# Ugh! Witnessed the groomer "quicking" my boy



## Ellyisme (Jul 17, 2012)

Oh wow!theres no excuse for that! She is unnecessarily hurting poor Ralph! Grinding the nails is definitely the way to go, and you could probably do it yourself.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

I prefer grinding, but I promise the groomer wasn't doing anything malicious to your boy. If I quick either of my boys with nail clippers they don't flinch, when I grind them not even close to the quick? Man do I have neighbors staring thinking I'm beating my dogs! Unless your dog has VWD it's really not a big deal.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I've quicked my own dogs a couple of times by accident (because all their nails are black, it's so hard to know when the quick is close to the end of the nail). They don't care; I always have treats handy and that's pretty much the subject of all their energy (trying by the power of their minds to bring the treat closer while I trim their nails, lol). My pittie that I had before these two, on the other hand, had white feet so all her toe nails were really easy to see exactly where the healthy pink quick was and I NEVER quicked her, but you would swear I was torturing her from her carrying on whenever I clipped her nails! Some dogs are such drama queens. However, even though I've done it myself inadvertently to my two, ....I would hate the sort of callous attitude you described where you asked the groomer not to do it and she did anyway, yikes. That's probably just me, I have worked as a groomer in the past but I am a big softie.


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

I don't agree that it's the only way to get the quicks to recede but Quicking happens. We all do it, and most times dogs don't even notice. Some of them scream for nails that don't get quicker but don't even notice the ones that get quicked. But, a small piece of advice. Never take your dog to the vet to get the nails cut because vets tend to cut the nails to desired length even if that means they quick every single nail. I've been a groomer for 12 years and I even have days where I quick ever dog at least once and then I have weeks where I don't quick a single dog. It just happens sometimes. I hate it when I quick a dog though, I always feel bad but I don't ever make a fuss about it because I don't want the dog to throw fits to get the attention.




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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

Is VWD the psychological condition that makes the dog jump and howl and get all drama-king over having his feet touched? 

Although I agree it happens, I don't think quicking is a great idea if it can be avoided. Spike will just about tolerate having his feet handled, finally, but get even a human nail file in your hand and the story starts to change pretty quickly... 

OUr last groomer took a bit off the nails of our digging boy at each groom - I just did not realise that the nails were already worn down to "at least short enough" for normal use... 

Too much styptic, too much trauma. Just too darned much - and a pain that we get to deal with this every time we touch his feet now. 

I somehow think dogs do not always live in the moment...


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

vWd is much like hemophilia in humans. It is a bleeding disorder, and even quicking their nails can put them at risk.

To get the quicks to recede, dremel even just an iota off their nails every three or four days.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Indiana said:


> Some dogs are such drama queens.


Hahaha!  So true, eh?

My groomer quicked Tonka at one of his sessions. She noticed . . . but neither Tonka or I did...


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

Carley's breeder told me that Carley's black nails are hard to clip and she quicks her every time she cuts them ! Told me what to buy to stop the bleeding, like she was giving me permission to hurt her dog...

I grind, she has never been quicked . It took me a long time to get her nails to the length that I want, I still grind them every few days, but I don't hurt her. There is not any reason to.

P.S. Does anyone out there know if a Grey Hound has extra long nails and there is nothing that you can do about it? That is what my neighbor tells me ... her dogs nails look awful.


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

Any dogs quicks can recede. So greyhounds can have shorter nails too. They do tend to grow pretty fast and we see many with longer nails then should be. I used to have 2 greyhounds who came to me every 2 weeks and their nails never touched the ground because I kept up on them


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Carley's Mom said:


> P.S. Does anyone out there know if a Grey Hound has extra long nails and there is nothing that you can do about it? That is what my neighbor tells me ... her dogs nails look awful.


Sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me but I don't have a greyhound so I looked it up. I see no sign of this issue on the Internet and to the contrary all the sites say how important it is to keep nails short. You keep greyhound's nails short by frequent trimming. If you hear clicking nails they are too long. I hate it when people make up BS to excuse their neglect of their dogs. Long nails can be painful and lead to lameness. :rant:


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

I don't know if our dog is reactive to the groomer's reaction or to the pain, and I really don't care which it is, really. We don't use the groomer that we loved anymore because of the nails. We are grooming ourselves - Susan and I, with help and advice from groomer friends we trust. WE know our dogs, they trust us not to hurt them, and we do the best we can by them. We do use a dremel, as needed, and the whole idea that it is "normal" to produce bleeding nails every time you groom is beyond my comprehension. 
If you had a baby and clipped every nail to the quick, causing bleeding of at least one nail every time you clipped them, wouldn't you look at what you are doing and ask yourself, "Can I do anything differently"? I know if I cut my own nails too short, it's sensitive - I can't imagine how dogs could be SO different. just sayin'.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Sunny's nails have always been on the long(er) side and although I think they should be shorter, my groomer thinks they are just fine. I have wood floors and so occasionally I hear the "clicking" -- I went so far as to take a closeup picture of his nails and send to his breeder and she, too, agreed they were a little long. I just use a dremel a little bit every day, and have a small pair of hand clippers and take just a little off the tips of the nails every few days, etc. and you just have to keep at it. Sunny's nails were fine when I got him, but I didn't focus on them as I should have since I was more concerned about this shell shocked transport, etc. and all that entailed. Now, I work at them every day just a little, since his quicks need to recede so I can keep his nails a tad shorter, too, but they are receding as I trim a little all the time and the groomer dremels every 5 weeks or so. Just keep working on it, and they will naturally recede. There IS something you can do about it, just do a little every day, maybe with a dremel so less chance of catching the quick. That is what I do.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

Carley's Mom said:


> Carley's breeder told me that Carley's black nails are hard to clip and she quicks her every time she cuts them ! Told me what to buy to stop the bleeding, like she was giving me permission to hurt her dog...
> 
> I grind, she has never been quicked . It took me a long time to get her nails to the length that I want, I still grind them every few days, but I don't hurt her. There is not any reason to.
> 
> P.S. Does anyone out there know if a Grey Hound has extra long nails and there is nothing that you can do about it? That is what my neighbor tells me ... her dogs nails look awful.


No. Our male Whippet has super short nails. It is all a matter of keeping ahead of them and doing them with a dremel every few days. They will get there.


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## frankgrimes (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement. I totally understand that an accidental quicking will happen, I've come pretty darn close to doing it myself. My greatest horror was the fact she took off a huge chunk in to the quick, I'm not talking a few drops of blood, I'm talking soaked a Kleenex with blood. It was horrible. So horrible I'm not letting them touch him again. Looks like Ralph gets his drama queen routine from me! Lmao! I would rather have my own toe nail ripped off than witness that happening to my boy again. He's always good and calm about getting his nails done, so I'm pretty sure it hurt like an SOB for him to scream like that. I can count on one hand how many times I've heard Ralph yelp in his life, hes not a yelper, and none were as horrible as this shriek.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Aw poor Ralph. And I don't think you're a drama queen, I wouldn't have been able to take that either. Kind of reminds me of the way I was taught to pluck ears where I used to groom, the old hemostat grab, twist and yank. Nope, can't say I ever did that even once. I did used to pluck ears but now the thinking on that has changed so I don't even do that any more. Anyway, why quick the nails when there's another way that just takes more patience.


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

Sorry, cannot imagine it is okay to do something that draws blood like that - even if you use a styptic pencil afterwards you are still inflicting an open wound on your dog, and on his feet no less that come into contact with all the dirt. Accidents can happen, but it being okay to repeat? uh uh, nope, not for me folks.


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## frankgrimes (Nov 28, 2011)

I went out and purchased a new dremel today, along with two new dog toys and a new doggy bed (after a romp at the dog park this morning) anyone else think mummy's feeling guilty, lol.


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## frankgrimes (Nov 28, 2011)

Here I am enjoying one of my newly acquired guilt toys. You can see my new bed in the background. Mums such a softie.

Ralph


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## Loubee (Jun 2, 2013)

I hate clipping nails as am scared of catching their quick and hurting them. Its bad enough to do it by accident, but to do it on purpose.....nope, not for me or my dogs. I would rather work at it gradually than cause pain.


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

Ralph looks like he will recover just fine with his new toy in paw! I think Lexi's nails grow fast. When she is groomed, they trim and then dremel them. I then take her back in about 10 days to two weeks to have them done again. The dremeling saves my leather furniture, something I wish I would have figured out before she was six months old. You can sure see the scratch marks in certain lighting.


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## Samba (Sep 14, 2012)

No real comment on the quicking - it happens, but as a groomer they should really take smaller shaves off the nail until they can see the end of the quick. One small nick I understand, but several - no thanks.

For those who are new using a dremmel - just be aware that you may also be quicking them - the heat from the dremmel acts as cautery to stop the bleeding. Often times you wont even see any blood but your dog may pull away because of the pain. Just a heads up if you are new to using a dremmel.

I have one dog who you can quick with clippers and she wont even notice (the poodle of course), although Ive only ever caught just the tip. The pitty on the other hand is a huge wimp, she doesnt even like it when you look at her nails!!

And on the greyhound comment - my greyhound had LONG quicks, regardless of how many times I trimmed her nails. Luckily they were clear nails but her quicks were always right to the end. Never understood why they didnt receed like the other dogs!!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Perhaps I am too judgemental. I did check several greyhound sites like this one:

Regular Nail Maintenance: A Must! | Greyhound Articles Online

With my Aussie I was very lucky. He did not like his nails trimmed so he would do it himself. He found a spot in the basement where he would scratch and wear them down - all four paws. It did not take long he would do all this paws every few days. The groomer told me what a beautiful job I did on his nails and I told her it was Zack. I think she thought I was kidding but he always kept his nails very short. This was a relief to me as his nails were black. For Swizzle I have a guillotine but I am going to get a Dremel.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I don't know about greyhounds, but I know Jack Russells are meant to have a bit longer nails so they can dig when they go to ground when hunting. My JRT always had longer quicks and I kept up on the trimming. But they were not insanely long. They would just barely touch the ground when they needed to be done.


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