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I'm a horrible mother This

July 25, 2002 - 3:08pm

I'm a horrible mother
This morning after the gym, Tiger and I went for a walk. I could hear his toenails on the sidewalk and made mental note it was time for a clipping. So when we got back home, I took him in the backyard with the nail clippers. He hates this so much that at sight of the clippers he ran away. Finally I got him to come back and I started clipping. If you've never clipped a dog's toenails, you're lucky. They don't like it (who would) and since it's their feet you've got to play a weird balancing game. Of course on top of that, if you clip too close, they start bleeding. And though, there doesn't seem to be much in there, it sure bleeds a lot. As my luck would have it, the very first toenail I clip, I clipped too short. Blood everywhere. Luckily we're outside because I learned my lesson about toenail clipping inside the house. Now, Tiger doesn't want me to touch any of his other toenails. I feel horrible about hurting him, but I figure I might as well clip a few more while he's uncomfortable. So I managed to get his back paws done today. He was pretty fed up with my by the end of it so I wrapped up the still-bleeding paw and took him inside. He's now lying on his bed licking his wound, which makes me feel pretty darn awful. Something about this system has to change. Every time I do this, I end up hurting him which makes me feel awful. But I don't like taking him to the groomer because they hardly cut his nails at all. So maybe I just need to buy some paste that is made to stop bleeding toenails. If he doesn't bleed as long, I won't feel as bad, right? Man, why can't he clip his own toenails?

Comments

I don't like taking him to the groomer because they hardly cut his nails at all" -- Maybe that's the trick, less drastic trimming more often?
Posted by k3v on July 25, 2002 - 8:33pm
Thanks, honey. You're probably right.
Posted by EricaLucci on July 25, 2002 - 9:24pm
I can't remember the name of the stuff, but they sell this powder at pet stores that stops the bleeding right away. I've only had to use it once in trimming Miles's nails, but it was a godsend ...
Posted by ari on August 2, 2002 - 7:42pm
or, depending on what type of dog, just taking him walking every day and walk in the street as much as in possible. the rough concrete will wear down his toe nails. also, it helps if you start really super slow. just take out the clippers and touch the metal part to the toe nail and give a treat, next day to the same thing to a few more toes, lots of treats.. and build up to where you can touch all of his toenails on at a time w/o him freaking. then you clip a tiny bit of one toe nail and give a treat... it can take weeks and sometimes months to get a dog to relax while you clip.. you also may want to consider using a dremel. good luck. :)
Posted by amy on August 6, 2002 - 4:35pm

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