Nail Clipping/Ear cleaning

[AmmooreDoxie]

Hello. Had a quick question. Besides the battle that I have to go through just to get their nails clipped, I am fearful that I am going to hit the quick. I have to clip really slow because of my fear of hitting the quick so it is an uphill battle just trying to get my Dachsie's nails trimmed. So by the time that I am done their nails look terrible and they are all stressed out. I tried getting some treats to calm them down while I was trying to clip their nails which seems to work for about a second. Is there a website, or someone with some advice on avoiding the quick?

Also, what is the best item/product/solution to use for ear cleaning and how exactly are you doing it? I don't want to injure them, by cleaning too far down.

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Andrea :wavey:

[alfina]

I personally use dremel to do their nails. I find it is easier on my crew's nerves and mine as well. But here is the site that shows how to clip nails.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/nailtrim.htm

There were a few threads in the past discussing this issue. One of them had the link to how to dremel nails:

http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merenski/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html

Re: ear cleaners. I like Epi-Otic Ear Cleaner. Here is how to clean them.

http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=How+to+clean+dog+ears&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dc4caf5f10bb3ae97%26clickedItemRank%3D5%26userQuery%3DHow%2Bto%2Bclean%2Bdog%2Bear s%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ehow.com%252Fhow_2209_clean-dogs-ears.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSCPResults%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ehow.com%2Fhow_2209_clean-dogs-ears.html

[FOREVER A DAXIE]

I'm too nervous to even try doing Charlie's nails. I take him to the groomers every 8 weeks and for $7 they do his nails. However, I normally just have them give him the works (bath, cleaning etc.) instead. I'm not cut out for doing that and my husband is not interested in trying either. You might want to consider someone else doing them.

[Kim H.]

don't worry if you can only get a little trimming done at a time. The quick will recede, so you can cut a little bit... then a little more in a week or so. It helps if you have someone else around to hold the dog while you trim. Is there another type of treat they REALLY love that you could tempt them with (like cheese bits, for instance?) :D

As far as ear cleaning, most references say to do this very sparingly as ears are self-cleaning (unless there is a reason your dog needs it frequently). The girls are 1 1/2 and we have never needed to clean Angel's... they look great. She cleans Cassie's for us (nice of her) every so often. I have used Epi-Otic in the past on other dogs, though. Others will have more info, I'm sure.

welcome to our board!!

[AmmooreDoxie]

I personally use dremel to do their nails. I find it is easier on my crew's nerves and mine as well. But here is the site that shows how to clip nails.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/nailtrim.htm

There were a few threads in the past discussing this issue. One of them had the link to how to dremel nails:

http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merenski/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html

Re: ear cleaners. I like Epi-Otic Ear Cleaner. Here is how to clean them.

http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=How+to+clean+dog+ears&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dc4caf5f10bb3ae97%26clickedItemRank%3D5%26userQuery%3DHow%2Bto%2Bclean%2Bdog%2Bear s%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ehow.com%252Fhow_2209_clean-dogs-ears.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSCPResults%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ehow.com%2Fhow_2209_clean-dogs-ears.html
Thank you so much for the links. I will check them out. I appreciate you taking the time.

[AmmooreDoxie]

I'm too nervous to even try doing Charlie's nails. I take him to the groomers every 8 weeks and for $7 they do his nails. However, I normally just have them give him the works (bath, cleaning etc.) instead. I'm not cut out for doing that and my husband is not interested in trying either. You might want to consider someone else doing them.
I have been seriously thinking about that since they are so difficult. Montie Loves to squirm. Charlie is not as bad, but still acts as if I am killing him at times!! LOL I am going to go to PETSMART and see if they can do it. Charlie has a tendacy to bite strangers though, so I am afraid he will bite them. Is there a policy if a dog bites them? I am sure they are used to it. I was just wondering.

[AmmooreDoxie]

They love any treats really.. LOL Food is their love. :) I have my husband to hold them, however his patience level is the least to be desired, so I like to leave him out of the loop..LOL I did hear that trying to cut them in the bathtub might be easier. Not as easy to escape etc. I might try that and if that does not work then just take them in to have it done.
Thank you for the information on the ears. I was not sure how often you should clean them. I just heard with Dachshunds, because of the way their ears are, that you had to watch out for cleaning their ears. I am not sure if they clean each other's ears or not. I know that they will lick each other from time to time to clean each other, but have not seen them clean the ears.

[Patt]

Good suggestions and links given. When your trimming check the nail for a 'dot' that is the quick and you don't want to trim that or it will bleed. Be sure to have "Kwik-Stop" handy just in case you nip the quick. It's not a hard job but lots of practice will make it easier. The tech at the vets clip the dogs nails for me and does a great job. In the past I've used the Dremel but it was too noisy and made the dogs nervous. If Charlie tends to bite you might try a muzzle. I use Vet Solutions for cleaning ears 1-2 times weekly. Good Luck.

p.s. Have your vet or his tech show you how to clip nails and clean ears, that might make is easier for you.

[Steven]

I am not aware of a policy at Petsmart, however, if they try to bite, the groomer may insist on a muzzle. Also, if you think they'll bite just head it off and ask the groomer to use a muzzle. Although the muzzle may make them more upset, it did with Oscar, it'll be safer for everyone. Also, I've tried using Rescue Remedy to help calm mine down. It didn't help to much, but yours may be different. What you could do is put some one a treat and give them that treat before the nail clipping and wait like 5 minutes then clip. Or give them RR afterwards.

[Anatresia]

Mr. Butters *hates* Petsmart now because of the nail clippings, but we usually take him there. I just bought a clipper to try to do Rigby's nails myself, and I might try to do Mr. B's too. The problem is that Rigby is completely influenced by anything Butters says and does, and he somehow communicated to her that nail clipping is the worst torture I inflict upon them, so now she is getting squirmy and cries before the clipper even touches her delicate little paw. I am NOT spending $16 a month to clip their nails, so I will learn to do this myself.....

(Watch- in a few weeks, I'll be up with a post about how I'm back at Petsmart for the nails...)

[Courtknee]

God, Napoleon does the same thing Rigby does!! It drives me CRAZY. I can touch his paws and nails all I want, anytime....but the MINUTE the clipper gets near the nail, he squirms and fights me. Then sometimes when I clip, he cries even though it doesn't bleed. I have tried the treat bribery and it worked a couple times, but no more. Since he's still little I'm just going to keep trimming them a bit weekly, and hope he gets used to it....but I ain't holding my breath!

[AmmooreDoxie]

God, Napoleon does the same thing Rigby does!! It drives me CRAZY. I can touch his paws and nails all I want, anytime....but the MINUTE the clipper gets near the nail, he squirms and fights me. Then sometimes when I clip, he cries even though it doesn't bleed. I have tried the treat bribery and it worked a couple times, but no more. Since he's still little I'm just going to keep trimming them a bit weekly, and hope he gets used to it....but I ain't holding my breath!
Mine cry the same way. Like I am killing them or something. I hate it!! LOL They also do not like bathtime. And during the winter I want to make sure that after their bath they do not get too cold, and would like to blow dry them, but they don't like that either. My friend b/d's her dachshund and he loves it. He also loves bathes. I think mine are freaks of nature!! LOL I will continue trying to cut their nails, but if it does not work, then I may just break down and take them in!! :)