Nail Clipping... DUN DUN DUN!

[love.my.babies]

I will admit.. I am VERY SCARED of clipping Fifi's nails. :blush: I don't know why but it makes me so nervous. I have styptic powder, for just in case and I bought nail clippers at petsmart a couple of years ago but I'm just so scared to do it. I feel like the nail clippers I have are kind of crappy?

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3706197

I have the ones on the left side.

Any tips anyone can give me? Literally when I'm about to clip them, my heart starts pounding and stuff. :confused: Her nails are long now and need to be clipped.

HELP ME MY MT FAMILY! pleeease!

[JesBred]

I personally prefer guillotine style clippers. These are the ones I use: Four Paws Nail clippers (http://www.petco.com/product/105944/Four-Paws-Ultimate-Touch-Nail-Trimmer-Professional-Non-Slip-Grip-For-Dogs.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Dog-_-Four%20Paws-_-814091&mr:trackingCode=2709EC15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA)

A neat trick for clipping nails is to take a pair of panty hose (ones you don't plan on using again :tongue:) and putting the paw into the hose, and the nails should stick through while the hair gets pulled back with the hose. That way the hair is out of the way and you can see the nails really clearly.

Mitzy's quick is really easy to find but I was like you and was TERRIFIED of clipping it. I just started cutting their nails myself this year. And I have to tell you I am kicking myself for paying for it all these years. Its so EASY!! I try and do it once a week, but usually every other week so I can don't have to clip to much. Just a little off the tip of the nail and they are good :D

[angeleyes]

I use the same kind of clippers Jess has. Sammy is easy to cut as his nails are so white and I can see the quick easily. Belle is the hard one, not only does she hate it but half her nails are black:eek: I hate taking her anywhere to do it because they hardly cut any off. Denny has to hold her in a death grip and I cut the white ones first so I have some ides where to cut the black one. The more often you cut her nails the further back the quick will shrink, so if you take some off like every other week the nails will get shorter and easier to cut. I have nicked both of mine and I feel worse than they do. Belle looks at me like I cut her whole leg off and Sammy I have only nicked once and he looked at it then looked at me like "mommy really?" If you would nick one and the powder won't stop it just put her foot in cold water. It'll be fine just take some deep breaths and the more relaxed you are the better Fifi will be. You'll be fine and doing it yourself is so much better.

[love.my.babies]

I personally prefer guillotine style clippers. These are the ones I use: Four Paws Nail clippers (http://www.petco.com/product/105944/Four-Paws-Ultimate-Touch-Nail-Trimmer-Professional-Non-Slip-Grip-For-Dogs.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Dog-_-Four%20Paws-_-814091&mr:trackingCode=2709EC15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA)

A neat trick for clipping nails is to take a pair of panty hose (ones you don't plan on using again :tongue:) and putting the paw into the hose, and the nails should stick through while the hair gets pulled back with the hose. That way the hair is out of the way and you can see the nails really clearly.

Mitzy's quick is really easy to find but I was like you and was TERRIFIED of clipping it. I just started cutting their nails myself this year. And I have to tell you I am kicking myself for paying for it all these years. Its so EASY!! I try and do it once a week, but usually every other week so I can don't have to clip to much. Just a little off the tip of the nail and they are good :D

That trick sounds genious! I'm going to try it. The clippers you have seem a lot better than the ones I have. I think I'm going to buy those. I'll have to go to Petco. Fifi's quick is very easy to find also so that's a plus for me. Are the nails supposed to be clipped at an angle? Hopefully I'll be like you and be able to do it myself. :)

[love.my.babies]

I use the same kind of clippers Jess has. Sammy is easy to cut as his nails are so white and I can see the quick easily. Belle is the hard one, not only does she hate it but half her nails are black:eek: I hate taking her anywhere to do it because they hardly cut any off. Denny has to hold her in a death grip and I cut the white ones first so I have some ides where to cut the black one. The more often you cut her nails the further back the quick will shrink, so if you take some off like every other week the nails will get shorter and easier to cut. I have nicked both of mine and I feel worse than they do. Belle looks at me like I cut her whole leg off and Sammy I have only nicked once and he looked at it then looked at me like "mommy really?" If you would nick one and the powder won't stop it just put her foot in cold water. It'll be fine just take some deep breaths and the more relaxed you are the better Fifi will be. You'll be fine and doing it yourself is so much better.

I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see Fifi's quick, I probably wouldn't even try since I'm such a chicken lol. That's smart... I bet that makes cutting the rest of her nails a lot easier. I didn't know some of her nails are black, but I guess that makes sense. I've nicked Fifi before too and I've cried because I felt so bad lol. Silly me. I'll take your advice and try to relax while doing it. I'm going to buy the same clippers that you and Jess have. Hopefully it'll make my life a bit easier lol.

[angeleyes]

I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see Fifi's quick, I probably wouldn't even try since I'm such a chicken lol. That's smart... I bet that makes cutting the rest of her nails a lot easier. I didn't know some of her nails are black, but I guess that makes sense. I've nicked Fifi before too and I've cried because I felt so bad lol. Silly me. I'll take your advice and try to relax while doing it. I'm going to buy the same clippers that you and Jess have. Hopefully it'll make my life a bit easier lol.

Belle being a Morkie has to be different you know. Some white nails, some black nails and 2 are white with a dark purple streak underneath? Yep, that's my girl:lol2:

[Nikki's Mom]

Well, I'm no help in this department. :( I am too much of a chicken to do it and I am so nervous about it that I ended up taking Nikki and Kodie to the groomer to have her do it. I will trim their hair but the nails are another story. :o Good luck!! :)

[Zuly4034]

I have the same problem. I'm toooo scare to cut Sofia's nail. Last time my sis cut them for me with a human clipper and it was so easy. So I think using the guillotine one will be way easier.

[JiJi's Mom]

I don't use nail clippers. This is something like what I use:

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=3C0Y&dir_id=1633&group_id=10570&cat_id=10586&subcat_id=10587

Mine are terrified of nail clippers and although they still don't like this they tolerate it.

[love.my.babies]

Belle being a Morkie has to be different you know. Some white nails, some black nails and 2 are white with a dark purple streak underneath? Yep, that's my girl:lol2:

Of course she's gotta be different! I've never heard of a purple streak though. Belle is so unique!

Well, I'm no help in this department. I am too much of a chicken to do it and I am so nervous about it that I ended up taking Nikki and Kodie to the groomer to have her do it. I will trim their hair but the nails are another story. Good luck!!

Thanks Lori! I'm trying to get past this fear and I hope I will. I was to eventually FULLY groom Fifi myself... I'm working my way slowly lol.

[love.my.babies]

I have the same problem. I'm toooo scare to cut Sofia's nail. Last time my sis cut them for me with a human clipper and it was so easy. So I think using the guillotine one will be way easier.

Human nail clippers? And it worked? That's pretty cool. I hope that with the ones that Jess and Sue use that it'll be easier and less scary for me to do this.

I don't use nail clippers. This is something like what I use:

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.a...ubcat_id=10587

Mine are terrified of nail clippers and although they still don't like this they tolerate it.

Is it loud? Ryan's mom bought one for her dogs and she told me that it's so loud the dogs got even more scared than when she'd use the clippers. That's why I never bought it. I think something like this would be way easier than clipping the nails for sure.

[Morkie4]

I use the second type in post #1......I have used them for a very long time and get a lot of practice with having to cut 4 paws X 5 fluffs.....I think that comes to about 64 nails and two of the fluffs have dew claws......so a total of 66 nailes to clip which I do about every four weeks. The girls are fairly easy to do but Toby's is really hard as they are solid black. I just can't afford to have them done by a vet or grooming salon. So I forced myself to do it and was just very cautious. Now I can get them done so quickly that they don't even mind anymore. Keeping the nails trimmed is a protection for their foot because long nails can affect the way they walk and long nails can get caught on things and injured.

[JiJi's Mom]

It does make noise but I don't consider it loud. Clippers are way louder.