Cutting nails

[kshort49]

Hi everyone-Well Maia let me cut 2 of her nails, which was a miracle. When I went to cut the 3rd, she moved and it got cut too close, and started bleeding all over the place(guess I shouldn't have pressed my luck) . Anyway, she wouldn't let me get near her to put that powder on it to stop it from bleeding. I put her in her crate, while I cleaned the blood footprints all over-even on my rug. After a while it seemed to stop, and she wanted to go out. So I let her out to pee before bed, and it started all over again and she won't let me get near it. I put her back in her crate and cleaned up all over again. Will it stop bleeding on its own? She's licking it, so I hope that doesn't make it worse. Do you think it will be ok overnight-it seems to stop if she isn't standing up on it. This probably sounds really stupid, me worrying about this, because all of you being groomers and breeders have probably done this many times. I just hope this won't make her be scared of me clipping her nails again-this was the first time in a long time she let me get the clipper on her nail. Oh well, as long as it stops bleeding, I'll start at square one again. Sorry this got so long. Thanks for your help! Kathy

[BratBoxers]

It will stop on its own.

[Faith]

this is exactly why i have petco/petsmart groomers do it for me every month.

one thing - there is something you can buy that will help stop the bleeding. i can't think of the name - it's almost like a second skin / crazy glue thing but it's specifically for their nails.

[RoughCollies]

Styptic powder and gel is what stops the bleeding.

If she won't let you get near her nails to stop the bleeding, as mean as it sounds, sometimes, you have to muzzle and force them to sit still. I HATE forcing a dog to do anything with grooming, because it doesn't socialize them to it in the future. But, in rare instances, it's the best thing for the dog. It will stop bleeding, but it probably hurts the dog and would be better for the dog if you stopped it before it gets that far.

I was a grooming assistant at PetCo and I became fairly good at cutting nails on dogs that didn't want it done. But I can't explain it over the internet because every dog is different in the approach you should take.

[fairlight]

I'd rather pay to have someone else cut my dogs nails. Uma's nails are black so you cannot see where the vein is. Last time we tried to do it we had a blood bath on our hands because my husband cut one nail to short. Of course he could not find the powder for her nails because he had forgotten it was in his pocket.....that's how shook up my husband was.

[kshort49]

Well, her foot stopped bleeding overnight, poor pup. She also has black nails, so I think from now on I'll take her someplace to get them cut. Having been abused, she is very nervous around strangers, and so I was trying to do it at home. Guess she is going to have to get used to someone else doing it. Or perhaps the vet could give me some kind of sedative to use. Of course, when she got spayed and had problems with her incision, the vet tried to use a sedative, but it had no effect on her, even with a double dose! Oh well, I'll see what we can do. Thanks for your help! Kathy&Maia

[jnc_mcguire]

I always cut my own dogs nails plus my sister-in-laws dog I have never cut one to short so far. My dogs has white nails and my sister-in laws dog has black nails. I hope that i will never cut them to short. Because it would brake my heart to hurt one of them.

[Diamond]

You can see where the quick is even on black nails by looking underneath the nail. The hollowed out area is what you cut off.

*knocks on wood* I've been cutting my guys nails their whole life and never had a problem. Hades is a red head so he's got awful pink skin and white nails so he's easy, but Roxy had dark, hard nails. Never snipped her too short though.

As others have said the styptic powder will stop the bleeding.

[EmmaGirl]

Originally Posted by fairlight

I'd rather pay to have someone else cut my dogs nails. Uma's nails are black so you cannot see where the vein is. Last time we tried to do it we had a blood bath on our hands because my husband cut one nail to short. Of course he could not find the powder for her nails because he had forgotten it was in his pocket.....that's how shook up my husband was.

I'm with Fair here. Mine have black nails and I did hit the quick once and it bleed alittle...not a lot. But Dak will now have nothing to do with my attempts at trimming his nails. It's safer for me to have the groomer do it, then to end up full of bandaids because of his nips.