https://bigdogmom.com/dog-nail-bleeding/

This is a useful and interesting link that explains what styptic powder is made from.

It contains an anti bleed agent that constricts blood vessels plus an antiseptic.

So flour isnt quite the same after all:Hilarious

Hopefully none of us will need it, but i was curious to know what exactly you got for your money.

It also says sticking the bleeding nail in a bar of soap can be used to stem bleeding too.

No mention of the teabag trick though @Beth78 . ..

 

Alright I need to join nail club. I bought a dremel probably 5 years ago and have been too scared to ever use it! This is what I have - how do I know which attachment to use? I have absolutely no clue how it works.

 

Alright I need to join nail club. I bought a dremel probably 5 years ago and have been too scared to ever use it! This is what I have - how do I know which attachment to use? I have absolutely no clue how it works.

View attachment 464587

Welcome to nail club !

That looks like a super grinder you have there. They are very easy to use and safer than using clippers.
Your gigs may need abit of desensitization, especially if it's abit noisy.
But just put gentle pressure on the claw with the grinder and it gradually wears down.
I did accidentally grind Whisp's quick yesterday but it just resulted in one spot of blood and she didn't even notice.

 

Great to see you here @McKenzie - yours is a question @O2.0 will be able to answer.

I will hazard a guess that your top box, biggar compartment the grinder looks to be second from right with the long metal spike thing. That should push in.

Have a google of "Casfuy pet nail grinder" though as this is what we are all using. It is quieter than your dremmel there and only 20 quid in uk.

You can see a link to it further back in the thread (both o2 and i posted links) to see what it looks like.

It is not an essential though for nail club - welcome aboard

 

I'm just here have a stamp of my feet because my grinder should have turned up yesterday but due to it being sent to the wrong carrier I am sat here waiting for it today :Stop

 

Oh no @StormyThai - hope you're wearing sturdy shoes; cant have you breaking a nail with your foot stamping:Hilarious

 

My nails are perfectly trimmed I'll have you know :Shifty:Shifty



:Mooning:Hilarious:Hilarious

 

:Hilarious:Hilarious:Hilarious

 

Yay! I have drawn blood murph very co perative on the back feet nails. Didnt need a helper.

Still very protective of his front feet so will have a go another day. He did well today!

 

LOL just to be clear the point is to NOT draw blood!

You can get those quicks back without bloodshed! Alternate cut line folks, wait for the pulp to recede and then knock the shell back. No blood!

 

New LOL just to be clear the point is to NOT draw blood!

Ha ha! There will be no raining on my parade today, thank you

It was like striking gold, i can tell ya! Only on one nail so far; I will continuing my search for drops of the red stuff in the days to come lol:Hilarious

In all seriousness, i know it's not the aim, but it still feels pretty good all the same

Murph didnt mind and it is just the one nail. So far!

 

Got the new grinder yesterday its powerful isn't it, unfortunately Whisp is very suspicious of it so a bit of desensitization is in order.

Will probably keep to the lower setting for now as the quicks are so close to the end.

 

Will probably keep to the lower setting for now as the quicks are so close to the end.

Play around with the settings, the higher one is noisier, yes, but Whisp may like it better as it will vibrate less. Just see what she prefers.
Were you able to flatten out the bottoms? That will help the quick recede too.

Be interesting to see what they suggest.

I'll be interested to hear too!

If it doesn't turn up on Tuesday then I'm going to cancel and find another seller...I really want this grinder or I'd just give up tbh

Got my fingers and toes crossed for you!

Little dog problems, I did a lot of training with Penny this weekend with freeze dried beef liver which resulted in some pretty rank gas and I didn't want to tempt fate with peanut butter on top of that, so thought I'd wait a day LOL :Yuck

I still do lots of paw handling and really getting her used to having her paws manipulated and held firm enough that I can dremel without tickling. She's totally fine with all that thank goodness.

 

Still waiting for my sodding grinder....
They sent it to the wrong carrier (apparently it was my fault for having the wrong address, lets forget about the fact that I have had the same address since I first started my Amazon account and all other deliveries have got here perfectly fine) so now I have had to reschedule the delivery for tomorrow...not happy tbh and I think the seller will receive some choice feedback!


So I'm still here stamping my feet because I want to crack on ummy

 

Still waiting for my sodding grinder....

How annoying! Is that the casfuy one from amazon? Did you follow o2s link and buy it from amazon state side or something

My link was the fast uk delivery option

I'm going great guns on murphs' nails now. He was pretty patient with the front ones last night. But they still could go much shorter . . .and they will!

Tilly is still stuck at stage one learning to relax in game on position and susan's team has asked for a vid of miss coiled spring to see if they can give me any tips to help.

She isnt scared of the sight of the grinder. That isnt the problem. She just finds relaxing in general a no go. She will hold the position for a few seconds but then she has to wriggle on her back or let out some sound of frustration which says 'im done here, can we crack on with something more interesting please!'

Be interesting to see what they suggest.

@Beth78 - i think murphs' bloodline is very long, like whisp's. The nail that bled isnt even that short. Thank goodness he warned me off using the clippers; he'd have sprung 4 little blood fountains from each paw had i made the cut where i wanted to!

I havent even found the dew claws yet - nested in all his hair somewhere!

 

That is the exact same one i got and it turned up no problem so hopefully it should arrive.

I nearly bought it off the American site too as susan garratt's link led me there but i soon found the same one at amazon uk.

Susan garatt recommends this casfuy one as it is quiet but she herself uses a dremel branded dremmel too so maybe something like mckenzie's might be better for Thai - i cant imagine he is going to kick up a fuss like murphs and Tills:Hilarious

 

Can I join?

Just ordered the one most people recommend on here. Coming tomorrow.

 

Just ordered the one most people recommend on here. Coming tomorrow.

Crikey, dont tell stormy that; her blood pressure might well rise to boiling and shatter all her nails!

Yes, of course you can join

It would be great if everyone on pf with a dog joined nail club as it is an important thing for us all - from those with dogs who have perfect nails to show off to those at hurdle number one like my Tilly. Not yet ready to try.

We will all get there in the end.

Look at her - she looks asleep here doesnt she?! But she isnt. She can spring up in a nano second.

So, bottom of nail club class is Tills here. May everyone be inspired to join by her total lack of co operation

 

Here we are to join in. When the boy arrived 6 months ago, his claws were pretty long - indeed he ripped off both his dew claws within the first couple of months as they were too long and we were not yet at the place I could trim them. We are therefore a bit too click clackety...

And... we’re a little odd. I can clip his nails without much bother, usually whilst he is upside down between my legs asleep on the sofa - just taking a little slice off at a time. Sometimes he wakes and gives me a look, so I give him a treat and back off, but usually he just rolls with it.

But the grinder is a very suspicious beastie and we don’t want that near our paws at all, thank you very much. We have started edging it closer for a treat, and it has made contact a couple of times for a treat and some brave boy points. So it is very much a work in progress with stuffing dog and no impressive photos of claws off the grounds just yet...

 

Welcome, @Pricivius yay! That is 2 new members of nail club in one day!

If your boy is ok with clippers, you might like to stick with them - a good result can still be achieved if you are able to clip reguarly enough and there are pros and cons of both the dremmel and the clippers.

Ideally of course, your dog will be totally comfortable with both!

Advantages of the nail grinder are that you are less likely to cause pain if you hit the quick. And that you are less likely to hit the quick (although in this nail club we seem to be hitting the quick with incredible accuracy!)

And getting the bloodline to recede further than it would with clippers.

O2 posted a vid earlier in this thread showing how she gets a dog used to the dremmel.

Im at an earlier stage with my Tilly in that i have successfully built up a positive association with the sight and sound of the dremmel for her. But now we are stuck as she is not ready to have my hand near her foot, let alone a dremmel.

However, o2's vid is a great demo and should help you to condition your boy to the nail grinder - if that is what you want to do.

But clippers, grinders, long nails, bleeding nails, messy floors - nail club is an open door to everyone

 

The first rule of nail club is.....you MUST talk about nail club!

 

Ha ha very funny Yes, nail club has to be bigged up as THE club to be in - nail club chat and banter will keep it rockin' and rollin'

 

I will try this tomorrow @O2.0, thank you. Tilly is absolutely fine and relaxed in a sit position like that with the dremmel in my hand, switched on either speed. I can hold it against her back, chest and she has no fear or negative experience with the dremel.

It would be reaching for leg or foot that will see her back off, i'm sure (even without the dremmel in sight)

Havent really got any enlightning answers on how to progress yet on SGs forum. Only that she looks quite relaxed

She really isnt relaxed. She will hold the position as she understands it is what i want from her - but she's itching to get out of it.

You can see here how she wriggles on her back and then shakes off at the end, once back on her feet. Im sure that's her shaking all the tension out of her. What do you think?

And i cant touch her foot at all. She has never had dremel or clippers near her feet - absolutely nothing painful or negative has ever come from a human hand to her feet. She just seems very sensitive to touch.

Anyway, i dont mind doing nail club recruitment and promotion. Appointing you as resident expert. And - can i have my cat back, please

That Beryl cat of mine photo bombs pics and vids the world over! She is a law unto herself, that cat.

 

She doesn't look that bad, but I see what you mean, no she's not entirely relaxed, but she's not particularly worried either, just doesn't like having to lie still.

You actually did touch her feet a couple of times in passing, did you notice? What does she do if you hold her foot at the wrist?
Is holding position part of the course?
I can see the wisdom in teaching them to hold the position, but for a fussy dog who doesn't like their paws messed with or a busy dog who finds holding any position difficult, it can be a big ask, and just that level of difficulty can cause stress.

I switched to completely unrestrained handling (including not even asking for a sit or down) with our semi feral great dane and I see benefits in both systems. Yes, sometimes you have to be still and deal, but for nail trims, I'm okay with the dog choosing the position, the dog getting up and re-setting as needed, and even leaving the session if they decide they're done. Nails take a while and I want the dog to feel like they can get up and change position if they feel they need to.

Penny pops up and down a good bit, moves around, but notice she always comes back to generally sitting there and letting me touch her feet. That's absolutely good enough as far as I'm concerned, and her knowing she can move makes it a lot easier for her to feel successful in the whole game.
When I do dremel a toe or two, it's still unrestrained. I have a helper hold food she either has to lick or root for in their hand, dremel comes on, food becomes available, I quickly get a toe, dremel off, food goes away. Rinse and repeat. I don't hold her in position - I do hold the foot still but let go pretty quickly, and she can choose to continue or leave.

 

Thanks for this @O2.0 - will pm you

 

I think you have to go with whatever you think will work for your own individual dog.
Like I said I see wisdom in holding position but I also know that for Penny that would be really hard, and she gains confidence from being "right" in operant conditioning, so for her, letting her pop up and move is the right choice right now.

If you watch her in the video starting about 2:17, she pops up the first time the dremel comes at her, I click and treat anyway. The second rep, she sits down - for her an indication of being less worried, she's not in "ready" position to take off. By the 3rd rep, she's back to fully focused on the treats. She'll pop up again on another rep that I got closer to her, but again, not a big deal, she settles right back again.

It's another of those counterintuitive things, once the dog understands they *can* leave and opt out, the less they feel like they need to.
I've tested this out now on a lot of different dogs and they all respond the same.

 

Dremel's arrived. It's a lot quieter than I expected it to be.

I've started working with Milly - grabbing a foot, treating, letting go, manipulating the toes... I'll work on pressure holding next I think.

Once Honey realises Milly's getting treats, she'll come in and see if she can figure out why Milly's getting treats and she isn't.

It gives me something to do with them, if nothing else.

 

New Dremel's arrived.

Great efficient delivery for you there @LinznMilly

 

I will try what you're doing in your vid there with Tilly today and see what happens - i suppose if she absolutely loves the sight and sound of the dremmel, then it might be all plain sailing once she trusts me with her paws

 

Progress has been made!

First of all copied @O2.0 's vid there and that was extremely successful - i even managed to get my hand around her leg and pick up a paw!

She doesnt like the grinder on the higher speed but fine with it on lower. Then of course murphles had to have his go, the show off! He is fine on both speeds and paw handling.

What was brilliant is that they were both sitting side by side when a parcel arrived and the doorbell rang.

Normally Till would bark but not a pip from either and they never budged a millimetre whilst i answered the door.

Next did the exercise with till shown in my vid there but i put a very high value treat back in place (cocktail sausage) and i actually managed to hold a front paw a few times. Only for seconds. And then she pulled away.

I think i got sausage delivery timed with foot hold ok

This feels like a breakthrough! I'm very pleased with results today so thanks for your help there, O2 and hopefully this is the start of Tills learning to be relaxed with paw handling

 

That's wonderful! Very happy for you
Remember, go slow! If she's successful with paw handling, just do that part without the dremel for a while. And remember to make it easier too. Leave her feeling confident and successful

 

I’m working on Jack’s nails.

His are very black and very hard with low blood lines.

I’m taking the easier route and have a lovely Groomer who is happy to clip them free of charge once a fortnight

I was leaving too long in between, especially as only a small amount can come off each time.

Second trim yesterday and looking so much better already.

 

:Hilarious:Hilarious:Hilarious:Hilarious:Hilarious

Sooooo funny!

Great to see you @Lurcherlad - even though you're not committing to full membership

Once a fortnight is good but with a dremmel, you could save yourself that trip to the groomer's and join us here in Nail Club - much more fun.

Look at the lols we've had waiting on stormy's nail grinder arriving:Hilarious

We could take bets on the date yours might turn up

Definitely wont be pushing Tills, O2. I know with her fragile disposition, it could undo everything.

And she is safely tucked up in bed when we do murphs' so she can't get any neg vibes from him

 

I'm too nervous to do it myself

 

So apparently tantrums work:

:Smug