toenail length

[CaelinTess]

Are Tess's toenails too long? I can't find any pictures anywhere. Tess does a lot of stuff outside, so she needs traction. But I don't want to her have trouble walking. I trim her toenails once a week with the Dremel.

 

Here are the front feet: (sorry it's a little blurry, but you can see her toenails there, I think)

 

 

And here are the back feet. Are the middle ones too long here?

 

 

Thanks. I don't know if they should be so short you can't seem them or what. Tess has really long quicks, so this is really all the shorter I can go. She seems fine with them at this length, but clicks a bit when she walks on the tile or vinyl floors in the bathroom/kitchen areas.

 

Edit: To say she is standing up equally on all fours while I took these pictures.

 

Allie

[nancy]

I haven't trimmed Fergie's tonails in ages. I do check the dewclaws, but she sort of chews them to where she likes them. We do talk on paved streets, and in fields and woods, from 3 to 10 miles a day. That seems to keep her nails where they should be.

 

Some clicking on tile, wood, or lino floors is normal.

[tildy]

not sure..I was taught to trim where the vein ends,,and if I went to short.and she might bleed accidently to put nail in corn starch,,,natural blood clotter...the look short to me..but duchess' are prolly tooo long...I get nerveous..

[CaelinTess]

Tess has mostly black toenails. I've tried the clippers, but every time I have done them, I have nicked her quick so gave that up. Tess loathes having her toenails done, but cooperates because I ask her to. She is a very good sport.

 

I never needed to trim her toenails when we lived in the city. Three 30-minute walks a day on sidewalks kept her toenails nicely filed down. It was wonderful. Out here in the country, it's all just dirt and grass... nothing to wear the nails down.

 

Allie & Tess

[Alaska]

I've had the same question. I would guess that you would say the toenails are "too long" if the dog is having trouble with broken, snagged, split or torn nails. Otherwise, what's the problem?

 

Here in the frozen north, we find that dogs who normally wear their own nails down sufficiently might need to have them trimmed during the winter, because snow doesn't do much to keep them worn down. The rest of the year they are running on abrasive surfaces and the nails stay at about the right length.

 

Getting a bit O/T here, but Shirley Chong has developed a method of getting dogs to keep their own nails trimmed. Read all about it: Doggie Nail File

[juliepoudrier]

Those nails look fine to me. If you keep them trimmed close to the quick, the quick will move back a bit with time. But honestly, I don't see a problem from the pictures you've provided.

 

J.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Even if the dog is not having a problem with snagged nails you can have problems. I had a dog with strong nails that never broke no matter how long they got, but I had to keep them trimmed very, very short. If his nails got too long, they would throw his weight back on his paw when he ran, exposing the most tender part of his pad.

 

I started using a dremel because his nails are black and I had to trim them every week to avoid this.

[Joe Anne]

What is a dremel?????

Joeanne, Mirra, Sitka, Phoenix and crew

[juliepoudrier]

Joanne,

A dremel is a hand-held tool with a rotary head to which various types of attachments can be added. Picture a hand held tool that allows you to do very fine grinding and sanding. They are used largely by folks who do wood carving because they allow for very detailed, fine work.

 

Dremels are now sold as nail trimmers because they allow you to grind down toenails easily. The rotary action probably supplies a cautery effect as well, should you grind the nail too short (I don't know that from experience, though). I have never used a Dremel for toenails, but had an ex-husband who used one for carving decoys.

 

Someone will probably post a link(s) to a site where you can purchase one for your dog's nails. I'm sure they aren't as pricey as what my ex used for his decoys.

 

J.

[CaelinTess]

I got my Dremel from Amazon.com. http://tinyurl.com/4us6f

 

Allie & Tess

[Deanna in OR]

check out this thread on the topic from last October:

Old nail thread

 

One of the posts has a link to a website that has detailed information on using a Dremel tool to keep toenails short:

Dremel Toenails

And it also has some information (based on Dobermans) on length of toenails.

 

Deanna in OR

[Annette Carter & the Borderbratz]

Resident groomer here : ) I'd like to see those rear middle 2 shorter. The fronts look ok but again I'd do those middle 2 shorter : ) The biggest reason to keep them as short as possible is repeated concussion of the toenail against the ground breaks down the joints in the toes causing arthritis later in life AND can make a dog walk/run on the tender part of the pad AND can break down the pasterns from walking on the back part of the foot. Bottom line: can be painful today or in years -a chronic thing that they'd never let you know about. Kudos to you for filing them weekly- you get a star in my puppy ownership book : )

 

I use the rechargable dremel mini-mite on speed #2- buy it at walmart or the hardware store for $20-$25 If your dog hates clippers they may like the dremel better - I dremel all my clients nails even after clipping because it removes the sharp edges- just don't get it caught in the leg fringe-owiee.