Clipping or Grinding?

[forkin14]

Is there one that is better for a dog's nails that will make them less sharp?
The groomer around where we live just sucks. Cadence's nails come back sometimes even sharper than when we dropped her off.

So if there is a style that is better I would love to know so I can start to learn to do it on my own!

[mum24dog]

I just clip mine. A walk on a hard surface smoothes off any snaggy bits.
They wouldn't stay still long enough to grind them down even if I had the time to do 4 dogs that way. (The 5th dog never needs his done.)

Pam

[Leigha]

I do both for my dogs. The doxies get grinded with the dremmel because their nails are black so I can't see the nerve, and the oldest's are really brittle so the grinding they tolerate a lot more. The downside to that one is that it takes a little longer. Thankfully they're really patient and let me do it--they've had REALLY bad experiences with their nails being clipped (groomer made them bleed b/c they took off WAY too much). Patience however is not one of Bruiser's virtues. His nails are lighter so I can see the nerve, and the clipping takes MUCH less time, so it's easier on him to clip than to deal with the dremmel, but his nails do occasionally end up a little sharper than they were pre-clip so I just send him outside to run around a bit and it's usually better after that.

[emmabeth]

Bit of both..

Kelda, if shes not been walked on a rough surface for a while (so too many off lead walks v pavement walks) grows weirdly sharp cat claw ish nails.... and these tips are too fine to grind off without them snapping possibly painfully..

So these, I nip off quickly with the clippers and then grind to remove sharp bits. Shes got clear nails though so its really easy.

Abby has really really really thick nails and they wont fit in the dog nail clippers! Clipping them straight through would cause her pain so we grind those down.

Errol always gets clipped because hes got super long furry feet and id get his fur caught in the Dremel if i ground his down!

[forkin14]

Cadence's nails seem to grow very very fast, but I've noticed that sometimes after we take her to the groomers to get them clipped, her nails seem splintered as if I could like peel off little sections of the nails. When she gets them grinded, they are not like that but they are very very sharp and I feel like the groomer just puts the dremmel on there for like half a second and basically doesn't do it correctly.

What is the best way to find out where the quick is? I've seen clippers that claim they can "detect" where it is, but that just sounds like garbage to me haha

[emmabeth]

If your dog will let you.. look at the underside of the paws, its easiest to do if your dog is lying on his/her back but obviously you dont want to force them there, just see if you can look when they are there.

If you CAN see the underside of the nails/paws, its often possible even on totally black nails to see where the quick is.

The claw should be a V shape of hard 'nail' material, with an inner core of quick. If the nail is very long, then the quick will have an outer layer of chalky material, then some waxy material, and then the live bit that has nerve endings and a blood supply.

On most of my dogs viewed from beneath i can see where the quick is with the exception of Abby whose nails have been too long for too long and they have no longer got this V shaped cross section, whats happened is that over time the 'arms' of the V have come round so its more like a 0 with the quick in the middle. Makes it harder to see what im doing.

Anyway with V shaped nails you can if you look from underneath, get a sharp pair of wire snips or similar and cut around the quick rather than straight across the entire nail. Or you can grind carefully.

[maximoo]

I've been told that if nails are level with the underside of paw then all is fine. Dogs naturally keep nails 'trimmed' by walking on asphalt/concrete. It's usually the dew claws that get long. House dogs or dogs that don't walk on concrete should have nails chkd monthly & trimmed as needed. I prefer the nail after it's been dremeled. The clipper usually leaves them unsmooth/ jagged.

[MaiasMom]

I clip and then follow up with my emery board to smooth the rough edges. Like another poster, my dogs nails are black so I have to be really careful, I only take a little off at a time.

[MaiasMom]

PS, I got a grinder but did not like it because it caused the nail to get hot and burn and since they are not fond of having their feet messed with, the clip is quicker for me. I have a friend that comes down, she has a treat in her hand that she only allows them to lick and are distracted from what I am doing. Much like you see at dogs shows. After I get the clipping down, they get the treat. I use this method also when they see another dog coming down the street, I distract them with a treat clamped in my hand until that dog has past us by. They are not aggressive to other dogs, they just see another dog as a play opportunity and want to play with any dog they see. With 3 of them if I don't do this they can collectively drag me down the street. Not a good thing.

[wvvdiup1]

Most of the time, Karma will scrape her nails on a hard surface such as an asphalted road, as though she had toileted. That might save me time, however, I keep checking her nails because I don't want her to snag my carpets. So when this happens, I grind her nails because her nails are solid black and I can't see the quick. You ought to see her when I do this. She lays on her back and calmly lays there while I grind her nails. I've never had a dog that will lay calmly when I grind her nails or sit or stand when I run the vacuum cleaner through her fur! I guess she knows that I will be done sooner if she remains calm so I can get it done and over with!

[Cheetah]

I prefer grinding, but the dremel I want is like $50... sometimes I have access to the one at work, and it's amazing. I can't wait to buy my own! I just like that I can get the nails shorter, without hurting my dogs.

[bsaw001]

Maybe you can go to a dentist for dogs or the vet to help you with the problem on clipping and grinding.
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