Q: Black Nails?
I have to go and give my dad's dog Shasta a bath some time this week and he wants me to clip her nails too. But there is one problem all of Shasta's nails are black I am good at doing every other part of grooming a dog I have been grooming dogs since I was in elementry school and my family had our english cocker spainel Lady. I have never had the difficult task of trimming nails on a dog that has all black nails before. So am I best to tell my dad to take her to a proffesional groomer or try doing it myself and risk cutting the nails too short?
Apr 14, 2010
Black nails can be tough, but there is a trick I use. If you flip the foot upside-down, you will see a cleft at the front of the nail. Trim the cleft all the way off - but do not cut into the thicker area. It's hard to explain, but you will see it when you get there. My dogs' clefts are usually full of mud, so I have to clean this out first. Then I use human nail clippers to take off the burs at the corner.
You can always be a little conservative when clipping nails and try again next time.
Good luck!
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Apr 14, 2010
it's tricky. i clip a little, then a little more, then a little more. there's a way to see the quick coming, but i can't remember what to look for. so i still hit the quick at times. just have a bottle of kwik-stop by your side. if you barely hit it, they don't even seem to notice - but that's no reason not to avoid it!
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Apr 14, 2010
My vet said to cut in tiny increments and you will see the very center starting to darken a bit. That's when you stop. This was for a guinea pig, but I would imagine it is probably the same for other animals, too.
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