Now with all of the dogs we've had, I've never had to really pay much attention to their nails...

I've always thought that plenty of walks wore the the nails down naturally and kept them in shape...?!

However, following a bad scratch from Arch yesterday, I examined his nails and was shocked when I saw how long they are... I feel a very bad mum

Sonny's are perfectly fine, but Arch's are really long... never noticed it as he's never scratched me before, and he walks fine, doesn't pay any attention to his feet as if they're aggravating him... The only thing I can possibly think of is that when I moved last year our walks are pretty much totally field based... not as much pavement / hard surface walking - would that affect it do you think?!

Or if I need to start clipping his nails, how do you do it, what with?!

He's at the groomers tomorrow and I've explained it her and asked if she will do it for me, which she says course she will, so at least he can be ok from tomorrow, and I can keep an eye on him now I'm aware... But what should I be looking out for.. what is 'normal' for their nails and are some dogs prone to long nail growth?! Like I said, Sonny is walked exactly the same and his nails are fine...

Arch's are like talons... not good and I deserve a slap for not noticing before... at least the big red scratch is punishment eh...!

What colour are the nails, if they are white you can see the pink quick, the nail should be clipped below this, if the nails are black the the part with the quick will look shiny, and you should clip below. Some dogs have long quicks therefore they have longer nails, hope this made sense. Your groomer will clip nails, even if they don;t groom the coat. the best nail clippers to get are the green ones they are extra strong, and will go through any nail, you can get them from PAT

thank you!

he's asleep right now, so I can't check, they are white but I don't know what I'm looking for so don't want to grab him whilst he's out of it... wil check before the groomers tomorrow then after to see what she does...

thanks for the advice over the clippers... def something I will get this weekend!

[QUOTE=la_tinkerbelle,March 27, 2008 09:46 pm] thank you!

he's asleep right now, so I can't check, they are white but I don't know what I'm looking for so don't want to grab him whilst he's out of it... wil check before the groomers tomorrow then after to see what she does...

thanks for the advice over the clippers... def something I will get this weekend!


Ask your groomer to show you the quick of the nail, I always show people the nails to let them see whether they need clipping or not, some people think the dog's nails need clipping when in fact they have long quicks,

Am I the only woos on here who uses a nail file on her dogs?

No my friend uses a drimmel

jaspers claws never need trimming as he does a commando crawl when lead walking - the pavement files them for us his dew claws get long though so we clip them - i say 'we' - having trimmed poppys claws since we got her, one day i accidently went through the quick - and jeeees did it bleed - i used kwikstop powder but it bled on and off for what seemed an age, so now i'm a bit nervy and have passed the job on to oh