The Mysterious QUICK!
The Basics of Toenail Trimming
The toenail of your pet is like the heel or on your shoe. If it is over grown or touching the ground improperly it impacts the animal's feet legs, shoulders, knees and ultimately it's spine. This results in a relatively significant amount of pain.
When the nails have not been trimmed regularly, the quick can grow out. This means I can only trim a little bit off. When I do trim a little, (on a regular basis) it will help the quick slowly recede very slowly.
Nails must be trimmed while looking at them from the bottom. It is like shoeing a horse. If you try to trim from the top the chances that you will hit the quick and cause BLEEDING is very high. I work very hard so that I do not cause bleeding. This is very painful for the pet.
There are certain breeds that do NOT like their paws touched. Almost all the toy breeds and the terrier breeds must be conditioned from birth that their feet will be touched! If not, they will be little tigers when attempting to trim nails!
It is just a good idea to train your dog from the start that paws are yours to be touched.
White Nails vs Black Nails
There is a myth or urban legend that black nails are more difficult or simply can't be trimmed. Every clinic clients tell me they are afraid to trim their dogs black nails. I respond with their fear is my living! There is no difference between a dark or white nail. A quick is a quick. There is no "trick" to it other than the requirement of seeing the paw from the bottom like shoeing a horse. I take slivers of the nail (not chunks) until I get to what looks like a little damp spot in the nail that is darker in color. Then I stop. If I take more, there could be bleeding. I try my best not to cause bleeding. If I do, it is an awful accident!