# How long do you keep their claws



## Crazy Kian

How long is too long?
I have seen some pictures of V's with really long claws and some that are nice and trim.
Is it beneficial for the dog to have long claws for running?


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## gunnr

A vizlsa's nails should be trim and short. Long nails, like my Tika has, can get caught and be broken. I have to trim Tika's claws every few weeks. Gunnr does way too much running to have long nails. Hers are nice and short, and I've never had to trim them.
There is a blood area visible in the nail. If it is held up to light it's very easy to see. Trim the nail close to this area, but do not trim into the blood vein.


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## Lisa

Catan seems to have very long quicks. Is it true that if you trim your dogs nails often that the quick will shorten?


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## chanson

I have found that trimming them more often helps push the quick back a little, but the best way I have found is to dremmel the nails. You really can get closer, and you can round off those sharp edges...all the better to recieve those vizsla "hugs"!!!


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## Jacobite

Any volunteers to come and do Bruce's nails would be welcome.The vet has given up, it was suggested that if we could suspend him in the air it might be possible to do them.
The thing that solved the problem was when he discovered a mouse hiding in a hole a few weeks ago so I can now get him to dig when he is out and that has made a huge difference.


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## vizslandobes

Dremmeling is more effective in getting the quicks to recede than clipping. Most dogs prefer it also because the nail trimmers (especially if they get dull) place a lot of pressure on the quick causing pain. 

The key to dremmeling is getting a proper dremmel, using proper technique, knowing when to stop, and never holding the dremmel on the nail for more than 3 seconds. Burning can happen and can be painful! 

Another trick is to place hemmorohid cream (preperation-H) on the nail ends after your're done dremmeling. Hemmorohid cream causes blood to recede away...which is exactly what you want to have happen. Call me crazy...but it's true.

I dremmel my dogs' nails every few days. I'm a bit of a psycho though about it, but in my defense I've seen some nasty nail tears in my days at a vet tech.


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## Chestersmum

Bringing this post back up instead of starting a new one on the same subject.

We've been clipping Chester's nails every week since we got him at 8 weeks. I literally take mm's off and have never caught the quick. It was all going smoothly until last week suddenly he won't let me do it anymore grr! maybe something triggered it but not sure what. I'll persist this week with no clipping just rubbing, holding of his feet but I thought it might be better to buy one of these dremmel things as I could just point and go?! With the clippers I have to hold the nail to be accurate then clip. He has to be very still.

Not sure where I could get one from? I'm in the UK. Any other ideas welcomed


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## Kobi

Amazon or a hardware store should carry it. It's basically a power tool with lots of uses. I would read up on HOW to do it before you get started on it though, you want to make sure you are using the right attachment (I believe most use the sanding drum?). Also I read somewhere that you should only hold the dremel to the nail for about 3 seconds at a time to keep the nail from getting too hot due to the friction. I am not an expert on the subject so make sure you're following guidance from someone who has done it before you do it!


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## jld640

Pet stores also have a dremel-type tool by Bamboo that is supposedly quieter than an actual dremel ($30 on line at Petco). 

I tried one for a few days when Savannah was 11 weeks old, but there were just too many new things going on - the bright light, her foot being held, her toe being touched, the buzzing of the device, the vibration at contact. She had high-stress even after buzzing the device in her vicinity without touching it to her toes for days before that. We went back to nail clippers for a few months. My plan is to try an actual dremel when she gets older because I like the idea of filing more than cutting. By that time she will already be used to the light, her foot being held, her toes being touched, and a variety of loud noises.


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## Jupiter4Jackie

wow what a great idea! 8)


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## JillandDan

Sorry to bring back an old post but we are having alot of trouble with Holley's nails. She used to let us cut them when we first brought her home but has changed her mind. The vet's office was able to do them once but now she won't let them. We are back to trying ourselves but she has now starting biting me to try to get me to stop. This is not acceptable to me at all. I have tried using a nail file to at least shorten them a little but we really need to cut them. Any advise?


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## Kobi

I would take her to PetSmart. They have the proper equipment (raised tables, slip collars, and that little arch thing that holds the collar in place), plenty of manpower, and they're used to troublesome dogs. Even though Kobi is active and didn't like it at first, he is nowhere near their worst customer. He has gotten a lot better though. I think they get used to it the more they have it done.

It's $11 for the nail grinding (which is what I prefer).

However I'd caution that if you think she might bite, you should try to control it somehow or at least warn them. Nobody likes getting bit.


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## JillandDan

I may try it. I will definitely warn them. This was the first time she ever did that to me and I am so upset by it. The closest she came before was trying to bite the clippers but this was not a slip up. She meant to bite me.


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## Macaroni

We bought a dremmel at Homedepot to trim Mac's nails but only were able to use it once. It was too powerful and blows a lot of air which freaks him out. The one's you buy at Petsmart, Petco, etc, are lower power and may be better, but like Kobi, we just take Mac to Petsmart every 2 weeks and get his nails done there. $11 bucks, in and out in 5 minutes..can't go wrong. If any biting issues just tell them and they will muzzle the dog, but usually the dogs are great there b/c the staff know what their doing. We've had it done at the vet a few times and they don't do a very good job, end up only cutting half his nails and I can hear him screaming from the reception!

I'd prefer to do it myself (dremmel), but it's almost not worth the trouble. Petsmart it is for us!


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## Linescreamer

Have someone hold a spoon full of peanut butter in front of his nose while you do the claws. It should only take you about 2 minutes and he will be so busy licking the spoon and his chops he will not even notice. ;D One more thing. If you are nervous unsure or make a big deal out of it he will know. So, stay calm and make like it's nothing. I would definitely have some else holding the spoon and have extra peanut butter close buy. Have a collar on him so they can grab it if need be.  The other thing that will help is touching and playing with his paws once or twice daily until he doesn't make a fuss over it any more -> then go for the peanut butter. 

By the way. I started Copper on a peanut butter tooth brush, and now brushing his teeth is a breeze. Just use baking soda and by the time he puts up a fuss, it's done, and he gets peanut butter again. ;D


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## JillandDan

We can't use peanut butter due to her stomach issues. We hold carrots out for her and she pulls at them while we try but as soon as the clipper is around her nail, she pulls away. 
We have been touching her paws/pads since we first met her and she lets us do that as much as we want until the clippers are around.


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## jld640

If she can tolerate a little bit of peanut butter, you might try spreading a thin film of it head-high on the refrigerator door (I used about half a finger dollop spread across 10-12 inches or so while Savannah was getting used to clipping). By this time, Holley probably knows that the refrigerator is the source of wonderous things. The thin film keeps her nose and tongue busy, but she will wiggle. Work quickly, but carefully. I highly recommend clipping after walk and before dinner.

If she cannot tolerate even that much peanut butter, you could try any strong-smelling occasional treat. Something like little-bitty pieces of two-day old lunch meat ham might work (real ham doesn't excite Savannah nearly as much). This is harder than peanut butter because now your fingers will smell like ham. Again, I recommend after walk and before dinner.

If you want to avoid the treat concept entirely, some of the postings on a different nail thread recommended waiting until your puppy is asleep. We have had mixed results on this one. If I do this, I have to make sure that Savannah is really, really tired. Usually that means an extended play session with her doggie friends followed by a walk somewhere new with lots and lots of unfamiliar smells, i.e. physically AND mentally exhausted. When she is finally asleep, I sit down next to her and put my hand on her shoulder for a bit so she knows I am there and doesn't get startled. Once she falls back asleep, I'll run my hand down her leg and calmly clip a few nails. I am not a big fan of disturbing anyone's sleep, so we don't try this much, but you may have better luck. You may want to search some of the other threads for more on 'sleep clipping'.

We never get all her nails in one sitting no matter which technique I use. Sometimes she is just too uptight for us to cut any of them. In those cases (since the bad timing was my fault), I tap the top of her nails (but don't clip) on one or two paws with the clippers and still give her a treat. 

Good luck!


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## JillandDan

Thank you for the recommendations. We have tried the waiting until she is asleep to clip as well with no luck unfortunately. She immediately wakes up and tries to run away. On a positive note, I was able to nip a little off of one on my lunch break and Dan got a little on another last night. I think I am just going to try the Petsmart and have them grind them down. It's worth a shot. If that doesn't work, then we will just stick to a little off each one a day. Not the most time effective but oh well.


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## Kobi

I definitely think PetSmart is the easiest. Like I said, they're used to dogs that are troublemakers. It's their job to take care of the dog and provide service with a smile. The biggest reasons I switched to PetSmart over a locally owned shop were they have better equipment (shaky table = scared dog), and they don't complain if your puppy doesn't enjoy having his nails trimmed. They expect it. The place I went to before was rude and acted like I was a terrible owner because my dog didn't like having his nails trimmed.

That said I KNOW Kobi is not the worst they have had at PetSmart, and he's actually really well behaved when we go now. We've been maybe six times.


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## mswhipple

I take Willie to "Bonnie's Pet Parlor" once a month for a toe nail trim. That is the day he also gets his ears cleaned out with the ear cleansing solution. He's pretty accustomed to it now. Years ago I always did it myself, but I have lost my nerve, and it's worth the $10 to me for someone else to do it. She's very good with him. I have a Dremel, which I used on my previous dog, but really, she never did like it and I ended up taking her to Bonnie's.


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## jld640

Hey JillandDan - it took us about 6 weeks or so to get used to nail trimming (those weeks are where the recommendations came from). After that (around 4-5 months) and until around 7 months, we would do one front paw nail and one back paw nail each night. When I had her spayed, the vet clipped her nails so short that it took a few weeks for them to need clipping again. By that time, she was calm enough that I could clip all the nails on one paw in one sitting. She also now runs enough that her back paw nails do not need to be clipped, just the front paws. So we went from an every night routine to about two evenings every other week (one for each front paw).

For some reason, I am thinking Holley is about 5 months old. If she is, her timeline sounds similar to Savannah's. Try multiple nails again in a couple of months. She may be just fine.


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## JillandDan

Holley is actually 11 months old now. We never had a problem cutting them from when she came home (4 months) until just recently. She just decided she didn't like it anymore. Spaying had no calming effect for her. It seems to have done the opposite actually. We are just going to go to Petsmart to have them grinded. It is worth the $11.


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## JillandDan

So we went to Petsmart last night and we are impressed. We will be going back in 2 weeks to have them done again as the quick is a little longer than we like so they couldn't grind too much in one sitting. Holley attempted to bite once but then they brought another person over to distract her during the process and she did great. Thank you so much for the recommendation. Definitely worth the $11.


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## Kobi

I'm glad it worked out for you. As much as I thought I should support a local business instead of PetSmart, after going there a few times I will definitely admit that they have better equipment (tables) than where I used to take Kobi, friendlier staff, and more help on hand. I don't mind taking him there at all, and he doesn't seem to mind either!


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## andy198712

so on the nail, theres the tip, then a white part, then the red part, i've been trimming to the white part as i thought this was the quick, or am i wrong and can trim to the red bit?

my 9 week old V has light colour nails so easy to see through


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## Mischa

We cut Mischa's nails when she's exhausted. I mean extremely exhausted. She's been sleeping for an hour and possibly out cold exhausted. When Dennis clips a nail, I'll give her a treat after each cut. 

The trouble we experience though is that her quicks are really long. We've taken her to Petsmart before and I have to agree they are great. I was worried it would be disastrous. She had only run for an hour and the other dogs and smells woke the demon in her up and she was full of beans. However we found they couldn't cut as much as we do so we've been doing it ourselves again. 

-Janice


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## JillandDan

We were told that they couldn't cut as much as they would have liked because of the quick but that is why we are going again this week. The more you trim back/grind back, then more the quick receeds. So once you get to the desired length, you can probably cut back the frequency. I also read that the grinding makes the quick receed more too. Not sure if that is true. But very glad we were told about Petsmart from Kobi


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## datacan

In order to keep their cat like paws claws should be trimmed short enough so when they walk claws shoulld not touch ground.

I know this looks pretty short butbif U ever decide to put your V on a treadmill you will notice how the claws can interfere.

Naturally, they will loose traction but most V' s spent ample amounts of time on pavement.

In case we don't trim them at all we risk deforming the bones, and may eventually cripple the dog.


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## SandraDee

I try to keep Scout's nails fairly short. He has a short quick which is nice, so I can have them cut down. We have hardwood floors and he's a jumper (even though we have been trying desperately from pretty much day 2 to curtail this behaviour), so for the sake of the floors and our arms, they are kept short.

He isn't out field training or running or anything like that so I don't think he rerally needs to have longer nails for traction.

I have given up trying to trim his nails myself. I just take him to the petsmart and they do it for around $10. He never struggles with them, but if I do it its a full on wrestling match.


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## JillandDan

Just thought I would give an update on our progress. We have been going every week to work on getting her nails shorter since the quicks were longer than we would like. The first week required 2 employees (one distracting and one grinding the nails). Week 2 was 2 employees again but she was much more calm and the girls told me how well she did. Week 3 (last night) was 1 employee and she raves and what an improvement she saw in Holley. 
Again, thank you so much for the recommendation.


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