Kathleen has been bugging me for ages to get some blogs out, so, as one who left school and trained as a Vet Nurse, I thought I would do a series on keeping your dog healthy. Here's number one.
Claw clipping
A lot of owners are worried about cutting their dogs’ claws. Rightly so as cutting the quick is rather painful and can be very messy and your dog is then not so keen for you to touch its feet after that. However it is still a necessary requirement for your dogs’ health and wellbeing that their claws are kept to a suitable length, long claws can cause pain and deformity in your dog’s toes and feet. They also get caught up in fabric and undergrowth and can be ripped out.
Let's look at the basic anatomy of the claw:
This image shows very basic parts of the claw, the quick is made up of living tissue and a very good blood supply, as some of us (me included) have found out, in a dog with white claws this shows up pink especially if you shine a light through, and it is this we wish to avoid. The outer part or covering of the claw is keratin, the same as hair, and has no sensation at all. As you can see the quick takes up quite a large chunk of the claw. Where the claw attaches to the paw is tucked away in the toe, however, should your dog rip a claw off altogether, yes it’s painful but often it will regrow or be it, occasionally, a little misshapen.
If your dog has white claws you are very lucky, you need to avoid cutting the pink part, if your dog has black claws then care needs to be taken, try to visualise the above picture in order to determine where the quick ends.
You will have heard people say “ Just walk your dog on the road for X number of minutes a day, that will keep the claws short.” In a lot of cases this is so but I knew a dog that was walked on the road for about half a mile, then run in the park then walked home. She was so light on her feet/light boned that she failed to wear her claws down. It is not guaranteed and it does not sort out the dew claws.
So CUTTING THE CLAW:-
Firstly only attempt to cut if your dog is happy with you handling their feet. The ideal cut line is indicated in the picture but what you are aiming to do is cut the claw to the same level as the bottom of the pad or just a little higher. You also need to cut either straight or at a slight angle downwards so that the claw regrows at the correct angle. When you cut, be positive, if you hesitate you will end up squeezing the claw which can cause discomfort and make the dog pull its foot, causing you to cut in the wrong place. I advise, if you are just starting out ,to literally just cut a sliver off the end to start with, once a week, especially if your dog has black claws. Over time this will cause the quick to shrink back a little as well as customising your dog to you handling his/her feet with no trauma occurring. Don’t forget dew claws, these are the equivalent of our thumbs or big toes, situated on the inside of the front and back legs. Often dew claws are removed just after birth but not always, so please check these on your dog as they don’t get the amount of wear and tear as the other four claws.
What are the best clippers? There are two main types, a) guillotine and b) scissor action
a) b)
I personally prefer scissor action, purely because trying to get a dog's claw into the ring of the guillotine style is rather hard, and they often have a guide to help you not to cut too much off in one go. But the decision is yours, just make sure they are sharp as blunt clippers make a mess and crush rather than cut. The best clippers are the ones you are most comfortable using.
There is a third option - and no it’s not the vets - If you really are concerned about CUTTING your dogs claws then file them. Use a coarse grade sand or glass paper and file the claws to an appropriate length or you can purchase battery operated filers https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/wahl-battery-nail-grinder-kit-for-small-dogs-and-cats. It takes longer but is much less likely to cause any injury.
HEEELP. I've cut the quick!!!
First don’t panic, yes it can bleed quite profusely and yes it does hurt a bit but it’s not the end of the world. Have a silver nitrate stick in your grooming kit, apply it to the end of the bleeding claw and it will stop almost immediately.
DEMONSTRATION
Re the video - This is my first attempt at recording myself demonstrating a technique. I have edited it as Monel will tolerate me cutting his claws as long as I don’t dither. Obviously it took me a bit too long, you can see it on his face, and he got a bit agitated so I've cut the “awkward” bit out.
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