# How did you learn to trim nails?



## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Basically that - how did you learn to trim nails? Just by trial/error? Did you get a professional (vet or groomer or whomever) to show you? I'm curious.


----------



## kdawnk (Mar 26, 2014)

I watched a couple youtube videos and googled information about dog nails themselves so I could learn how to trim them.
After the videos I was confident enough to give it a try, and I had all the things necessary in case I hit the quick so we gave it a go.


----------



## Chichan (Apr 1, 2014)

I have over 15 years of cat nail trimming experience and my Chihuahua's nails are exactly the same.
I even use the cat clippers.


----------



## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

I used to do them on the dogs at home when I was a teenager. There were a few times a nail was quicked, but generally everything was fine. 

Did a work term in HS with a vet, learned all the ins and outs then.


----------



## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

bought a set of clippers, read the instructions and went for it.


----------



## sammys14 (Apr 21, 2014)

im actually taking a groomers course right now and what me teacher said is for white nails you should see where the vein is so you cut a bit before and for black nails you cut little at a time and at some point you see clearly a white dot with a little dark dot in the middle which means your close to the vein so thats when you should stop


----------



## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

I've always used a grinder rather than clippers, and I just taught myself basically. It's pretty simple.


----------



## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

I just went ahead and did it. I had a basic idea of how it was done, and knew not to cut the quick because my Mom had trimmed my rabbits nails when I was a kid and cut the quick on my male who then ran around the house leaving bloody footprints... my Mom put something on his nail to stop the bleeding and then put him in the cage - where he licked the stuff off and shook his paw splashing blood all over the cage and walls. It was a mess. 
So with the basic idea in mind... I just went for it. I've only cut the quick once and it was because Toby jerked as I was clipping and pushed more of his nail into the clippers than what I had... 1 yelp later and there was blood every where. Before he was neutered he didn't care about his nails being done, after that he'd jerk and fight so you had to be quick but careful as heck, so I started a new system with him and he's gone from gator-rolling wild thing, to uncertain but calm enough for you to get them done in under 10 minutes.


----------



## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

Read some info online, bought a crappy pair of clippers at PetSmart/Petco and gave it a whirl. Jubel was NOT a fan. Took him to PetSmart/Petco groomers to get his nails done, he became more and more unhappy with visits to get his nails done. Did some more reading online, bought a grinder and slowly worked on counter conditioning. Love my grinder and he's fine getting his nails done now.


----------



## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I learned from my mom who trimmed our dog's nails growing up. I held them while she trimmed, so I knew the idea (and what to do if they bled). Then I trimmed bunny nails for a couple years before getting the dog and that helped my confidence.


----------



## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

Worked in a veterinary office for 5 yrs. Learned many skills including nail trims, holding for blood draws/IVs/other things that need holding, cleaning ears, shaving fur, running bloodwork, prepping for surgery, giving sub-q fluids, giving injections, maintaining an IV line, etc... 

This adds to my utter frustration at my inability to cut my own dog's nails.... because he's a big turd, not because I don't know how.


----------



## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Hambonez said:


> Worked in a veterinary office for 5 yrs. Learned many skills including nail trims, holding for blood draws/IVs/other things that need holding, cleaning ears, shaving fur, running bloodwork, prepping for surgery, giving sub-q fluids, giving injections, maintaining an IV line, etc...
> 
> This adds to my utter frustration at my inability to cut my own dog's nails.... because he's a big turd, not because I don't know how.


Does he like peanut butter?
Try leashing him to you on a very short leash and putting some peanut butter in a dish for him to lick that up while you go paw to paw.


----------



## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

BostonBullMama said:


> Does he like peanut butter?
> Try leashing him to you on a very short leash and putting some peanut butter in a dish for him to lick that up while you go paw to paw.


Saying he's a big turd is actually really generous. He attacks and needs to be muzzled and held. I can hold, or I can trim nails, but I can't hold AND trim nails, and no one I know can do the other half so I bring him to the vet, muzzle him, and hold him, and the tech trims.


----------



## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Hambonez said:


> Saying he's a big turd is actually really generous. He attacks and needs to be muzzled and held. I can hold, or I can trim nails, but I can't hold AND trim nails, and no one I know can do the other half so I bring him to the vet, muzzle him, and hold him, and the tech trims.


My dog will bite, roll, and climb up the wall backwards to get away from the clippers - unless peanut butter is involved.


----------



## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

I'm with Hambonez, peanut butter doesn't mean crap to a dog who really doesn't want something to happen.


----------



## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

dagwall said:


> Read some info online, bought a crappy pair of clippers at PetSmart/Petco and gave it a whirl. Jubel was NOT a fan. Took him to PetSmart/Petco groomers to get his nails done, he became more and more unhappy with visits to get his nails done. Did some more reading online, bought a grinder and slowly worked on counter conditioning. Love my grinder and he's fine getting his nails done now.


Exactly this^ except we never went to the groomers, just took 2 of us to do the job.

Been using a cordless dremel for longer than I have had Max, 14 years now. Learned so much from this site, really old but still one of the best. http://www.doberdawn.com/doberdawn/dremel.html


----------



## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

Umm my parents got me a puppy when I was 9 and said "she is your responsibility". I don't remember learning to clip her nails I just remember doing it. I probably learned from one of the dog books I read. I read every single book the library had in the years I was begging my parents to let me have a dog. So by the time I was an adult I had been trimming her nails for years. I use a dremel now and really prefer it, so much easier. Remus isn't a huge fan but he'll let me do it. Duke is the pain about it but he is heavy and walking on concrete grinds his nails right down.


----------



## Petmagasin (Apr 24, 2014)

here is one instruction i wrote for the company product. The quick is usually light pink you will see it through the nail. It is better that if the clippers has the safety guard to prevent over cutting.


----------



## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Petmagasin said:


> here is one instruction i wrote for the company product. The quick is usually light pink you will see it through the nail. It is better that if the clippers has the safety guard to prevent over cutting.
> 
> View attachment 149482


It is still entirely possible for an inexperienced person to overcut despite the clippers having a guard. A guard just helps to keep you from being too shaky with the clippers, but if you're not careful it's quite easy to cut, cut, cut, and then accidently cut too far.
Also, not all nails have a visible quick. In black nails the quick is often times unseen by the trained eye until you've created a bloody mess. In black nails, there's a trick to trimming and an inexperienced person trying to clip black nails with, or without, a guard can very easily make a mistake.


----------



## CandyLeopard (Oct 14, 2013)

I've been trimming my cat's nails every two weeks for the past 8 years.

My dog's nails are pretty much the same. All white, I can clearly see where his quick is. I do use dog nail clippers on him though, since his nails are a little bigger & thicker than my cat's.

To get him used to it, I first started by just handling his paws a lot as a puppy. I would then start touching his paws with the clippers (not actually doing any nail trimming) and giving him treats to show him that it is not scary. When I actually started the trimming I would give him a treat after each nail clipped. If he started to fuss I would give him a break so that he wouldn't get stressed out.

He doesn't like getting his nails done, but overall he's not hard to handle.


----------



## Petmagasin (Apr 24, 2014)

BostonBullMama said:


> It is still entirely possible for an inexperienced person to overcut despite the clippers having a guard. A guard just helps to keep you from being too shaky with the clippers, but if you're not careful it's quite easy to cut, cut, cut, and then accidently cut too far.
> Also, not all nails have a visible quick. In black nails the quick is often times unseen by the trained eye until you've created a bloody mess. In black nails, there's a trick to trimming and an inexperienced person trying to clip black nails with, or without, a guard can very easily make a mistake.


You are totally right, i always tell my customers to measure twice with one cut.


----------



## xena (Oct 3, 2013)

I will be learning soon.... my dog has overgrown nails as I don't have a heart to put him through stress in vets or groomers. .. In vets he panics, in groomers he shuts down... i see if I learn to do it myself he'll be more relaxed (I'm trying holding his paws, touching/pressing his nails, I touch them with a human nail clipper and pretend I do it, he's fine). Actually I think he understands what I want to do and doesn't protest, he's just more happy for me to do it than a stranger.... so I've ordered clippers for hard strong nails and something in case of things going wrong.... we'll see how it goes.... It will take some time to get them short, I'll do it often but just a little bit... His nails are thick and black so no way to know where to clip....


----------



## jersey_gray (Dec 8, 2011)

Worked at a couple vet offices. Loved it.


----------



## littlesoprano (Sep 21, 2013)

I just did what I did with my cats. I did cut Cosmo's quick yesterday, but a quick tissue dab and an I'm sorry, and he was fine. I don't think cutting a dog's nails are too hard if you start really early. The first time he used to yelp when I cut them, but then I had him sit up and give me his paw, and he watched, and once he realized it wasn't going to hurt him, he was totally fine....

Xena just cut a small amount every two weeks or so... The quick will start to recede in time. If you look at the nail, when the center starts to get pink (I can see this on Cosmo's black nails), stop.


----------



## xena (Oct 3, 2013)

on one of videos they said you can use a flashlight to see where the quick is on black nails- there's one thing i can see- still just black nail LOL


----------



## xena (Oct 3, 2013)

seems like it's not a black magic, but black nails just scared me off... even a vet hurt him when trying to clip his nails, he started bleeding, since then vet touching him is a BAD BAD thing... Hopefully all goes well first time waiting for delivery now and in meantime we'll practice without real clippers


----------



## xena (Oct 3, 2013)

I did it!! ☺☺☺ proud lol ☺ if you have timid, anxious, nervous dog- do it yourself. No need for stressing the dog. It's really easy and what a difference in dog behaviour!
After seeing a drama in vets and complete shut down at groomers when they took him away from me, OMG how easily he lets me do it without any fuss. No stress on my dog is happy me☺ and in some time his nails will be nice and short.
I didn't look for a quick really. I cut as much as I felt is safe, slowly couple times for each nail... so I felt safe and Dex felt safe... no need for drama the first time ☺ I wanted really positive association so I started at his favourite park with throwing a ball as reward. He loved new experience this way.


----------



## littlesoprano (Sep 21, 2013)

xena said:


> I did it!! ☺☺☺ proud lol ☺ if you have timid, anxious, nervous dog- do it yourself. No need for stressing the dog. It's really easy and what a difference in dog behaviour!
> After seeing a drama in vets and complete shut down at groomers when they took him away from me, OMG how easily he lets me do it without any fuss. No stress on my dog is happy me☺ and in some time his nails will be nice and short.
> I didn't look for a quick really. I cut as much as I felt is safe, slowly couple times for each nail... so I felt safe and Dex felt safe... no need for drama the first time ☺ I wanted really positive association so I started at his favourite park with throwing a ball as reward. He loved new experience this way.


It's definitely a lot easier doing it on your own dog. Mine used to get nervous, but having someone your dog knows doing the uncomfortable stuff totally helps. I like the park idea, I'm sure Cosmo would love to get his nails trimmed there


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Google... and trial and error, as mine is a lunatic when she gets her nails done and I had to get creative with restraint.


----------



## Foresthund (Jul 17, 2013)

Just kind of bought some clippers and went into it. With his black nails(the flashlight trick doesn't seem to work) it's a lot of guess work and if I get a quick it's not the end of the world. If your worried about black nails you can just clip the thinner pointed part of the nail,it's better than nothing. For me I would rather accidentally nick the quick than deal with split nails in the winter.

I use toe nail clippers on cats,the only thing is is that you need to be more careful that the clipper does not cut the pad. Thus I'd give breaks and wait through their stuggling.
Raggy dislikes nail cutting as well,if I plan on doing more than a couple nails I use the muzzle. A leash,muzzle,quick stopper,Kleenexes and nail clippers is all I use,and I get down on the floor with him. it is good to give him a break in between or he will get too agitated. He always had trouble with being handled,and although he improved I don't think he will ever be very tolerant of this kind of stuff.


----------



## melaka (Mar 31, 2010)

My dog is good when the groomer clips or grinds her nails, as long as the person isn't nervous/hesitant about it. She won't let me touch them though. I've been handling her feet and having her nails clipped since she was a puppy, but as soon as she sees clippers or the grinder in my hand, she can't get away fast enough.

I think with some patience and some help calming/restraining her I might be able to grind her nails at least. I tried watching kikopup and other videos, but it just never seemed to click for me and my dog. Also, she has black nails too. Thick ones.


----------



## xena (Oct 3, 2013)

My "pup" does actually great. Last time I didnt do side nails well so I got the clipper to fix it and asked him to come to the spot and give me his paw and he did like it was the usual thing we would do. Surprised me really. Brilliant outcome. And now I'm thinking why did I put him through all that stress with strangers before. He's still quite unsure just walking next to groomers ☺


----------



## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

It's been so long now that I can't remember how I learned. It's pretty simple, though; just look for the quick and don't cut it. With black nails, I estimate based on the length of the white ones. If I cut the quick, it's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world. I use a bit of flour to stop the bleeding right away (it's a good substitute for styptic powder).

All of my animals are fine with it. I hold them firmly (but not so firmly that I hurt them) and do the nails quickly and calmly, without hesitation. My cats will complain and Casper will struggle at first, but nobody bites or anything.

I remember once Crystal and I were staying with a friend, and the friend had an energetic young cat. He liked to play with Crystal, so one day while my friend was at work and I was at her place with Crystal and the cat, I clipped the cat's claws so he wouldn't accidentally scratch Crystal's eyes or whatever. When my friend got home, I said, "I clipped the cat's claws; I hope that's okay!" She was amazed, because whenever she'd try to do it, she'd have to wrap the cat in a towel and fight with him (and often get another person to help). All I did was put him on his back in my lap and quickly clip all the claws! It was probably a combination of my confidence and my being a stranger -- some pets behave much differently for strangers than they do for their owners. Some pets will be great at the vets/groomer's and not at home, and some will be great at home and not for the vet/groomer.


----------



## PurplePointer (Jul 4, 2014)

I am glad you did it! Great job! Clipping black nails the first time I was terrified. I just cut a little off every week. The first time I cut his quick was about 5 months in. Since then he has been scared of the clippers, but peanut butter has solved that for us. I still think the back legs are hard, he likes to pull them.


----------



## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2014)

I was probably 10 y.o or something like that, I think I just asked what to do and then I tried to stay away from the quick since that was the instructions. Learned to do it on black nails, current dog only has white ones so that part is really simple! Getting him to cooperate took me almost a year, but that's another story.


----------



## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

never thought about it until reading the thread,, but my childhood outside dog never got his nail trimmed ??? (just interesting to remember that) Gained an understanding for trimming from groomers at my job even though we didn't do any of the dogs nails our self I asked questions and watch them. Then it was trial and error when it was my job to keep a dogs nails trimmed and then my own dogs.


----------



## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

When I was about 18 I worked at Petsmart as a bather very briefly where they sort of taught me to do it but I stopped grooming after only about a month because it made me too nervous and most dogs were terribly behaved to boot. 
With my dog having black nails I opted for a grinder which makes it pretty difficult to screw up but it takes too long if the nails are even a little on the long side. I conditioned my dog to lie on his side or back when I so his nails and though he hates it's he's very tolerant. But he's got a bit of crepitus in his back paws which I guess makes the vibration very uncomfortable for him and being that it takes a while to do, I attempted to clip them for the the first time this week which he was much more content with. They are black and I'm really adiment about not wanting to quick him so everyday I'm just taking one little slice off alternating between his front and back paws. Takes about 3-4 mins tops.


----------



## xena (Oct 3, 2013)

Ok i was too excited too quick lol ☺ today didn't go so well, I had to be fast and didn't do it perfect &#55357;&#56848;
Now I have a trouble with one certain nail- 2nd from inside- it's sooo thick..... it's far from quick but it clearly hurts him as it's much thicker than others and the pressure must me bigger... and he moved so basically it went quite straight today, he was nervous I couldn't find right angle...
How do you manage to cut them right..... its soooo thick....i have guillotine clipper maybe I should be using other one? 
It's just my second time, a lot to learn for both of us.


----------



## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

trial and error. hard when the dog fights it (had one really old pooch that would go ballistic - she had some dementia going as well and just was freaky every time I tried, we got her done at the vets whenever we could but still they were pretty long)...


----------



## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

xena said:


> Ok i was too excited too quick lol ☺ today didn't go so well, I had to be fast and didn't do it perfect &#55357;&#56848;
> Now I have a trouble with one certain nail- 2nd from inside- it's sooo thick..... it's far from quick but it clearly hurts him as it's much thicker than others and the pressure must me bigger... and he moved so basically it went quite straight today, he was nervous I couldn't find right angle...
> How do you manage to cut them right..... its soooo thick....i have guillotine clipper maybe I should be using other one?
> It's just my second time, a lot to learn for both of us.


It looks fine to me.. as long as you aren't hearing 'click, click, click' on the floor when he walks, his nails are short enough. (Unless the quick isn't receded enough, in which case I personally cut a tiny bit, once a week, to push it back)


----------

