There is something called "Quicking" which the quicks are cut on purpose, this is painful for the dog and something I would never allow to happen to my dogs or do to anyones dogs. Nor something I would promote for people to do. What I've done with my guys and clients dogs is cut their nails every 4-5 days, cutting as close to the quick as possible and eventually, slowly, the quick will recede. I've heard that using a nail grinder can also help and work faster but I've never used a grinder so I don't know for sure or not.

 

First time I cut Teaghan's nails, I accidently quicked her. She screamed like a young girl. (wait, she is a young girl lol) Anyway, I spent over 2 weeks getting her used to a dremel before I ever used it on her nails. Now I do it frequently. They are still too long, but better than before!
I love, love, love, using a dremel! You could still quick a dog with it, but you'd almost have to try.

Now when I dremel her, she might look down to see what I'm doing, then go back to sleep or looking out the window, or whatever she was doing before.



Joe

I've heard that using a nail grinder can also help and work faster but I've never used a grinder so I don't know for sure or not.

 

Oh, so it will start to naturally recede if the nails are cut as close to the quick as possible without cutting it?

 

Yes in my experience they do. Boone's nails were overly and I've got them pretty good now, though they could be a bit shorter. Reminds me I need to do them today.

 

I agree. I would never purposely quick a dog unless he was under anesthesia for something else (many vets will do this while neutering a dog for example). But cutting the nail frequently can cause the quick to recede. At least once a week. I too have heard dremels speed this process along. I know since I've been having Tucker file his own nails on sand paper he has been able to get his nails much shorter than I could with cutting them. Before if I cut more than the tipity tip he would bleed. With the sand paper he has gone well past that point without bleeding. I think one of the big reasons is that he does a little bit at a time but does it so often (every couple of days) so it slowly forces the quick back. Yes it might take a week of sanding before his nails are as low as they would be with a single cut, but he's not getting hurt, so it's worth it.

 

I have a poodle with really long nails. I clip/dremmel them frequently, but they're still too long. They're better than they were, but still much longer than they should be. I won't put my dog through the quick cutting though - yikes!

 

I've wanted to buy a dremel, but can't find any at the handy stores around my area. Apparently Canadian tire carries dremel a for crafts, but I can't find them anywhere.

 

I ended up getting a free one with an order I made several months ago and told them I didn't want it even though it was free. They sent it anyway. hwell: Stupid thing has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust ever since. Hmm is there a Petsmart around you? They might have them? Or what about Rens?

 

I bought a mini mite cordless dremel at Walmart for like $20. Never used it though, Tucker's terrified of it.

 

i bought the minimite from amazon for about the same price. I love it because it's rechargeable and seems more heavy duty than the ones made for pets. It doesn't have a nail guard though and I would only use it on the slow setting for 5 seconds at a time because the nail can get hot if you hold it down too long. it can be a slow process to train your dog to accept it but once you do it's worth it in my opinion

 

I bought a pedipaws, which is like a small grinder. It would be fine for a small dog, but it was not up to the job for our Bullmastiff. I have to say though, he loved getting his nails done. It involved sausages, so I guess that's why he liked it. He used to try and shove his nail up to the machine, so he could get the treat. Demi hates the noise of it, although she's happy to have the nail clippers. She gives me her paw in a mad rush when she sees the nail clippers come out. That involves sausages too.

 

I started out with a corded dremel, but I liked it so much I bought a cordless dremel, a model 8200 with a Li-Ion battery. From what I understand (never having used one),the pedipaws and other cheap battery powered ones just don't have the power.
With my 8200 I do as BearMurphy said, except I don't hold it for more than 3 seconds. I have it going fairly quickly (about 10,000 rpms) because you need to let the tool do the work and NOT press! Even 10, 000 rpm's is maybe 2 on the setting scale from 1-10.
I thought a nail guard would be useful but quite honestly, if you look at what you're doing and let the tool do the work, it's not needed.

Here's what I did, NOTE: This was spread over several weeks, it's not like I did each step one day then the next day moved on. Also, as Bear said, " it can be a slow process to train your dog to accept it but once you do it's worth it in my opinion"
-I put the tool on the couch, but not right next to Teaghan, and left the room. I let her explore it.
-I fed her treats off the tool
-I touched the tool to *one* toenail, but the tool wasn't running
-I turned the tool on briefly in the same room
Again, the steps were over a 2 week period.

Pretty much each time I did a step, I gave her plenty of treats. The goal being that when she sees me with the dremel, she knows that wonderful things will happen!

 

Some vets will no longer "quick" the nails. The stated reason is infection. With regular trimming it may take a year for the nails to receed but it will happen.

I have been using a corded Dremel MultiPro for 15 years. It has 5 speed settings, 5,000 to 30,000 rpm. I also have the Dremel Flex Shaft (#225) which is easier than holding a Dremel to the nail. The majority of the time I use the 1st or 2nd slowest speeds with a 1/2" 120 grit sanding band (#432). Sometimes I use a grinding stone (#952) as the area near the tip of the stone is easier to use in tight places and it leaves a very smooth finish. With my 16 lb. dogs the 60 grit course sanding band (#408) takes off too much too fast. It does not leave a smooth finish and has a tendency to "jump". The dogs can tell the diference and let me know by pulling away.

Hold the sanding band horizontal to the nail. The sanding band should be turning away, not toward, the nail. I place my thumb on the nail so that I can feel the heat and do a quick on/off of the band on the nail. It is approx. 1 second on, 2-3 seconds off. I have recently started doing 2 nails at once by going to the second nail when it is not grinding the first nail, then repeat the sequence.

There are a lot of how to Dremel dog nails videos on YouTube. This is one by a groomer.
How to really trim a dog's nails using a dremel - YouTube

 

I'm not really impressed by the video that was posted. Holding the foot out forward like that not only makes it uncomfortable for the dog (pressure is being applied to the nail bed backwards), but he can't even see where the quick is from that angle. Having the dog stand and holding the foot like a farrier does when doing horse shoes is better all around. Looking at the nail from the bottom allows you to see exactly when the quick appears, so you can then dremel around it and not go shorter. There's no guesswork that way. Here's a video I did a few years ago- beware, my roommate does drop the f-bomb during the video.

Dremeling Nails - YouTube

It's a little grainy, but it shows the better way to hold the foot and how I anchor the dremel with my thumb to give more control.

The only way to get quicks to recede is with the dremel, and just dremeling to the quick won't do it. You need to take away the protective nail around the quick. Basically, you dremel until you see the quick appear (usually a darker spot in the middle, but sometimes lighter). Once that appears, do not go shorter on the quick, but dremel all around it so the quick is exposed (not bleeding) and all the nail around it is dremeled back. At that point, the quick will be protruding a bit from the nail, so when the dog walks, it hits the ground and eventually dies off, thus shrinking a bit. This needs to be done once or twice weekly for a few months in order to significantly shorten the nail.

 

I agree with you, I wasn't impressed by the video that was posted. But I WAS impressed by yours. I have always dremeled my dogs' nails when they are all relaxed lying down. I tried doing Teaghan tonight doing it the way you do, holding her foot up like a farrier. It worked *very* well. I was able to see much better. Her nail is black, I still couldn't see the quick but I did cut it shorter than I usually do. Which is still way too long, her nails are horrible.
Seamus, my boy dog has nails that grow out, then down in a curve. It's nice cause his are worn down by walking on pavement. Teaghan however, has nails that grow straight out like little swords. Hers do not wear down, the only thing to do is dremel them.

Not sure if I'm receding the quick with her since I can't really see the quick, but I hope so...

Joe

 

you can use a dremel and dremel the top and sides all around to almost the quick and they will recede or if you have them under for anything you can have the nails quicked off and cautrized and after that the quicks dont grow very long because of the scar tissue on the quick.