How far to trim nails down?
 

Hi everyone,
My little guys nails are starting to get out of control. i've already trimmed them once and want to do them myself but am a little worried about how far down i can trim them. It seems that the quick ( i think tha't what it's called, the part the blood comes too) seems much closer to the tips than last time i trimmed them. Last time there was quite a bit of just clear nail and we only had one little blood accident, but it wans;t bad and i had the quick stop blood clotting stuff on hand. Now that the quick seems so much longer i'm not sure if i can cut that far down. If it's normal for that and you can cut into the black area as long as you have quick stop i'm good, other wise what do you do? how far can i cut?

That's a tough question. My mom tried to cut my yorkie's nails when she was 2.5 months. I was nervous, my mom was nervous and Aggie was nervous. She even yelped and cried.

A month later, her nails grew back. I said, forget it. I took her to a groomer instead. It was much better that way.

I tip my Yorkies nails every 1-2 weeks or so, I just barely trim the tip off of the nail.

you can ask your vet to show you... that's what i'm gonna do... i'm too scared to hurt him. when i do it i barely trim the tip.....

The more often you cut the nails, the more the quick will recede. That means it is better to trim frequently. I saw a good website on this one time, and I'll try to find it.

I have found I really don't need to trim Edie's often. Between groomers visits and walking on pavement (which naturally files them down) hers dont seem to get very long.

It is difficult in the best of circumstances because Yorkie nails are dark.

Good question. I decided to trim Chase's nails a few days ago, and his quick is very long. I tried to not clip very far down, and hit blood on three nails :eek: before I gave up and decided to wait and take him to the groomer. I trim the nails on a mutt that we have all the time, but her nails are white, so it is easy to see the quick.

Hope you do better than I did.

oh, one other thing---PLEASE do not try trimming nails yourself unless you have styptic on hand. Flour or corn starch will do in a pinch. For some reason the blood from the nails does not clot easily, and they can lose A LOT of blood from a tiny nick.

Remember--trim often, and just barely shave off the end.

Ok lets clear this up - You are right that if you trim just a tiny little bit off real often - say every week or so the quick will receed and you can keep triming back. The proper length is so that they just touch the floor. If you are hearing click click as they run across a tile or hard surface floor they are too long.
Try to do even one foot each time you brush and comb and do your other maintaince grooming. Just kidding but also serious about keep track of which feet have been done - Sure would look funny with one foot real short and 3 real long ( I just had to throw that in there )

Now about cutting the quick- it is not life threatning no matter how much you fall to pieces when you see blood from your baby. Just have the quick stop on hand and use it. It may take a couple times of putting it on and holding it there but it will stop. Most dogs react to your fear and actions when doing this so it helps if you think in terms of " you are doing whats best " and just like bathing or training- Just do it.

Now if you want to know where I am coming from with this advice I will tell you. 42 years ago I was a vets assistant for about 2 years. Since then I have constantly raised and groomed dogs. As a matter of fact I groomed 7 of my Yorkies yesterday- completely from baths to ear plucking and body triming. Nails of course- I can't begin to tell you that don't feel you can clip your dogs nails how easy it is if you just take it slow and mess with their feet a lot. Then get the best nail clippers - not those cheap ones - and do a foot at a time, clipping just about 1/ 16 th of an inch off - thats just a little till you get the feel for it, and soon they will allow it with no more resistance than brushing. Remember that if you haven't done it before that you and puppy have got to learn together and its one more way to spend some loving time together.
If anyone wants more info about this , such as holding them and so forth just PM me and I will try to help you. There is no reason for you to be paying the high price that the vet charges. Do it yourself and spend that money on a new outfit either for puppy or you. :D

another tip is to hold a flashlight up to the nail and you will see the quick clearly lit through and you'll know where to cut...and that works for dark nails. light colored nails which yorkies don't have .. you can easily see the quick.