# When is short "short enough"?



## Kassie (Apr 7, 2016)

Hi all. I am just having an inner struggle about trimming Fenton's nails short. For some reason, I have gotten highly stressed about not being "short enough". He is 7 months old and I use the dremel weekly. His nails always click on the ground within 7 days, and I trim him back. i just have a feeling I am not clipping him far enough. He sees his groomer every 7 weeks, but I know I have to maintain his toenails more frequently. Fenton's nails are black. Can any persons direct me with pictures or words on how I can know that I have gone short enough. I understand, that you clip till you see a grey dot. When I dremel Fenton, I get to a point where I see a grey inside, but no dot. So, It is kind of pulpy looking, but there is no actual dot. Is this what they call the "meat". I stop about there. Am I not going short enough? HELP


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## BeckyM (Nov 22, 2013)

I think this is the best video to watch for how to trim nails. I imagine you could recreate the type of trim with a dremel but I use a nail clipper. I make sure Polly's nails don't touch the ground when she stands up. I trim them once a week and usually only take a sliver off. I tried going every 2 weeks but her quicks started to grow out.


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

The black circle is the quick. Stop when you see this

these nails could be taken a bit shorter without bleeding


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## Poodlemanic (Jun 27, 2016)

Ugh this is my dilemma also. I just take a little sliver off each weekend and try to keep up with them that way.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Molly's nails grow quickly too and I find if I don't do them them every 5-7 days the quick grows really fast! The rule of thumb is to keep the nail level with the pad of the foot .....I like them a tad shorter. If I get lazy and her nails grow too long, I usually use a clipper (not a guillotine type though) to take off the length, then use the dremel to smooth and shape them.

Found a couple of pics to help ya............


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

Also, don't be worried to try to go a little farther. Making one nail bleed ever so slightly a time or 2 is not going to be the end of the world. Doing it once will help you to really see when you have gone short enough and let you learn where to stop while getting them as short as possible.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Mysticrealm said:


> Also, don't be worried to try to go a little farther. Making one nail bleed ever so slightly a time or 2 is not going to be the end of the world. Doing it once will help you to really see when you have gone short enough and let you learn where to stop while getting them as short as possible.



I've 'quicked' Molly's nails quite a few times in the past 4 years and she has never held it against me and is still quite fine with getting her nails done!!!
Just make sure you have qwik-stop and if you do this to apply it it, is easy and is way less messy! 
If I do quick her, I apply the Qwik-Stop and matter of factly keep on going....A quick "Sorry baby" no coddling ...................don't give her time to dwell LOL! (Qwik-Stop has benzocaine in it)


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

My goal is always - clip it as short as I can without making it bleed.  And I'll keep widdling away until I get right to that point where they would bleed if I took more off.


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## Dina (Jan 24, 2016)

Our vet told us if you the nail is long enough and you run your nail along the side of your pups nail you will feel a slight grove, that is where you should cut, typically the quik is right there. We did Hugo's nails today and followed this step and they ended up perfect with no accidents 

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## sidewinder (Feb 3, 2016)

With a dremel, you can make the nail shorter than any of the diagrams or the photos. You can carefully grind down the hard part of the nail on the outside, avoiding the quick in the middle. You end up with a cone shape protruding from the center of the nail. It doesn't quick the dog (no blood or pain). In the next couple of days after trimming, the quick will gradually wear down as the dog walks, and you can actually do the same thing again. Grind down the hard OUTSIDE of the nail, leaving the quick intact. If you leave 3-4 days in between trimmings, you can shorten the nail (and the quick) considerably, over time.


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## Kassie (Apr 7, 2016)

This is really good information! Thank you all. 


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## blueroan (Dec 28, 2015)

I've done that...dremeling around the quick and it does recede after a few days. If you don't take enough off every trim, or regularly leave your dog's nails long, the quick lengthens too. Then you have the issue of having nails that are too long but you can't cut them to "normal" length because of a long quick. 

That method DOES work...Dusty used to have a nail or two that were always longer than the others, with the longer quick in them too lol. But I found that if I did this, the problem resolved itself.


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