas. They could smell those darn clippers when I'd get them out of the drawer.

 

It only took me a couple days of de-sensitization to get them used to the Dremel. They're not wildly enthusiastic, but they don't pull their paws away, either. Sam will even snuffle around for treat crumbs while I'm dremeling her nails. Shonie lays on her side for me.

 

The long hair on their little hobbit feet doesn't seem to get caught in the Dremel - it's a non issue.

 

Ruth

[Shetlander]

I LOVE the Dremel.

 

Me, too. I've been using one for a bit over a year and I regret not buying it when I first heard of them. I really thought the noise was going to be more of an issue and I read this article that had 54 steps to desensitizing your dog and I'm terrible at that sort of thing. No patience. When I finally got the Dremel, it too me less than a week to start using it and that was probably going twice as slow as I needed to. Now I Dremel their nails once a week and we are all much happier without the blood and drama of using a nail clipper.

[Eileen Stein]

Never heard quicking a dog called a Peckinpaw before. Great term for it.

 

Also, Liz, thanks for putting up that very helpful post.

[luv2napp]

Lacee's nails are black, white, black, white, etc. Matches her spots! I have never been able to do her nails because she puts up such a fight, I just can't handle her. It's been like that since I adopted her. So I just take her to the vet, where they can do it with ease. As for my cat, I can't believe you all have cats that just sit there and let you clip their nails. My cat vet has to wear gloves and put a face mask on Annie because she bites and scratches. She is EVIL kittie!! You would think we were killing her. Then after it's all done, she's back to being her loving self. Uggg!!

[ejano]

Lacee's nails are black, white, black, white, etc. Matches her spots! I have never been able to do her nails because she puts up such a fight, I just can't handle her. It's been like that since I adopted her. So I just take her to the vet, where they can do it with ease. As for my cat, I can't believe you all have cats that just sit there and let you clip their nails. My cat vet has to wear gloves and put a face mask on Annie because she bites and scratches. She is EVIL kittie!! You would think we were killing her. Then after it's all done, she's back to being her loving self. Uggg!!

 

 

It helps if you bottle fed them as a kitten . Tiger Lily and her brother (who is with my niece) were abandoned by their mother. You can do just about anything with her. My son rolls her upside down and stretches her between his hands and lifts her up above his head like a strong man in a circus. She just lays there with her head tilted, looking at an upside down world. Tiger Silly, that's what I call her but she's a world class mouser!

 

I've also handled Robin and Brodie since they were about two days old as well and the first thing I checked was the color of their nails...it wasn't a deal breaker, but I was relieved to see that their nails were almost all white...just one black one apiece.

 

I can sympathize with your cat problems... Our dear departed Henrietta needed to be wrapped up in a towel and there was no way I was going through that again.

 

Liz

[juliepoudrier]

I've had some cats who were less thrilled than others about having their nails done, but I start when they're small and they learn to tolerate it. And to me it's better than the alternative that so many resort to.

 

J.

[geonni banner]

I invested in a very good pair of nail clippers (and you do have to keep replacing them as they dull). With past dogs, I've also discovered that the harder you hold onto the paw, the more they fight, because they don't like the pressure on the paws so I try to just cradle their paws very gently.

 

All of Ladybug's claws are black so I follow my vet's advice and just clip off the tip...the pointy part at the very end of the nail. I also clip frequently - about every two weeks. The pups each only have one black nail and I honestly think those nails are more sensitive because no one has ever clipped their nails but me so I know they haven't been harmed and they do wince if I take more than the tiniest bit off at a time from the black nail.

 

You can also study the other dogs nails to see how long the root is on them and it will be comparably long on the black nails. Brodie has a very long nail root. I can get his nails just short enough so that he doesn't tick on the floor, but just barely.

 

I fool with my dogs nails constantly...at least once a day I pick up their feet and look at their nails, spreading the toe pads, touch the end of the nail, all the things you'd do if you were going to clip a nail.. They readily give me their front paws for clipping. I sit in a chair, back them up to me and have them sit up on their haunches and hand me their paws -- with each nail clipped, they get a good belly rub. I also give a bit of cat food. when I finish each foot. They don't get this at any other time, so its a really special treat.

 

As for the back paws, I let them sit on the floor, leaving their foot on the floor and just clip around them. I learned that with my dear Scotty who was absolutely terrified of having his nails clipped...He had one nail on his front paw that was especially long and sensitive and for the longest time, I'd say "Paw" and he'd grrr and look away, but he'd hand me his paw. I'd just pet and treat him and finally it was okay to clip that nail. he'd hold his back feet down down like a horse does a hoof when it doesn't want to be picked up, or he'd just plain lie down, so instead of fighting two battles, I just clipped around his foot with him holding it down. He didn't know what to do because his natural reaction was to lie down, and that clearly wasn't working and it was counterintuitive for him to get up. This maneuver is easier if you can get them up on the table, but it works with them on the floor as well. Just don't sit with them on the floor...stay above them.

 

I do the same thing with the cat -- she sits on my desk eating treats while I work my way around her feet. I've been working with her since she's a tiny kitten and I've figured out it isnt' the nail clipping that bothers her so much, its the pressure to spread her toes and push out the nail. So I play with her feet every day too.

 

Liz

 

It's really true. Especially with cats. The less restraint you use, the less freaked they are. I've found that my cat always tries to get away when I first put him up on the table and squeeze out a claw to cut. but if I let him stand up and just gently block him from jumping away, he settles pretty quickly. And... I will probably get a little flack for being sexist about this, but boy cats are just easier to handle in every way to me. I'm really partial to boy cats and girl dogs. I like boy dogs pretty well, but I've never had a female cat that I could really relate to.

 

I would like to know - do those of you that have working stock dogs - that is, dogs that work every day, do they wear their nails down by themselves? I've always wondered about wolves for instance. Nobody trims their claws and they don't look like Dracula.

[luv2napp]

I never had to worry about Annie's (the cat) nails before, she would go out and scratch on a tree to keep them trim. Now that she is an old lady, she doesn't go out as much, so she gets what we call velcro feet. That's when we had to start taking her to the vet.

[aphillippi]

I used to work in a groom shop and I was constantly triming dogs nails. I guess you just get used to it. Black nails always seem to get a black spot in the middle when you've cut them to just the right place. My cat is usually pretty good but I don't trim them very often because she only has her back ones.

[shanty]

I don't know if this is helpful, but Truman has all black nails and I cut his nails with him laying on his back so I can see the quick from underneath. A friend used a Dremel I think - if that's the rotating, filing-type - and he didn't like the sensation or the noise, but he will put up with it from her.

 

She also recommended the sissor style clippers rather than the squeeze style if that makes sense. And she said to cut them straight up and down, not fllush to the floor as I had heard. She said if I cut more frequently, and close to the quick, the quick will recede.