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Poodle Nails

4K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  Starvt 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding poodle nails. Sammy's are very curved, sharp and frequently draw blood when we are just rough housing. This has not occurred with any of my other dogs, when mature. Their's seem to be more "blunt".

My girlfriend said that the curved nails are due to Sammy not getting his nails trimmed enough. I am skittish about trimming at home, so he only gets them cut when being groomed and yes, I can hear them clicking between grooms.

Does infrequent nail clipping/grinding lead to curved nails? Sammy only gets his trimmed every 5-6 weeks.
 
#2 ·
Poodle nails grow fast. In my experience, anything less than a trim or grind every 2-3 weeks will leave you perpetually behind. His quicks will get too long, making it hard to safely get enough off at each groom.

Letting nails get long enough to click can actually change a dog’s posture over time, doing damage to joints. As I understand it, when nails consistently make contact with the ground, a dog’s nervous system interprets that as standing on an incline (as though they’re going uphill, digging in their nails ) and they will compensate by shifting their weight and the angle of their legs.

When I finally got on top of Peggy’s nails, her feet noticeably changed shape. They were getting elongated and now are much more compact.

Edit: If you’re really not comfortable doing his nails yourself (I hate it, too) you can teach him to use a scratch board to file his own nails, or increase his activity on rough surfaces. Does he get out for regular walks?
 
#3 ·
Here’s my thread about scratch boards:

 
#4 ·
Noelle's nails have the quick all the way at the end. Nothing I have done can make the quick recede. The vet said the only way to shorten them is under anesthesia. Next time she gets a dental, she'll get that done and wake up with sore feet. Poor baby.
 
#5 ·
The vet said the only way to shorten them is under anesthesia. Next time she gets a dental, she'll get that done and wake up with sore feet. Poor baby.
. Ouch. At least there is a solution
 
#6 ·
This is what my friend is worried about. She thinks Sammy's quicks are too long. He had a hard time dealing with grooming until I told the new groomers to only do the best they can on his nails. Often, I get very differing stages of nail length after a grooming. I did emphasize that I wanted the groomer to stop if Sammy showed discomfort.

I think I'd like to try a dremel type tool at home. One that is as close to silent and not so agressive as possible (so I don't hurt him by filing into the quick). If I can file down a little bit every few days, maybe I can correct this.
 
#7 ·
You can do nails with the $20 grinder from amazon, it's the one we have and have been using for 8+ months. It costs $20 for the vet to cut Basil's nails once. It pays for itself immeidately.

I lay Basil on my bed and then sit on the edge on a foot stool. I turn the fan blowing towards us so the powder goes away. Take your phone, turn the camera on, and put it behind the nail to see where the quick is. Make a mental note of how many mm from the end you can take off, then you put grinder to nail and let it do the work. Every 2 weeks.

Take this responsibility on, it's worth it.

This is how I like to shape Basil's, red line:
477724
 
#8 ·
The sharp curved nails are usually easier to get short in my experience. Nails can be either blunt or sharp and still not be getting trimmed enough, but it is true that curved nails are (usually) too long- and often aren't getting naturally worn down. In that regard I sometimes see a difference between dogs that walk on pavement vs those that tend to be on soft ground (dogs that stay in the yard or who live in the country).
Since you said that Sammy is not a fan of nail trims, would it be possible to have the groomer do one or two feet during his regular grooms, and then go again in between for nails only?
 
#10 ·
I still haven’t decided to have this done by the vet. It seems like a whole lot of pain. I grind Noelle’s nails weekly, but they never get truly short.
 
#11 ·
I grind Renns nails every other week. They are getting shorter and looking better, I just have to keep it up. He doesn't mind the dremel at all. I recently purchased a And is 6 speed, I love it. It works so much better than the old dremel I had. They are both cordless. I've also read about grinding or clipping the nail more from the top. It does work for getting the quick to recede. The is a video somewhere if I can still find it, I will post it.
 
#14 ·
I use a generic guillotine clipper with a safety stop.

I own a Dremel as well, but Evelyn doesn't like it. I'm another person trying to shorten their poodle's quicks so I might start doubling up. Clipper first and a brief finish with the Dremel. I covet those show short nails, but I'll be happy to just get them to the point where they don't look like I don't clip them at all! I clip them every week, but you wouldn't know it from looking at his front paws...😔
 
#17 ·
#18 ·
I find the guillotine style dangerous. I own the ones PtP links to, but find them too strong - I take too much off at a time and quick Annie.

These work better for us:
I can’t figure out the difference between those Millers Forge clippers. Grip style?
 
#22 ·
Pliers style all the way. Mine are ancient- 15 years old probably? But are similar to the Miller's forge, black plastic slightly textured handles, in between the the orange and red sizes that were posted.
Like PtP said, I find the pliers style easy to take of bits at a time. I do the top edge, then each side, and repeat until I get close.
 
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