# striped toe nails??? common, fluke, or coat color clue?



## outwest (May 1, 2011)

My puppy has striped toe nails, too, but the black strip goes down the nail. Here they are- are your puppies like this but in a different color?:


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

*horizontal stripes around nails*

Well those are different too! Funny, I think they like the look of wearing a natural nail polish or something! They like standing out ya know!

No, my pup has multiple horizontal stripes around each nail. I'll try to post a few pics, but they'll be small & hard to see. (I'm using my camera phone pics). But I'll try it.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Those pictures were good! They get big when you click on them. I still don't know how to make attached thumbnail pictures.

I think our puppies toenails are both adorable. My puppies look like I did it. LOL. I like her toenails- they're cute. The way yours are, I bet the striped parts grow out and then his nails are all black. 

I have no idea if it has to do with eventual color. I know black poodles are supposed to have black nails, so maybe there is a clue to eventual color in his toenails. White and cream puppies, like mine, are prefered to have black nails or self colored nails, but hardly any have solid black nails. I feel lucky that she has the stripe!


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm thinking it might too, but I don't know. We were wanting a black pup and this fella had the best temperament in at least 3 litters that we looked at. (We temperament tested them all!) Our vet recommended this breeder and she(the vet) also temperament tested him. She was jealous
We absolutely loved him so color just didn't matter any more. (We very VERY thankful he wasn't white though!) He is our 8 year old son's pup. He has allergies and we had to put down his dog (he was 9). White is just to feminine for an 8 year old boy's dog! Haha. And I can't stand the dirty look around the mouth and such.
The breeder told us he was blue. But we don't know. We'd love to find out though.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Well, the breeder should know. He must be a blue then, but will look black for a year or two. I went looking for a white or cream puppy.  I like the way their eyes and noses look in the white face and I had just lost my white standard recently. My puppy was temperment tested by the breeder. I liked her test results the best, but I only had four to choose from. I was glad she was white. 

My puppy tested 3-4. How did yours test? I assume it is the same test.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

AS a groomer- GET those NAILS CLIPPED. They have little daggers on the ends. I am sure some of the stripes will be gone once the nails have been clipped shorter. Get the pup used to it now on a weekly basis. Once they are long it looks not only strange on a Poodle paw BUT it is VERY hard to get the nail to go back once the quick has grown out.


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

3dogs~ Are you talking to me? If so, those pics were taken on the ride home from the groomers where his nails were just clipped.


About the temperament tests. The vet didn't give me a number. But I can tell you some of the tests that I did at the breeders and his reactions. 
I laid him on his back. I was standing with him in my arms. He just looked at me. I leaned him backwards, his head leaned back and ears flopped backwards hanging down, and he laid there. He trusted me. Not to mention it was beyond cute. My husband was standing there with his jaw dropped! He's never seen an 8 week old pup that relaxed and care free while on it's back. Can't say that I have either.
I picked him up with both my hands under is ribs and his feet just off of the ground. He moved his feet for a second and then relaxed.
I put my fingers in his ears. He leaned toward the finger that was in his ear.
I pulled his ears. He didn't care.
I messed with his feet one at a time. He ignored it.
I messed with his toe nails. He ignored it.
I squeezed a toe nail. Again he ignored.
I pressed a little pressure with a thumb and pointer finger (one under, one above) on his paw. He pulled his foot away. I pressed harder, then he tried to pull his paw away harder. I pressed harder he whined and tried to pull away again. He never responded with his mouth. (This was super important to us. Because we don't want another dog that has the temperament that tends to bite quickly).
I did these with him awake and no distractions.

My vet did alot of the same, but she also took him back in the office. When she came back, she told me how jealous she was b/c she wanted to take him home herself.

I think he's the most laid back pup I have ever seen! He adjusts to everything quickly. He starts puppy classes next week. I'd love to get him into therapy services. That's my goal with him.
He picked us too. We were wanting a girl. I had a girl in my lap temperament testing her. He came up to me, sat in front of me. Made eye contact with me and tilted his head to the side as if saying, "what are you looking at her for, you were sent here for me. You're supposed to take me home".
He did that three different times while I was messing with a girl pup in my lap.
Then he came back again. I was sitting criss-crossed on the ground and was just watching the litter. He sat in front of me. He made eye contact. Then he crawled into my lap, laid down curled up and went to sleep!


I think white spoos are gorgeous. My 6 y/o daughter wants one. But we live at a lake. And we could never keep it clean enough for us.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Carmen, I'm no groomer (and I don't play one on TV), but I have to agree with 3dogs -- those nails are too long. In fact, it kind of looks like the ringed part is where the nail grew in, after being clipped back to a more blunt, square end. When the nails are left too long, the quick grows longer, too. Eventually this will make trimming the nails back to a reasonable length a real ordeal, both for your pup and you.


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

A stripe ALONG the length of the nail is normal, especially in white/cream/apricot dogs (black dogs usually have black nails) it's just the pigment varies a lot in paler dogs and can come through in a stripe on nails. Very normal.

Stripes AROUND the nail are to do with growth, possibly nutrition related or simply growth spurt related. It's not so normal and I'd be hoping they eventually settle into one solid colour. If they continue to come through with stripes at times I'd pay attention to the nails closely to spot any new stripes coming in, and paying attention to what happened in the dogs life in the past few weeks before the latest stripe came in at the base of the nail and see if something could have affected the growth of the nail.

And yes, those nails are too long and need trimmed. I'd say either the groomer forgot, or missed that nail (it happens!! I've forgotten an entire foot several times before! lol) if you look at it it's the hook on the end that needs snipped off.


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

Ha, nope groomer didn't miss a nail or a foot. She didn't miss all four either. I wish she had. It looked like she just snipped off a VERY little slither off of the tip on every nail. I wasn't very happy about it. I was disappointed. She also didn't shave his face either and that was one of the main reasons we wanted to have him groomed. We also wanted to start him young to help him get used to it. So now he still has a chin full of wet hair to get everywhere. RRRRR. I'm gonna give her another try b/c she is the closest to my house, but I'm gonna tell her those two specific things that both my husband and I weren't happy with.

My MIL works at a vet clinic and trims nails there every day. She has already trimmed them back for me. She also showed me exactly how to tell where the quick is. So hopefully I can start doing his on my own. I trim my little dog's nails, but she has white nails so I can see the quicks.

So doesn't the normal puppy clip include a shaved face? Or is it supposed to be just trimmed? She even had pictures on the wall of different poodle clips and I showed her the one we wanted. It even had said shaved face.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

Sorry, if I sounded harsh but yes I was talking about the black striped nails. IF the groomer actually did that nail then there should be a "blunt" tip to it & if ground you will see the ground edges.  That is way too pointy & not nearly enough nail was taken off. Sorry, again about the rant BUT my adopted Poodle has VERY long nails & it has been a long 4 months trying to shorten them since I can only go so far back until I hit the area of the quick. I grind them as well & his nails still click on the floor. Hoping that some pavement walking will naturally take them down some BUT they will never be short, tight nails.

My pup I do a minimum of 1x weekly & sometimes 2x just to keep the nail short.

Sorry, they didn't shave the face, that is a bit weird since you asked for it. They obviously shaved the feet. I think that you need to call now if you haven't already to state what you liked & didn't like. In 6-8 wks the groomer isn't going to know what they did or didn't do.


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

Yeah, they definitely were trimmed b/c before we took him the nails were more pointed. After the grooming there was a flat square on each end of each nail. But hardly any was taken off. Didn't look like she grinded them at all. Edges of the squares were too blunt.
We trimmed them back pretty close to the quicks. I'm gonna use the grinder later. (Pedi-paws). They look good, but I like to take off the edges.
My little female JRT we adopted at around a year old or so. She was severely neglected by her previous owners. She had fly bit ears,skin burns from urine and feces, and her white fur was stained yellow til it grew out. Her nails were awful and her quicks are VERY long. Yes, it does stink! Her nails click all the time.


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## tintlet (Nov 24, 2009)

I see the striped toenails on my silvers and blues.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Funny, until this thread, I never really looked at Beau's nails all that closely. He's a cream, with what I always assume were self-colored nails. Turns out each of his nails has a black stripe running down its legnth, exactly like the first photo in this thread. They're pretty stylish, if you ask me!


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

My puppies nails have been trimmed a number of times. I think her nails looked a good length. 

As far as not trimming his face: If he has never had his face trimmed he may be a handful for the first few times. Maybe the groomer didn't have any help that day? When I got my puppy at 12 weeks she had already had her face, tail and feet trimmed three times at least. At 17 week (now) the groomer said she is very calm about it. 

A puppy groom of a poodle should include:
1)taking the hair out of the ears and washing them out
2) expressing anal grands if needed
3) face, cheeks, neck, feet, bottom, tummy and base of tail shaved (unless you don't want a pom pom tail)
4) scissored shaping after the bath of the body, legs and the top knot
5) nails trimmed

Here is my puppy with a proper puppy cut except they trimmed her top knot too much. Next time I am asking them to let it grow. Notice they angled the hair up at her tummy and the legs have angles on the bottoms plus they angled her rear. They do that with scissors. You should insist your groomer redo it or find another groomer (This cost me $25 for a puppy, by the way, if I take her once a month. It is more if I only take her every 6-8 weeks so it is cheaper to do it once a month!):


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

Outwest~ Yeah, my pups feet nor face looked that shaved. That is what we were expecting. His grooming cost me $30. She didnt have any help grooming him because I helped her clip my macaw's toe nails when I dropped off my boy. I'll try to attach pictures of my boy. They are not the best pics, but here ya go.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

You have an adorable (!!), good looking puppy with the crapiest groom I have ever seen! LOL. Why the heck did she whack off his body hair and not touch his face or feet!? You just shape the body hair with scissors when they are a puppy and let it grow all fluffy. My goodness. I think you need to chock it up to a learning experience, get on the phone and start calling around to find someone close to you that deals in poodles. I am so sorry she hacked up your beautiful boy this way, but the good thing about poodles is the hair grows- fast!

Please post another picture of him after he sees a 'real' groomer.


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## Carmen (Apr 27, 2011)

LOL. I know. Though, he is my son's dog and he wants him in a short "not poofy or girlie" cut. We asked for her to let the top knot grow, shave the face and feet, and to give him a sport type cut. I asked her to allow the ball on his tail to grow. I was hoping that would help avoid the question, "what kind of dog is that?"


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Ah, the trouble with a sporty cut is that puppy hair isn't the same as the adult poodle hair so it doesn't work well until their adult curls come in nice and tight. Your son will love his new dog. Poodles are great with kids.


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## Ellie-Mae (5 mo ago)

Did you ever find out what this was? I have found todays that my silver poodle puppy also has the same stripes on his nails.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I'm afraid that you've landed in an 11 year old dormant thread. The participants haven't been active in years so a response is unlikely.

I skimmed the thread and saw that one of the participants is a well regarded breeder who commented that their dogs have had this and another knowledgeable participant giving an explanation.


flyingduster said:


> A stripe ALONG the length of the nail is normal, especially in white/cream/apricot dogs (black dogs usually have black nails) it's just the pigment varies a lot in paler dogs and can come through in a stripe on nails. Very normal.
> 
> Stripes AROUND the nail are to do with growth, possibly nutrition related or simply growth spurt related. It's not so normal and I'd be hoping they eventually settle into one solid colour. If they continue to come through with stripes at times I'd pay attention to the nails closely to spot any new stripes coming in, and paying attention to what happened in the dogs life in the past few weeks before the latest stripe came in at the base of the nail and see if something could have affected the growth of the nail.
> 
> And yes, those nails are too long and need trimmed. I'd say either the groomer forgot, or missed that nail (it happens!! I've forgotten an entire foot several times before! lol) if you look at it it's the hook on the end that needs snipped off.





tintlet said:


> I see the striped toenails on my silvers and blues.


HTH


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