# Nail clipping



## Amberjam (Jan 11, 2008)

i've had a few dogs over the years and am able to clip their nails. however the dog i have now has black nails and i cant see the vein in it. i did clip his nails (just the very tip) but i was wondering since i know that i am not clipping far enough, how often should i do it?


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## blackrose (Oct 7, 2006)

Basically, trimming black nails is trail and error. Two of my three dogs have black nails and not only are they black, they are very thick. 

Trim a little bit of the nail off and look at the new tip of the nail. If it looks like, well, a nail, keep trimming. Keep going until you see a black dot in the middle of the nail. That dot is the beginning of the dog's quick.
You can use that nail's length as a "guesstimator" to decide how short to trim the other nails.

If you do happen to nick it too short, don't worry, just get some syptic powder, patch the dog up, and don't go that far again. 

I trim my puppy's white nails every time she gets a bath (about every month), and since they've grown a great deal by that time, trimming a black nailed dog every month would be a safe way to do it.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I bought a "no name" rotary tool, like a Dremel but cheaper, at the local tool shop. I use that to grind my little dogs' nails. It is really tough with clippers to judge the right place to cut. But with the rotary tool you grind the nail down until you see the nail bed and then stop before getting to the quick that bleeds. There is also a nerve that extends about 1-2 mm beyond the quick and with the rotary tool the dogs will let me know when I have gotten to the nerve ending, another way to know that the quick is near. Here's a good site for learning how to dremel nailis:

www.DoberDawn.com


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## Oxyrep (Jan 22, 2008)

briteday said:


> I bought a "no name" rotary tool, like a Dremel but cheaper, at the local tool shop. I use that to grind my little dogs' nails. It is really tough with clipers to judge the right place to cut. But with the rotary tool you grind the nail down until you see the naiil bed and then stop before getting to the quick that bleeds. There is also a nerve that extends about 1-2 mm beyond the quick and with the rotary too the dogs will let me know when I have gotten to the nerve ending, another way to know that the quick is near. Here's a good site for learning how to dremel nailis:


WOW a Dremel! Who would have thought! I checked out your web site! I may have to try that out.


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## justagirl21 (Jan 19, 2008)

I see alot of black nails as a groomer so a good trick is to clip just the tip off. Have a look where you've cut and if you see a horseshoe type of shape, keep clipping till you see a white dot in the centre (Blackrose says a black dot but I've never come across a black nail with a black dot??) DO NOT clip past that dot. If you do cut into the quick you can use Syptic powder, or a cheaper option.. go to your local chemist (drug store) and pick up a bottle of Potassium Permaganate. Its alot cheaper than the stuff you get from the pet store and its a purple crystal. The crystals 'melt' when liquid is added so when the crystals touch your dogs blood it turns thick that blocks the vein. I use it and its completely safe and is common in alot of dog grooming salons too. Also i will add onto Blackrose's comment, once you hit the quick, don't go past there again. If your dogs got particuarly long nails that don't get trimmed often the quick can actually grow further into the nail meaning you've actually taken all you can off the nail but the nail still appears 'long'. With regular trimming the quick will recess further back into the nail meaning if you trim the nails once every two to three weeks, where you trimmed the nail 4 months ago may be too low and you can go a bit further up without hitting the quick.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

Mine have black nails, so I quit clipping, and went to the dremel. Faster, easier, and can tell when to stop. The great thing about demelling is that you can do it every 3 days, so, if your dog's nails have gotten longer than you'd like, you can dremel every 3 days, the quick will move back, and keep it up until the nails are where they should be.


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