Our lab hates anyone touching her feet so we have to clip her claws ourselves when she is relaxed at home.  Can anyone tell me how much to take off as the claws are touching the floor when she walks and look long.  They are black so we cant see the quick. Bought some proper nail clippers off ebay.
Thanks

the only way to do it is take off a little bit at a time. every dogs quick is different- just trim little bits till they are a comfortable looking length. it takes time and patience but its better than cutting a quick.

Ditto the last reply, my schnauzer  has black nails and i trim a little off often. the blood supply will move back the more you cut the nails but be careful if you try and rush this it would be very painful for your dog if you cut into it.
lots of road walking helps and if you do enough on a hard surface then the nails shouldn't need cutting very often.

Try using a Dremel - much easier. mine lie on their backs for me to do it, but run a mile if they see nail clippers

I have a 2yr old black miniature poodle so his nails are black too. I trim his nails and it has taken me until recently to realise you can actually go quite far back (they are shorter now than they have ever been ) but i find taking little and often off is the safest method until you are confident. My dog hates anything being done to his front legs and he's awful when you touch his paws - i have no idea why. He is better now but at the beginning it worked a lot better when one person was holding his head up - with the help of a tasty treat, then i was able to trim the nails without him looking or getting in the way. Also, putting them on a table or higer surface so they dont feel they can run away works too

I trim my dogs myself also, little and often is the key to not cutting the quick, also i find mine stand alot better if you bend the knee and do it backwards, if you have a horse like you would pick out the horses hoof, so the pads are facing upwards ( hope that makes sense lol )

What is 'often'?
I'm still struggling..........
Karen 

If long I would say every week to encourage the quicks to shrink back.

If you do this it is amazing how short you can get a dogs nails.  Doberman nails for the showring for example are incredibly short.

Brainless is correct tiny amounts i do once to twice a week, depending how much road walking i have done that week, only about 1 mil each time, it encourages the quick to reseed back allowing you to get lovely short nails which can be tidied up with the dremmel if needed

Thanks for that, I do have a thing about them....currently they are being done every 6 weeks and they are quite long at that.
I pay a groomer to do them both (dogs ) as I have a history of cutting too short and am now afraid to touch them!
Perhaps I must brave it and just try again. I toyed with using a dremel but have also chckiened out of that.

Karen

I too have our groomer do the claws but would like to do them myself. What are the pro's and cons between a dremel and clippers before I take the plunge please

I dont know anything about a dremel but i find clippers are easy to use (once you and dog get the hang of them) and not much fuss. It only takes a few minutes to clip all nails.

Yes i agree, the more often you cut a dogs nails the shorter you seem to be able to get them. hence why now my dog has the shortest nails he's ever had, HOWEVER do not rush things, trimming a little off every time, working out the best positions for you & dog to be in to do it and seeing how far back you can go all takes time. Also it builds up the dogs time so persistance and patience are the answer

I have a Dremel but recently started using a rasp, smaller version of the type that farriers use. It is really easy to use and you can keep rasping until you start to see the softer tissue start to appear in the nail. I use it a couple of times a week and now my dog falls asleep while I"m doing her nails.

I find it's the 'click' noise they don't like. Sometimes I use a hard skin file from the Body Shop or Boots. Like a big emery board.

I'm a dremel fan. Clippers can often pinch the dog's nails which is unpleasant even if it doesn't actually hurt. Also with a dremel (or a file, but a dremel is quicker) is that you can't cut into the quick and make it bleed. The final advantage is that you can smooth off all the sharp edges.

If your going to use clippers for cutting the nails an easy way to get of rough edges is to make them run around on a hard surface for a minute. thats what i always do with my dogs, as the nails can be quite uneven when clipped.

Thanks people might start off with a file and see how we get on. She hates her nails touched and even the groomer struggles a bit. As far as I know she has never been hurt think she justhates it.

I always walk my labs a few hours a week on pavements so the nails wear down naturally,i would never trim my dogs nails myself,when my dogs are not as active i have taken them to the vets to have nails cut and never had any problems as he does it so quick.

Sheila

I agree annabella I dont know it its because mia is so light (7lbs )but her nails dont wear down like the bigger dogs they have never been a problem. Yet another new learning curve with having a liitle one for the first time.

Chef55,
Where did you get your rasp from as I have been looking for one...
From your prescription I think this is what I'm after, I used to have one years ago and found it great but have not been able to find anything similar...
Not knowing the name for what I'm after doesn't help

I found a trick that helps with my boy.  He didn't mind at all till I made a mistake and cut one too short.  Then he was antsy.  I prepared his supper and put it on the countertop in full view.  He was so fixated on his supper dish I could cut his nails with no problem or fidgeting.  He has gotten over my mistake and doesn't care anymore.  I can see how this would backfire with some dogs.

>Chef55, Where did you get your rasp from as I have been looking for one...From your prescription I think this is what I'm after, I used to have one years ago and found it great but have not been able to find anything similar...Not knowing the name for what I'm after doesn't help

I have pm'd you the links for the rasp. I also use a Diamond Deb foot dresser file to finish the nails off nice and neatly. My dog has the neatest nails now and her feet have been commented on several times now in her critiques. Having the nails the correct length can certainly change the shape of the foot and how the dog stands. We road walk every day at least 4 miles. She doesn't wear them down on the roads, they grow very fast and very hard and strong. She has a manicure every week and that keeps them short and neat. hth

hi cheff,what lovely yellow labs you have.

Sheila